Fire Prevention Week TAGS: basement | building codes | Egress windows | emergeny escape | means of egress | safe basement exit

Last week was Notional Fire Prevention Week in the United States and Canada – an event we always take serious at Egresswindows.com because of the nature of what we sell; a product that has been proven to save lives during fires time after time. National Fire Prevention Week dates back to 1922, and occurs every year during the week that includes October 9th. The reason October 9th was picked it because it’s the date of the Great Chicago Fire – one of the greatest fires in modern history, which destroyed more than 17,000 structures in 1871, and left over 100,000 …Continue reading →

When Can Finishing A Basement HURT Your Home Value? TAGS: basement | basement egress windows | basement remodel ideas | Egress windows | finishing a basement | means of egress | Refinishing your basement

Finishing your basement will increase the value of your home, right? Not if you don’t do it right. With the housing market on the road to recovery, a lot of homeowners are looking to see how they can leap-frog the competition and get their houses back to full market value as quickly as possible. Finishing any available basement space is a smart way to do just that. Just think about it – creating a basement apartment, or just extra livable space in a basement, can easily add hundreds of square feet to a home’s footprint; and offer great options for …Continue reading →

Basement Window Well Adds To Inheritance TAGS: basement | basement remodel ideas | building codes | Egress windows | finishing a basement | Installing an Egress Window

Investing in a basement window well is one way to look after your loved ones. 2008 was a rough year for a lot of Americans – but for Dave Buchanan, it was harder than most. That was the year he was due to retire, and unfortunately cashing in his 401k coincided with one of the worst stock market crashes in American history. “I ended up getting less out of my 401k than what I’d paid into it,” Dave explains. “I was gutted.” Fortunately, Dave’s canny financial planning meant that he and his wife weren’t reduced to eating Ramen noodles as …Continue reading →

If you can’t stand the heat, can you get out of the kitchen? TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement | Egress windows | emergeny escape | means of egress | safe basement exit

I thought it would be a good idea to look at one of the most important reasons why a basement window well is important – kitchen fires. Basement apartments are a great option for homeowners looking to bring in a little extra money, and for renters looking for an affordable and well-located place to live. There are drawbacks that need to be addressed, though – and one of them is safety. Adding a fully functional kitchen into a basement apartment presents the risk (fortunately a small one) of a fire breaking out down there. And if that happens, how will …Continue reading →

The Home Gym: Making the Most of Your Basement Space TAGS: basement | basement egress windows | basement remodel ideas | building codes | finishing a basement | means of egress | Refinishing your basement

One popular way to maximize the space of a finished basement is to convert it into a home gym. While the initial outlay can be expensive, it’s one of the few investments that literally “pays for itself” in the gym dues you save every month – not to mention your improved health! Home exercise equipment tends not to get a lot of use. Some people even joke “it’s the most expensive clothesline you’ll ever have!” This is largely because home exercise equipment is large, bulky and needs a lot of room to use it effectively. Which is where a basement …Continue reading →

The Home Office: Making the Most of your Basement Space TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement | basement egress windows | basement remodel ideas | Egress windows | means of egress

While Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer recently made waves by banning working from home, flexible hours and work-from-home initiatives are becoming significantly more common across America. As a result, more and more homeowners are looking to find space in their home for an office. The basement is a logical choice. Working from home isn’t easy. Even if you don’t have kids or pets to contend with, it’s often difficult to get into the “work” headspace when you have the opportunity to send your emails and work on your presentations without even clambering out of bed. That’s why people like Yahoo!’s CEO …Continue reading →

A Kid’s Playroom: Making the Most of your Basement Space TAGS: basement | basement remodel ideas | Basement Windows | Egress windows | Refinishing your basement

Somebody once equated having young kids to owning a blender, but not having a lid for it. The metaphor is accurate – most parents know how messy and chaotic kids can be! This is why finishing a basement and turning it into a kid’s playroom is an idea that appeals to a lot of parents. There are a lot of advantages. Firstly, it’s totally secure. There are no exterior doors and patio windows to worry about, so parents can leave their kids to play in the basement without them worrying about wondering off. Secondly, it’s self-contained. Kids can make an …Continue reading →

A Basement Game Room: Making the Most of Your Space TAGS: basement | basement remodel ideas | Egress windows | finishing a basement | Refinishing your basement | Sunlight into a basement

A basement game room is a popular use of your additional lower-level space. Here are some pointers: For President Truman’s birthday in 1947, a bowling alley was installed in the basement of the White House, under the North Portico. That started the American tradition of basement game rooms – which continues to this day. In many ways, a game room is one of the best uses of finished basement space. Because basements tend to have large areas of open space, it allows for easy installation of a pool table (or even a bowling alley) that wouldn’t fit upstairs. You can …Continue reading →

Finish a Basement Apartment Safely with Egress Window Wells TAGS: basement | basement egress windows | Basement Windows | Egress windows | emergeny escape | finishing a basement | means of egress

To finish a basement apartment safely includes having a “means of egress” – a building code requirement that calls for an easy escape in the event of an emergency. But don’t look at your window wells as an obligation – think of the opportunities they could offer instead. Egress window wells are not just a building code requirement – they offer a number of additional benefits that can help make a basement apartment much more enjoyable. When you’re planning to install your basement window wells, consider the advantages of the different rooms you could install them in: Kitchen: There are …Continue reading →

Better Basement Ventilation: A Second Egress Window Brings a Breath of Fresh Air TAGS: basement | Basement Windows | bringing fresh air in a basement | damp basement | fixing smelly basements | prevent mold in basements

National building code requires all furnished basements to have a means of egress – but adding egress window wells can have other benefits as well; as one New Jersey homeowner discovered. “Sometimes I used to wonder why they even built a basement in this house,” admits Lambertville resident Rick. “We lived far enough away from the river that the house never flooded, but for as long as I lived here there was a funky, damp smell downstairs and it just wouldn’t go away.” Rick’s beautiful Victorian home is just blocks from the Delaware river; and his basement is an important …Continue reading →