We're finishing the basement of our 1950s cape with a guest bedroom. Does it need an egress window?

Yes. The residential code requires an emergency escape opening in a basement, and when the basement has a sleeping room, each sleeping room needs its own. A below-grade window must give at least 5 square feet of clear opening, 24 inches high and 20 inches wide, with the sill no more than 44 inches off the floor and a code-sized well outside.

Our upstairs bedrooms have old double-hungs. Do the replacements have to be bigger to count as egress?

Often not. Massachusetts lets single- and double-hung windows meet egress with 3.3 square feet of clear opening at 20 by 24 inches, and that applies to existing hung windows too. Separately, a replacement is exempt from the size and sill rules if it is the largest standard size that fits the existing opening and opens the same way or wider.

Can a basement egress window open under our back porch?

It can, with clearance. The code allows an escape opening under a deck or porch if the window opens fully and there is a path at least 36 inches high out to the yard. On a house with stacked rear porches, have the installer measure from the well to the porch framing before choosing the window, because a low beam can rule a spot out.

Who notifies Dig Safe before the window well is dug, us or the contractor?

Massachusetts law requires whoever digs to give notice first, and Dig Safe recommends the contractor make the request. The minimum notice is 72 hours, not counting weekends and legal holidays. The dig area is premarked in white beforehand, a ticket lasts 30 days, and digging within 18 inches of a marked line has to be done by hand.

How deep can a window well get before it needs a ladder?

Past 44 inches. A well deeper than that needs a permanently attached ladder or steps usable with the window fully open, with rungs at least 12 inches wide, projecting 3 inches from the wall and no more than 18 inches apart. The well itself needs at least 9 square feet of floor area and 36 inches of width and projection.

Egress Windows in Lowell, MA

Basement egress, all in: national cost guides put window, well, excavation and labor at about $6,000 to $8,000.
Window alone: a 2026 homeowner survey averaged $516 per egress window before any digging.
Excavation with the well installed: typically $3,000 to $7,000.
Minimum opening: 5.7 sq ft clear (5 sq ft at or below grade), 24 in high, 20 in wide, sill no higher than 44 in.
Time: over 40% of surveyed homeowners said the job took 2 to 3 days.

Lowell Window Replacement sets up a measure-and-quote visit with an independent replacement contractor for egress windows: casements sized for escape, basement windows with a dug well, and bedroom openings cut or enlarged to code. The visit and the referral cost nothing; the contractor prices the window, the digging and the cut in writing.

Egress Window Types for Lowell Basements and Bedrooms

Large white casement window swung fully open in a finished basement bedroom, window well and daylight visible outside

Casement Egress Windows

The casement is the most common egress window: the entire sash swings outward like a door. A 2026 survey averaged $529 for a casement egress window, $551 for a double-hung, $531 for a slider and $474 for a single-hung. Under the base code a hung window opens only half its height, so it has to be about twice as tall as the opening it must provide. Massachusetts eases that for hung windows (see the size section below), which matters in older houses where bedroom windows are double-hungs.

Corrugated steel window well dug against a poured concrete foundation, new basement egress window set in the wall, gravel at the bottom

Basement Egress Window With a Window Well

A below-grade egress window needs a dug well outside it, which is where most of the money goes. Cost guides put a basement unit at $2,500 to $5,000 for a prefab window and $3,000 to $7,500 for a custom one, with excavation and the well another $3,000 to $7,000. The deeper the window sits, and the higher the local water table, the more it costs. Before any digging in Massachusetts:

Dig Safe notice: at least 72 hours, not counting weekends and legal holidays
Premark: the dig area outlined in white paint, stakes or flags
Ticket life: 30 days from issue
Near marked lines: hand digging within 18 inches of a marked utility

Cutting or Enlarging a Bedroom Opening

Turning a small basement window into an egress window means cutting the foundation. When the old window is a standard 30- to 36-inch-wide basement unit, the opening can often be enlarged downward without a new header, using a concrete saw from both sides or a water-cooled chainsaw from outside. A Massachusetts construction supervisor license in the windows, doors and siding category covers repair and replacement of window framing under 4 feet wide, so for a wider structural cut, ask which license the person supervising the job holds. A new or enlarged opening also needs the building permit.

Galvanized window well with a fixed steel ladder on the wall and a clear hinged cover, beside a basement egress window

Window Wells, Ladders and Well Covers

The well has to let the window open all the way and leave room to climb out. Prefab wells come in corrugated metal or plastic, and buying the well, ladder and cover from one manufacturer keeps the parts compatible. Ask whether the cover is in the price or a separate line. A well also needs drainage to the foundation drain unless the soil drains well on its own.

Installer seen from behind pressing a new white double-hung window into an old painted wood frame, with a level on the sill and shims and a caulk gun on a drop cloth

Why Lowell homeowners call Lowell Window Replacement

One independent window contractor gets your request
Ask for the HIC number: MA contracts must show it
Written contract on any job over $1,000
The call and the referral are free

Massachusetts Egress Window Size Requirements

Massachusetts uses the 2021 International Residential Code with state amendments (780 CMR 51.00). The escape-opening rules, section R310:

Where required
basements, habitable attics and every sleeping room; in a basement with sleeping rooms, one in each
Net clear opening
at least 5.7 sq ft; 5 sq ft for grade-floor or below-grade openings
Clear height and width
at least 24 in high and 20 in wide
Sill height
no more than 44 in above the floor
Massachusetts hung-window exception
single- and double-hung windows may provide 3.3 sq ft of net clear opening at 20 x 24 in in either direction, for new and existing windows
Replacement exemption
a replacement window is exempt from the size and sill-height rules if it is the manufacturer's largest standard size that fits the existing frame or rough opening, opens the same way or wider, and is not part of a change of occupancy
Operation
opens from inside without keys, tools or special knowledge; any opening-control device must meet ASTM F2090
Window well
at least 9 sq ft of area and 36 in of width and projection; a ladder or steps when deeper than 44 in, which may intrude up to 6 in
Under a deck or porch
the window opens fully, with a path at least 36 in high to the yard

Upstairs bedrooms in a two- or three-family house raise one more rule: an operable sill under 24 inches above the floor and more than 72 inches above the ground outside needs a guard or opening limiter. On an egress window, that device has to meet ASTM F2090.

Egress Window Cost and Timeline

National figures; the written quote for your foundation and yard is what counts.

Egress window, unit only
$1,000 to $3,500 in one guide; $516 average in a homeowner survey
Installed, one guide's range by window type
$3,000 to $7,000
Full basement job (window, well, digging, labor)
$6,000 to $8,000
Time on site
2 to 3 days for over 40% of surveyed jobs, plus the Dig Safe notice period before digging

In a pre-1978 house, cutting out an old painted basement window frame is covered by the lead-safe work rules.