Because basements are partially below grade, or under the ground, an egress window is often installed near a window well, ...

Measure Everything Know how much space you are working with. This is particularly important regarding height: Many local regulations on turning a basement into a livable area require that the basement ...

A: Legally, you might be able to seal off the window because the requirement for basement egress windows did not appear until the 1997 code cycle, said Greg Dennison, permits coordinator for the ...

But they also led to dramatic changes in building codes and egress requirements which, to this day, help to prevent similar accidents and save countless lives worldwide.

Q: I live in a townhouse in Gaithersburg, Maryland, built in the early 1980s. It has a finished basement with a small egress window with a rounded well outside. During heavy rainstorms, which we ...