Egress.....my current PITA.

[IronFreak]

My wife loves kids, has her Bachelors in early childhood program management and doesn't want to work for the man. So being a loving husband we sat down and looked at the cost of doing it out of our home.

After about 4 months of remodeling the basement myself between work and school I thought I had finished it this weekend. Until the Fire Marshall showed up today. Apparently I didn't fully understand the egress law, and while the opening of the window meets minimum opening requirements, the overall opening doesn't meet the total needed area of 5.7ft.sq.



So here is where I stand, give me your feedback. Do I:

1. get a custom crank out window that allows for the 5.7ft.sq. The overall current opening would allow for the proper area needed.

2. Get a standard egress window (cheaper) and cut the opening bigger. This would require me to redo the brick masonry work on the front of the house.

3. In a different area on the basement there is a window that I could remove and install and exterior door, it would walk out to the garage level. I wouldn't have to redo brick as the cut would carry all the way to the floor.

I haven't looked into the price of a custom window to fit the current opening, but my experience with construction is that's usually not cheaper then standard issue dimensions. With the other options I'm capable of doing myself, but maybe someone with experience could give me feedback on what to expect as I haven't ever done it before.

Thanks for your input!

[10Toes]

Check the price differences, if it is only a little more and saves you lots of time and work then I would spend a little more for the custom window.

[IronFreak]

yeah, that's the way I'm leaning now. I'm so sick of that basement in general I want it to be as painless as possible.

[M-technik-3]

Can dig some soil away from the foundation and put a proper door in? It will give you a real piece of mind.

[IronFreak]

The thing is we already have a main door to exit. With the license that my wife carries there has to be 2 exits from each level. so we can use the front door as one, and then we need a secondary door or window. For some reason garages don't count (sucks because its on the basement level). So I was going to use the window as the secondary exit.

Just talked to the Fire Marshall, he suggested a "pop out pane" style window. but I googled that and it's not the correct term, any ideas? He said you basically pop a level and the whole pane comes out, no cranks or hinges.

[rturbo 930]

I think the door option would be best. It wouldn't alter the front of your house, but also, in the event of a fire, I think it would be easier to get everyone out.

Edit: from your last post, it sounds like the door into the garage isn't an option

[IronFreak]

nope, the only way the garage would be an option is if I install a side door, remove all chemicals and flammables and I can't park vehicles in it..........

It's a split level and the Fire Marshall designated the front door of the house as the main exit. it's only up 3 or 4 steps so no biggy. if I installed that door I would have two door on the front of my house about 8 feet apart.....not to hip on that idea....

[M-technik-3]

One in the back and the opposite of the basement? Or put in an oversized window as suggested that meets OSHA codes for a basement dwelling.

We are considering putting a another exit in our basement for this exact process. Ours is not finished but I would like to put a man cave room with a reasonable TV and the PS3 in the basement for nights when buddies come over. Problem is the ceiling is barely 8 foot but for man cave it's great.

Aren't split levels zoned all living space?

[IronFreak]

Depends on when they were built according to the Fire Marshall. It may have been when it was built but doesn't meet current standards. And I'm not sure if this is just required because of the daycare or not. I know that the basement wasn't ever classified as a bedroom though. It sucks because the lower level of my house is all underground except the garage area. Thats what's making this such a pain.

[Q5Quint]

You might want to double check with the fire marshal on the opening requirments. 5.7 is for upper story windows and 5 is for grade windows. It seems like you only need 5 brah, probably because you don't need to toss out a ladder on the ground floor.

Quote is from NC res codes which are still based on the iecc, same as nebraska, but they could have upped it a foot for whatever reason. In the end it is up to the firemans word so make sure to please him.

R310.1.1 Minimum opening area. All emergency escape
and rescue openings shall have a minimum net clear
openable area of 4 square feet (0.372 m2) The minimum net
clear opening height shall be 22 inches (558 mm). The minimum
net clear opening width shall be 20 inches (508 mm).

Emergency escape and rescue openings must have a minimum
total glazing area of not less than 5 square feet (0.465
m2) in the case of a ground floor level window and not less
than 5.7 square feet (0.530 m2) in the case of an upper story
window.
Exception: Grade floor openings shall have a minimum
net clear opening of 5 square feet (0.465 m2).
R310.1.2 Minimum opening height. The minimum net
clear opening height shall be 22 inches (558 mm).
R310.1.3 Minimum opening width. The minimum net
clear opening width shall be 20 inches (508 mm).
R310.1.4 Operational constraints. Emergency escape and
rescue openings shall be operational from the inside of the
room without the use of keys, tools or special knowledge.

[IronFreak]

Cool! Yeah my problem is I still only have roughly 4 square feet right now. I will double check on that because I'm sure that will effect the price of the window.

Thanks!

[Thizzelle]

get a custom window, pay a little but have far less work stress.

[Roadsterd]

It sounds like you are running on fumes and it's the end of the project; in my experience at that stage the path of least resistance is usually the best one. My vote is custom window.

[slaterd]

I'm a product design engineer at Western Window Systems stationed here in Phoenix. We make a lot of custom window systems. If you want I could get some info from you and have one of our sales reps give you a call and see if we can help you out with what you're looking for.

http://westernwindowsystems.com/

[Jorgen]

I would go with option 3 if it were my place.