Mudroom and Basement egress

2 years ago

We need to maximize every inch of our sqft in our house and use our back door/mudroom as the primary entrance from the yard and garage. The issue we’re having is that it also is next to a deteriorating concrete basement stairwell.

For the amount to repair stairs, would it be beneficial to build an egress on the side of the house if we ever plan to finish the basement and bring it up to code. I think we need 2 egress exits from the basement and we only have one with the existing door by the mudroom.

There are other reasons to stop using this door & stairs. It’s very low height and goes under the mudroom. The electrical panel is right there and we need to add a sub panel. If we remodel - this will probably be a mechanical / storage room.

The back entrance to the mudroom is also very narrow, and only has a single handrail with no landing, deck, or roof to help when you have groceries, keys, or dogs to wrangle. We have a senior dog now, and she really struggles on the narrow steps that are “open” on the side.”

My dilemma is the yard & patio is so small, I do not want to oversize the design. I also have no idea what the new basement door on the side would require in terms of space. As you can see from the pictures, our lots are pretty close together. I’m not sure we’re 10’ apart. I barely fit a small car down the driveway!

From my initial research, I’m seeing egress windows & stairs can be quite costly. We do have a waterproofed basement with recently upgraded oversized windows. The concrete bids are coming in quite high, which is why I’m considering the long range plan of the egress, because we want to refinish the basement in a couple years.

I need this mudroom deck figured out now because it is an every day situation! If I can expand over the stairs, it would really simplify things!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
This cannot be answered here you need to get someone to look at the situation and also do you need to have a set of steps to allow egree from the basement if you now have bigger egress windows . Waht is the last pic showing since that does not appear to be your house
Chris
2 years ago
This does seem to be a rather complex project. You seem to have enough ideas already to take to a few project managers or a contractor. I imagine there will be some architects and possibly a structural engineer involved. Good luck.
Related Discussions
Basement Design - Studio vs Multiple rooms, egress windows
Q
Comments (1)
If you use the room as a bedroom you need to have an ingress window. Worth on having additional code compliant bedroom is just that when you list the house you have an additional bedroom, and the worth in that is a fair market value for a house with so many bedrooms. So is this a basement with a separate basement entrance (if it's a walkout) and if you have a bathroom with a small kitchen it can be listed as a mother-daughter house, or in-law suite, etc. which can bring the value up. Good luck
...See More
Basement Egress Questions
Q
Comments (14)
Geoffrey - my understanding is the same as Worthy’s, any basement with a Finished area must have an egress window. I copied the below from his link. If you read the first sentence the comma’s show it is basements AND habitable attics AND every sleeping room. That means all three of those spaces must have an egress window. The comment further down about basement bedrooms is in addition. So if you have a basement with a finished area, it must have an egress window. If it has 2 bedroom both of those must have one. Now would a basement bedroom egress window count for the rest of the finished basement too? I don’t know, but everything I have ever heard or read says a basement without a bedroom, if it is finished and habitable, has to have one, and Worthy’s link says the same in the first sentence. It in fact does not even say the basement has to be finished to require one, just that a basement must have one. “basements, habitable attics and every sleeping room shall have at least one operable emergency escape and rescue opening. Where basements contain one or more sleeping rooms, emergency egress and rescue openings shall be required in each sleeping room.”
...See More
radiator & basement egress window
Q
Comments (11)
Code only talks about clear openings and the height that openings should be from the floor level. The code does not specify there should be a min floor clearance in front of the opening or any other obstruction. It is mainly for emergency rescue teams like a firefighter to be able to get through that opening with full gear including the oxygen tank. If you have an older person using a bedroom or this is a child's bedroom having anything in front or having nothing there, they will not be able to get out...But someone can get in and rescue them. No building inspector or fire marshal can tell you otherwise unless the code is changed and there is a clearance requirement something like you have for a fireplace clearance which clearly shows a diagram that specifies the area where there shouldn't be any combustible material and the distance in 4 different directions or like you have for the Electrical panel that shows the area to be kept clear for access. The ingress only specifies the sill height and the min opening size.
...See More
already finished basement needs egress
Q
Comments (7)
An egress window elsewhere in the basement does not count as an egress window. A competent contractor will make sure insulation, drainage and waterproofing are not impaired. Closed-cell spray foam against the basement wall was a great decision. If necessary, the contractor will seal the new window with handheld spray foam. Similarly, any plastic membrane will be sealed against the foundation wall. Hard to comment further when we don't have any idea of the composition of the basement walls.
...See More
anj_p
2 years ago
If you have interior stairs you should not need exterior basement egress. If you eventually put a bedroom in the basement, that particular room would need egress, but that can be accomplished by a large enough window with a well.
Kristen S.
Original Author
2 years ago
The second picture is an “inspiration” photo of a deck from one of our neighbors.

