With a basement, a home can enjoy nearly double the living space on the same footprint. In Colorado, where the water tables are fairly low, basements are mostly a foregone conclusion. Builders now install egress window systems in new construction, but the codes for such are relatively new. This means plenty of existing houses were built with inadequate basement window systems and lack the safety features attributed to egress windows. Whether or not you are remodeling your pre-code basement, you should still retrofit at least one egress window into your subterranean living space.
4 REASONS FOR AN EGRESS WINDOW SYSTEM IN COLORADO
- Required by Code for Basement Remodels with Bedrooms
If you’re planning a remodel of your existing basement, each bedroom will require an egress window by code. Naturally, this will add to the cost; however, what you gain (besides avoiding a host of sticky legal issues) makes the extra expense worthwhile.
- An Egress Window Delivers the Safety You Know You Need
Often, homeowners can feel that codes serve only to extract funds while providing little in return, but in reality, they’re designed to ensure safe quarters for owners and future residents. Considering that a below-grade room can become a death trap in the event of a fire or natural disaster, you should already desire an easy escape route without the force of a code. Also, should a disaster occur, you’ll be glad that rescue teams and firefighters can enter the basement from outside if needed. Should the stairs become blocked, emergency teams with the full array of gear can enter an egress window and reach unconscious victims.
But that’s not the only reason you need these windows in your home.
- Improve Your Mood with Natural Lighting
Researchers have long proven the value of natural lighting over that of artificial in terms of human health. More daylight translates into better moods, increased productivity and even better sleep. The larger window opening and window well allow much more of Colorado’s famed sunshine into your basement. Where once a basement felt more like a dungeon, with extra daylight streaming in, the living space can take on more of an above-grade ambience. To further benefit your health, the additional daylight may be enough to successfully grow house plants that increase the oxygen level in your rooms.
- Reduce Your Energy Bill
In basements with small windows, daytime activity usually calls for electric lighting. If you spend a lot of your day in the basement, with egress windows, you can cut down on bulb lighting and the energy it requires. Moreover, in the summer, you can increase the home’s ventilation by opening the large windows. If you happen to live in one of Colorado’s radon zones, you can use all the free ventilation you can get. With upstairs windows also open, your cooler basement air can be drawn upstairs, permitting you to run your air conditioner or fan system less.
AFFORDABLE QUALITY WITH A BOMAN KEMP BASEMENT WINDOW SYSTEM
With the innovative Easy-Buck and Easy-Well system, Boman Kemp windows can be perfectly formed at the foundation pour using standard wood or aluminum forms. Eliminating the need to remove solid concrete after the pour to make way for egress windows, you automatically save money on your new construction project. In either a new build or retrofit application, once the opening has been formed, installation of the double-insulated vinyl windows, safety grate, Lexan well cover, and escape ladder follow with little difficulty. Boman Kemp egress windows meet or exceed all code requirements and give you code compliance, natural lighting below-grade, ventilation and decades of peace of mind.
Barton Supply can provide you with high-quality Boman Kemp basement egress window systems at a price that won’t decimate your budget. Because Boman Kemp only offers their excellent basement window systems through a network of approved distributors, ask your contractor to call Barton Supply to place an order.