Paul took some screens off the basement windows to clean them this weekend. Unaware, Michele opened one of the sliding windows about an inch wide. Unbeknown to us...Veto...
sensing spring outside, forced the window open
climbed into the window well
crawled up the terraced steps
forced himself through the opening between the ScapeWEL and its clear cover. (imagine theme music from "The Great Escape")
We couldn't find Veto. We went around the block numerous times...he was gone.
Sadness overcame us.
This morning, Paul made up a flyer to print at OfficeMax and put on telephone poles in the neighborhood. Then he went for one more walk around the block. On a neighbor's steps he saw a large orange cat huddled in a corner. It was Veto. Paul picked him up and brought him home. Veto is now safe (again). It was scary though. We have become very attached to our big furry cat.
Here is the flyer Paul made up (not needed anymore)... ...and probably a good thing because Paul can't spell "Maine"...
Recently Southeast Minnesota received a lot of rain. A lot. In about 24 hours our part of town received 11.5"...no kidding. We noticed that some home owners down the street put sheets of plywood over their basement egress window openings.
How did our basement fare with the two sizable basement egress windows in the front?
Paul is a bit of a worrier. Or you could say he has a heightened sense of concern. One night during the construction he had a dream that his neighbors burned him in effigy (really) over poor construction of the egress windows (in the dream). When he woke up, he began to think about water displacement...
To illustrate his thoughts, look at the following pictures and captions...
An exterior view of a BilcoScapeWEL... ...note that the rain would just pour in...
There is an optional Bilco clear cover... ...which we chose... ...but note that any water displaced will drop immediately over the sides... ...so is that still a problem?...yes...
Because when installing the ScapeWEL... ...you have to dig a large(r) opening... ...as with putting in any egress... ...but... ...Bilco has some very specific instructions regarding backfill...
STEP 6 Backfilling: If sandy soil exists, line the opening with a permanent barrier (such as house wrap) to restrict sand from washing into rock. FAILURE TO PROPERLY BACKFILL WILL VOID WARRANTY
OUTSIDE of Well: Backfill evenly by hand on all sides as the hole is filled in; Do not do one side at a time. Always use 3/4” clean free-draining rock or A6 stone completely around the well at least 12” in width to isolate the well from the earth. Fill area to within 4” of top step panel. This will keep window well movement to a minimum during cold weather freeze/thaw conditions and settling soil. Do not use expansive soils, frozen soils, material that has debris, or organic material.
What this all meant was that any water displaced over the Bilco covers we bought would just drop over the side onto the gravel and again go right into the bottom of the egress opening. If we were ever to get 6" or more of rain in a short period of time, that could cause an accumulation in our window well. Our 1960 house does not have exterior drain tile. So what to do?
Paul went to the general contractor and told him about his dream and that we had to change our design...to use those fuglystainless steel corrugated window wells (since you don't have to backfill them with gravel...and thus the displaced water would not be a problem). We would eat the cost of the already purchased Bilco materials to prevent a future catastrophe. The general contractor took it in stride (and ignored the opportunity to play Sigmund Freud to Paul's dreams). He said let's first look at all the options. So we took to thinking and came up with a plan.
What we ended up doing is laying 6" under the ground rubber roofing material (for flat roofs) over the ground at a slope away from the house. The roofing material was cut around the BilcoScapeWELs so that any water displaced over the sides would hit the ground (6") of it, saturate it quite quickly and cause any more to wash off the ground (at a slope) away from the house. Further more, we also lined the vertical sides of between the backfill and the earth to prevent water from seeping in along the sides.
Until this year we had no problems.
When the 11.5" of rain came this year...we still had no problems.
Afterposting pictures of the house taken when we just bought it, it occurred that it might be a good time to recall our basement remodel and the lessons we learned from it. When we moved in, our basement had 1/2 of it finished (approximately 14x30 feet). For windows there were two small single rows of 4 glass blocks each which let in very little light. The paneling was dark. The carpet was hideous. And the tiled ceiling was terrible. So when the time came, we remodeled the finished portion.
The only surviving picture of the ugly basement that was... ...notice the small window of four glass blocks and how little light it allowed in...
We established the following criteria for our basement remodel...we needed/wanted:
to be able to afford it
to allow in much more light...in the end we wanted two 4'x'4 egress windows
the windows to meet egress conditions (meet inspection)
After looking around at different egress solutions, we decided to use BilcoScapeWEL window wells. Treated wood tends to rot over time. And corrugated steel was not pretty at all. The BilcoScapeWEL has a terraced opening which functions as a step/ladder out.
An exterior view of a BilcoScapeWEL...
Since we had a large picture window which sides were almost centered on where we wanted the egress windows cut, we decided to employ a structural engineer. The trusses go from the front of the house to the rear, so the front and rear foundations carry much of the house's weight. The weight directly over the large picture window is displaced to the sides. The structural engineer had some good ideas (enlarge structural engineer the images below). The cost was a few hundred dollars but it was worth every penny.
Simple diagram of weight being displaced into where egress windows would go...
Page 1 of 3 from the structural engineer...
Page 2 of 3 from structural engineer...
Page 3 of 3 from structural engineer...
We found a young local contractor who gave us a great price and was willing to work with all our stipulations, such as:
full compliance with the structural engineer's specifications
full compliance with manufacturer's specifications
no subcontractors without our approval
no substitution of materials without our approval
no work would start until permits had been obtained
windows to be inspected and approved by the city for egress
sufficient dirt would be over the footing to prevent heaving of the foundation during winter
Construction was a fun thing to watch. It took almost 6 weeks (in retrospect we're not sure why). We did learn one important lesson, never dry cut cinder-blocks!
Avideo Paul Made some time ago of our almost finished basement...
