If you bought a home that already has egress window wells, you’ll want to make sure they’re up to snuff. A poor quality or poorly installed window well could cause damage to your home and put your loved ones at risk.
Damage to Your Home
Egress window wells have a demanding environment. Soil movement and your home’s foundation can exert a lot of force against the window well. Water can enter the window well from the top if it's not covered, and can also seep in from underneath if there is a lot of underground moisture. Window wells that get sunlight also have UV exposure, which can weaken plastic window wells over time.
If your egress window well fails, you may have problems with water getting into your basement, encouraging mold and mildew as well as damaging carpet and sheetrock.
Recently we replaced this low quality poly window well with one of our strong, precast concrete window wells. Here's a photo of the original well.
This is one of our newly installed window wells to replace an existing window well.
Putting Your Loved Ones at Risk
While no one wants water in their basement, a far more serious consequence is putting your loved ones at risk during a fire. Something as simple as a window well ladder getting taken out of your window well during cleaning and never being put back in place could make it impossible for a child to get out of the window well.
Recently we replaced this window well that had a serious safety issue. Someone had installed the sump pump pipe over the top of the window well cover. If one of their loved ones would have needed to escape during a fire, they would have had to lift up the pipe and the sump pump in order to open the cover.
After we replaced this window well, we installed the sump pump pipe correctly so that it doesn’t hinder the cover from being opened.
Our window wells feature a permanently attached ladder so that the ladder is never removed or misplaced. In addition, the latch for the window well cover is on the inside of the window well. In case of an emergency, it can quickly and easily be unlatched by the person who is escaping the basement.
A Permanent Solution
An egress window well shouldn’t be a “maintenance item” that you have to replace every ten years. Our precast concrete window wells are designed to last a lifetime. A durable window well protects your basement and your loved ones for the long term.
If you’re interested in upgrading the egress window wells in your home, contact us today.