Sure, the same old corrugated steel window well does the job. But you don’t have to install the typical well anymore. Now you have options; options that your customers will love and pay extra money for.
With the livable basement craze, window wells are serving more purposes than just holding back dirt. They are an escape route for little ones and a beautiful view from the lower level living area. But these systems don’t just add selection for the consumer. With recent innovations, installing these wells is quicker and easier, saving you time and money.
Here’s what we found in the window well world, adding beauty, safety and simplicity to the tried and true corrugated steel wells we all grew up with.
Beauty Is Only Well Deep
RockWell Window Wells makes a beautiful stone-textured fiberglass well made to look and feel like real stone. The one-piece decorative well has a built-in escape step and requires no extra assembly. Rockwell says this durable well is rust- and rot-proof, as well as UV, water, frost and weather resistant. The masonry look comes in a grey and brown. All Rockwell window wells are 66-inches wide with a 39-inch projection. The heights start at 24 inches and go to 60 inches in 12 inch increments. 801-375-7400; www.rockwellinc.com
Another decorative window well is Monarch Manufacturing’s Quarry View Designer Area Wall. It looks like natural stone and comes in six sizes and three colors—White Stone, Sand Stone and Granite. The Quarry View is a one-piece well with built-in steps. 800-343-9370; www.monarchmanufacturing.com
Windowell Expressions offers a different take on making window wells beautiful. Instead of making the well itself pretty they have designed a three-dimensional polyurethane liner that is semi-flexible and non-structural. It comes in four different rock patterns with 13 options. But the cool thing is this liner is not just for window wells. It can go over any surface from foundations to interior walls. 801-270-9355; www.wehideugly.com
Safety First
The Boman Kemp Window System comes with everything you need to build a safe basement window, quickly and easily. The system includes the Easy-Buck, Easy-Well, Double Insulated Vinyl Window, Safety Grate, Lexan Cover and Escape Ladder. Easy-Bucks are easy to install with aluminum or wood forms. They come with pre-set mounting screws to attach the Easy-Well directly to the Easy-Buck without drilling or tapping into the wall. 800-733-7886; www.boman-kemp.com
RomoTech’s egress window well is simple and safe. The one-piece egress well has built-in steps and fits casement and slider windows up to five feet wide. The angle of the well allows more natural light into the basement. But there is an optional polycarbonate safety cover that reduces the light but adds peace of mind when the kids are running in the yard. 574-831-6450; www.egresswell.com
St. Paul Corrugating Basement Egress System is all about safety. It has a large opening and Strong-Tight mounting flanges to hold back aggressive backfill. It has built-in steel ladders in two styles: the Life-Step and Corner-Step. To top it off there is a safety cover made with metal framework and clear polycarbonate. The cover is sturdy to prevent things from falling into the well but light enough for even small children to lift it to escape the basement. The vented cover fits multiple window well profiles and is sloped for drainage. 800-439-9271; www.stpaulcorrugating.com
Wellcraft’s Egress Window Well comes with a built-in ladder and cover. Wellcraft says the polycarbonate cover can withstand 350 pounds but is light and easy to push open for an escape route. The polyethylene well itself is weather-resistant, and will not scratch, dent or rust. 888-812-9545; www.wellcraftwells.com
Marflex’s Egress Window system Lifeline has built-in steps and handrails. These polyethylene wells come in two heights; 83 and 63 inches; and three colors: white, sandstone and granite. They let in plenty of sunlight and channel water away from the foundation wall. The typically residential system now offers a commercial system, as well. 800-498-1411; www.mar-flex.com
To Quote Thoreau, “Simplify, Simplify”
Bilco has simplified the basement window installation process by creating a window frame that doubles as a stay-in-place buck, with a snap-in window. The fully reinforced vinyl buck has tie-slots for attaching in the forms, back-out screws for simple installation and a full perimeter weather tight seal. Bilco also went as far as to make the snap-in window energy efficient with Intercept Warm-Edge technology reducing condensation and heat loss. The windows come in three standard sizes that meet code requirements for emergency egress. 203-934-6363; www.bilco.com
EMI Construction Products also has a buck-less window system. The Pro-Pour Egress Window system is a stay-in-place window frame serving as the window buck. The frame comes with wood bracing that you screw or nail the vinyl window to before the pour. You remove the bracing after the concrete forms are stripped and then the glass is installed into vinyl tracks. 800-603-9965; www.emisupplies.com