Typical cost in West Valley City
An egress window project in a West Valley City basement has three parts: the opening through the foundation wall, the window and the well outside, and West Valley City Basement Finishing handles all three. A bedroom in a basement needs the opening, and adding exterior windows appears on the city’s list of permit work.
We work in West Valley City, Magna and Kearns. This page covers the window and the well. The room around it, with its alarms and ceiling, is on the basement bedroom page, and the written estimate is free.
A basement as a whole is expected to have a working escape and rescue opening (R310.1), and so is each sleeping room; it must lead directly outdoors to a public way, yard or court. The code carves out exceptions, which the plan reviewer weighs.
Where a basement has one or more sleeping rooms, each sleeping room needs its own opening. A bedroom added in a basement carries this requirement with it.
Under R310.7, a new sleeping room or accessory dwelling unit made in an existing basement must get the opening, while other alterations and repairs to an existing basement do not trigger one. Officials interpret that, so check with the city first.
The window opening has to meet these numbers:
Why the two minimums are not a window size: 24 x 20 inches is about 3.3 square feet and the code wants 5.7. Keep 24 inches of height and the opening needs about 34 inches across; keep 20 inches across and it needs about 41 inches of height.
The well outdoors is sized separately: at least 9 square feet in plan, no less than 36 inches out from the wall and 36 inches wide, and roomy enough for the window to open all the way. Deeper than 44 inches, it also needs a ladder or steps fixed in place.
Cutting a window into a concrete or masonry wall changes the structure. Murray’s checklist, as an example, allows structural changes that meet the code’s span table or that an engineer has approved, and we have not confirmed West Valley City’s requirement for a cut-in. The question to put to any installer is what the plan shows for the wall above the opening.
Adding exterior windows is on West Valley City’s permit list, so the work is permitted and inspected. This page does not describe how the wall is cut, how the header is sized or what it costs; those follow from the wall and the plan.
A well is meant to drain by tying into the foundation drainage system. The exception is a foundation on well-drained soil or sand-gravel mixtures, which the code’s drainage table calls Group I soils. Which side your house falls on is for the plan reviewer to determine; nothing on this page can say.
Anything over the opening or the well, whether bars, grilles, covers or screens, must release from the inside without a key, a tool or more force than opening the window takes. A cover that locks would cancel the point of the window.
Sleeping rooms in basements need an escape opening each, and a bedroom newly created in an existing basement is no exception. Whether a specific room qualifies is the city’s decision; the Building Inspection Division answers at 801-966-3600.
The city lists replacing or adding exterior windows among the work that needs a permit, and the permit is bought from its Building Inspection Division. Whether a homeowner may do the work and apply for the permit on their own house is the division’s answer, so call it.
The range on this page is an estimate. The size of the opening, the wall, the depth and size of the well, the cover and the drainage all change the price. We quote after seeing the wall and the ground outside.
Every egress window serves a bedroom, and basement bedroom covers that room with its alarms and ceiling. Other work is listed on the West Valley City Basement Finishing home page.
Tell us where the window would go, which wall and which side of the house, and whether there is already a small window there. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.
Call (385) 481-7973