** We do have interior stairs and lots of new, oversized windows, but unfortunately not code for egress/bedroom space. We would just finish the space for storage/office/laundry. In our area, these houses typically can’t get up to code for bedroom below-grade due to their age. (1920’s) **

The issue is more the obstacles of the electrical panel and HVAC which are sitting by this mud room and basement walk up. Not a great location for doing any new work. Moving the egress or stairs would have some benefits if we want to make ANY changes, which is probably why it’s been ignored by the past owner(s).

We are meeting with an architect to help with sketches and budget but trying to figure out the WHO in the contracting world is overwhelming.

Every trade (basement, concrete, HVAC, deck, etc) so far has a different opinion. I feel I’ve started down a rabbit hole already, and if I have any hope of getting this started in 2022, I need to get a plan going. Thanks!
3onthetree
2 years ago
Any single family house only needs 1 egress door, meaning a way to exit the house walking while standing up. That is historically the front door. All the rooms, whether on a 2nd floor, attic, or in the basement, use this same door. So to exit the basement in an emergency, this is accomplished by walking up the inside stairs to get to the front door. If you ever intended to close off access to the basement from inside, say as a separate rental from upstairs, then the basement would need to retain it's own exterior basement door.

Separately from egress, a basement requires 1 emergency escape and rescue opening, meaning a large opening to walk or crawl out of, or for emergency personnel to come into the space, when the interior stair route is blocked. Note that this opening can be either a door or a window. Any sleeping room in the basement must have this emergency escape and rescue opening placed within the room's footprint.

There is a distinction between the terms "egress" and "emergency escape and rescue opening," as there are different requirements associated with each.

There are some minor exceptions to these basement requirements, but from your goals it doesn't look like any would apply. I have not experienced a jurisdiction amending code to require an exterior basement stair, but I see many firemen build their own houses with them. They create their own construction and maintenance issues, and I suspect that is why yours are so deteriorated.
Kristen S.
Original Author
2 years ago
I think it would be beneficial to have an exterior stair for hauling appliances and such, even if it’s unfinished right now. We do have laundry and a frig in the basement.

I’m interested to hear if our architect has some other ideas. He’s really great with older homes. There’s a window next to the door, and it looks like it’s in a better spot to cut out a new door opening if we need to repair the wall. This would also give me some distance from the electrical panel and HVAC. The outdoor TV is mounted above, but we’re probably moving that to the garage side wall anyway so the silver conduit will go away.

The previous owners started to rough in a full bath and bedroom, but we would probably have to start at the beginning with all the drawings and permits anyway.

I do appreciate learning from other homeowners who have tackled basement foundation repairs & egress projects. Thanks!

Mudroom and Basement egress

Comments (6)

Patricia Colwell Consulting

Chris

Related Discussions

anj_p

Kristen S.
Original Author

3onthetree

Kristen S.
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Mudroom and Basement egress

Comments (6)

Patricia Colwell Consulting

Chris

Related Discussions

anj_p

Kristen S.Original Author

3onthetree

Kristen S.Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Kristen S.
Original Author

Kristen S.
Original Author