foudation poured, second floor almost framed, freaking out

9 years ago

I just realized that my architect put in 4 ft windows in the basement and in the basement bedroom he put in 4'5''( egress). They seem ginormous, I am upset beyond belief. Builder ordered all windows ( actually made a mistake by ordering 1/2 ft bigger windows for the first floor). I was so focused on windows on the 1st and 2nd floors I didn't look at the basement. The basement windows except egress are just above ground, but look sooo big. Has anyone seen anything like this?

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Comments (19)

chispa
9 years ago
Bigger windows and more light is a positive thing! Not something to be "upset beyond belief" about.
Stephanie Halfacre
9 years ago
Sounds wonderful to me. Our view, however, makes for a beautiful thing to look out that big window and see.
What will you be looking at?
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mrsb1227
9 years ago
Jealous of your problem, mine are too small. :(
abekker
Original Author
9 years ago
We have a beautiful county park in the back, so view is fine. You guys made me feel better. Although we are in compliance with the max height allowed by the town (hopefully) the house is looking like a 3 story house with the huge basement windows making neighbors of the one story capes to each side of our house a little uneasy.
abekker
Original Author
9 years ago
We have a beautiful county park in the back, so view is fine. You guys made me feel better. Although we are in compliance with the max height allowed by the town (hopefully) the house is looking like a 3 story house with the huge basement windows making neighbors of the one story capes to each side of our house a little uneasy.
david_cary
9 years ago
4ft wide?. Typical double hung?

That is a bit big - makes them hard to open.

If you are talking height - 4 ft is awfully small.

A little clarity would help. I have a house with a 6x6 ft flanked by 4x6 fts with a transom on top. Now that is a big window.

Typical in my neck of the window is 30 inch wide windows either 5 or 6 ft high. So you can see in my neck of the woods, I am bit confused what the problem is?
millworkman
9 years ago
As well a 4'5" tall double hung will definitely NOT meet egress code.
PRO
Epiarch Designs
9 years ago
doesnt sound like its a problem...however I hope you are/were not mad at the architect!....
abekker
Original Author
9 years ago
These are basement windows 4 ft tall and 4.5 egress. They are casement. I don't know how they will open at all.
millworkman
9 years ago
How wide are they? They must almost be a box shape if they truly meet egress code.
abekker
Original Author
9 years ago
This is the back of the house. The egress is on the side.
abekker
Original Author
9 years ago
This is the back of the house. The egress is on the side.

{{!gwi}}
abekker
Original Author
9 years ago
This is the back of the house. The egress is on the side.

{{!gwi}}
User
9 years ago
I forsee a lot of water issues with that basement. Windows are meant to shed water, not be aquarium walls.
User
9 years ago
At least one window in the basement or in each bedroom (on any level) must meet the "emergency escape and rescue" requirements of the building code. Casements would not need to be very large to do that.

However the step over height of these windows must be no higher from the floor than 44" so either the exterior grade must be lowered to below that level or a window well would need to be installed meeting the dimensional requirements of the emergency escape and rescue section of the building code.

If the photo does not show the windows in question it is not helpful.
millworkman
9 years ago
Egress windows need to have a 30" clear opening, from what I know that would mean 36" if a standard size unit is used.
abekker
Original Author
9 years ago
Egress is required in the basement bedroom, which I have on the side of the house with a window well. The windows on the picture are of the basement rec room.
millworkman
9 years ago
Yes but we are speaking of the size of the egress units, not just that they are there with a well.
abekker
Original Author
9 years ago
The egress window is 4.5 ft. Builder seems to know the codes. So I am not really concerned with that.

foudation poured, second floor almost framed, freaking out

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