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We just wrapped up a full basement remodel—and one of the biggest undertakings was adding three egress windows. It was a major project that completely transformed the space, both in terms of light and livability.

If you’re considering a similar remodel or thinking about tackling egress windows as a DIY project, here’s everything I wish I’d known before we started.

We paid a great company, Best Egress to do the first two egress windows.
Benjamin from Best Egress is fantastic to work with and he runs a local, independent business that works by reputation. I can relate to that model of business deeply.
After watching the process and connecting with a few essential subcontractors we decided to tackle the project ourselves and see if we could save some money in the process.

Estimates​

I have seen bids for this job come in between $5,000 all the way up to $10,000.
Benjamin from Best Egress is getting $5500-$6500 for a 36″ X 44″ window with all the service.
So even on the low end it felt like we could save some coin.

Note:​

• Make sure to do a utilities locate with all your utilities providers! We had to reroute a gas line to complete this project. Be safe and locate all utilities. See the photo with decommissioned gas line running right through our dig. Even knowing it was disconnected it was a little nerve racking.
• The project can be more expensive if you were to do a larger window or add a concrete surround rather than the galvanized steel window well we used.

Here is the basic breakdown of labor, materials and services we needed to install egress windows.​

• The casement roll out Milgaurd window was $400 from Parr Lumber
• We had some friends who were willing to dig with us, we paid them! The labor for the excavation of the window well was $400, that was two guys for a full day and I worked right alongside so maybe 2 1/2 guys
  
• We rented a 10 yard soil dropbox from Flannery’s dropbox service for $500 and filled almost all of it. Flannery’s will drop off and pick up on the street in front of a house. I was amazed to see how much dirt came out.
• The window well surround was $300 ordered in advance from Home Depot. We tried to find a local vendor but came up bupkis.
• The Concrete cut was $750 that included concrete removal
• Framing was done by our General contractor and didn’t come with a specific price tag – You can do it or I would imagine you can get a carpenter or even a handyman for $500 or less.
• Materials for framing another $150
• The river rock at the bottom of the window well was $50
• The tap-con concrete anchors were another $20
• Liquid cement at seam of foundation and window well was $10

Total of – $3,080​

Not included:​

• I did a lot more digging on my own to get it to the depth and size needed.
• I have the tools needed for the job.
• The permit for this was rolled into our addition to the home so I do not know what that cost is. When I spoke to Benjamin, from Best Egress he said the cost can range and is usually done by the architect not by him.

The gold mine in this project was finding Paul and his concrete cutting company. He made a hand cut for us with a wet saw and hauled out the concrete. He charges by the square foot and it was worth every freaking cent we paid.
So there you have it, It was a lot of work for us. Even with hiring out the majority of the dig and having our GC do the framing and window install.
Moral of the story- you can do it!
It’s not cheap but it is less than paying for full service.
Is it worth it? That’s pretty subjective.
I now have a much better appreciation for the work that it takes to get this done and in the equation of time = money we may have broken even.

In the future I may just pay to have it done but I’m glad we did it so I can share this insight with you.

If you want a hands-on Real Estate Agent that knows how to work hard for you give me a call!​

The post Should You DIY an Egress Window? Let’s Dig In appeared first on Living Room Realty.