Those are excellent competitive prices and you should jump on them.

Feel free to heed or ignore this advice.

If any if the rooms are used as sleeping quarters, two forms of egress are required.

If there were a fire blocking the stairway, how would you get out.

Occupied basement required egress has very specific requirements.

Ask your local building dept.

Trebuchet, unfortunately, I have no idea if you are kidding are not...

snoonyb, I had an inspector that is also a general contractor come out and take a look at a few things. he said that due to the age of the house, the fact that two rooms were designated as sleeping quarters at the time it was built, and/or something else, we are grandfathered in, and we do not need to have egress. Thank god, because the walls are concrete, and it would cost a fortune to add it.

That's a great price! Not kidding at all. Why would you even think that? I'd expect almost double that cost for a decent quality installed product. In fact, the quote sounds low enough that I would actually be concerned with the quality or the status of the contractor as fully licensed and insured with the proper permits being pulled.

It is VERY shortsighted to not have egress windows here. You should always make safety items your top priority. Leave off all of the decorative details if you have to for later. But you need to get the bones right. And SAFE.

Bring some DIY to the table if you want to lower costs. If you don't have the money to do a project correctly, then you'd better have the time. It's money spent for someone else to turnkey it, or your own personal involvement and extra time while the project drags on. That's what living in an old home is all about.

" and we do not need to have egress."

This is patently false and self-serving.

Safety is only "grandfathered in" by the corrupt.

While the size of the existing windows and the window wells may not meet the current size requirements, that they are there can be determined to "meet the intent and purpose of the code."

However, it is up to the governing municipality to require/or not that the opening size be left as is, or increased to meet current codes.

Again;"If there were a fire blocking the stairway, how would you get out."

"Ask your local building dept."

If the "general contractor" who is also "a building inspector," is acting in both capacities and does not site the specific ordinance or refer you to the senior building official, who by the way, is usually the senior fire official, he's suspect.

That's a great price! Not kidding at all.

Completely depends where you're located. I can buy double sliders--iow, four aluminum sliding panes in a frame--for $150 max and install and caulk them myself in about an hour.

In fact, that's what I've done on new homes. (Maybe just to prove I can do more than stand around and bark orders!)

Instead of going to a box store, look for small fabricator who sells directly to the public.

Saving money by not having at least one egress window or door can be deadly. But not unheard of. The last custom I built where they weren't required I asked the clients. They spent tens of thousands on upgrades but refused a basement door or egress window.

This post was edited by worthy on Sun, Jan 26, 14 at 11:29

Yeah, anybody can buy a $150 crap singe pane window. Not disputing that at all. And anyone can educate themself enough to do the install themself correvtly as well. I already suggested the OP up his DIY game to stretch the budget further. :-)

What you cant do is get quality goods and services on a skinny budget unless you are willing to serialize the projects or reduce the scope of the job by eliminating the non essential decorative portions. And an egress window in a basement in a house with kids is not one of those optional elements. It's a priority. Or, it's a skewed priority if the project proceeds with doing carpet but not an egress window.

First off, thank you on the comments on the cost. I have never purchased windows before, and I just had no idea what was reasonable. When I looked at the big box stores, I saw windows for less than $200, so I wanted to get a second opinion.

Secondly, none of the rooms in the basement will be sleeping quarters, at least not for a while. One of the old bedrooms is my office, the other was converted to all storage by the previous owners. The other rooms are the laundry room, and a large living area. There are two stairs to get into the basement. One at the front of the house, and another set at the back of the house (both IN the house). In 5-6 years we figure our son would like to move downstairs, and about the same time we will be redoing the storage room and bathroom to convert it back to a bedroom, and put in a full bath.

I had a friend come out and look at the windows and give me a quick quote. Due to how the house was built, how close it is to the property lines, etc, it will be tough. One one side, if we put in a "proper egress window" we are looking at $7k-$10k, and it leaves about 6 inches between the window well and the sidewalk. On another side, he is afraid the well would go over the property line. In the front of the house, we would have to remove two 30yr old trees.

If I was to only put one egress window in the office, living area, and the storage room, it would eat up about 1/3rd of our entire reno budget, which is just not an option at this time.

Just checked some Home Depot prices for vinyl basement windows in similar sizes. As low as $65 each for insulated glass, vinyl frames, even E-coated.

Get yourself some basic tools or find a competent handyman at $25 an hour. Sheesh!

Just checked some Home Depot prices for vinyl basement windows in similar sizes. As low as $65 each for insulated glass, vinyl frames, even E-coated.
Get yourself some basic tools or find a competent handyman at $25 an hour. Sheesh!

ditto. I'd hire worthy any day of the week &
provide lunch.

look for a good handyman OP.

best of luck.

Those are great prices in my area. Another consideration - glass block in some of the basement windows.

IMHO, I would never consider using one individual as contractor and inspector. It defeats the 'checks and balance'

We have purchased decent windows and doors from both Lowes and HD. Checked with Lowes on Friday about some more windows and was told they probably will have a sale in April.Don't know if that applies everywhere.

I have one bedroom window that is too high off the floor. I was told that if I change the old slider for a new same-size slider, it was grandfathered in. If I want to put a casement or double hung window in its place, I would have to follow code.

However none of mine are in a basement. I agree with others about replacing at least some of the basement windows. Either get some means of egress quickly or do not use the basement. All it takes is one fire on the stairs and you can't get out. I understand about spending a lot of your remodel money on stuff you can't see. We had to rewire the entire house which was not in the budget.