Egress Windows are a legal requirement, a safety measure for your home, and a good way to add value to any home.
What are Egress Windows
Whenever a home has a basement or any space at all under the ground, there are now legal requirements regarding fire escapes. In Ontario the Building Code was updated in 2006 to require that any Living Space (a bedroom or any room where someone sleeps) to have a primary Fire Escape Route (the inside stairs up) and a second Fire Escape Route just in case the fire prevents anyone living there from reaching the stairs up. In case of needing to leave the home quickly from underground, you would need to Egress from the basement, so the second Fire Escape Exit is called an Egress Window or Egress Door.
Added benefits of an Egress Window
Firstly, adding a new window or enlarging any window will add more light into the room. This has a number of benefits including reducing lighting costs, and making the room seem bigger.
Secondly, the new or larger window may allow you to open it and this will help you to ventilate your room and your entire home plus the added benefit of helping to cool that room in the summer.
Thirdly, if the new window is an Egress Window then it also provides an emergency exit which can allow you to legally call a room a bedroom, whether you are just making repairs, or looking to upgrade your home for its value.
To Be Continued…
Our next post goes into further details. Keep reading on Egress Windows in Ontario – Part 2.
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