Window Wells

If you are hoping to remodel your basement, chances are that you will need to build a window well. Fortunately, these can overlap your property line setbacks, but it is still a lot of work. Ken Shannon of Cascade Concrete Cutting cut the openings for me, and Seth Truby formed up the concrete window well structure on the outside, and he also helped me install the window when it arrived! I actually built two window wells in addition to the new basement entrance door, so my basement doesn't feel like a basement at all anymore... it's very bright and cozy.

Here you can see one basement bedroom with the window installed, and you can also see the concrete window well beyond. There are some important Code requirements to keep in mind on window wells. First, the sill of your new window must be no higher than 44-in. above the finish floor. You are allowed (in the City of Portland) to build a permanent step 12-in. high right under the window if you need to. Second, the window must allow for emergency escape and there are specific dimensions to meet that requirement. Overall, the window must offer a minimum of 5 sf of clear open area. In addition to that, the window must meet certain minimum dimensions - 24-in. tall and 20-in. wide. Also, the window well must have at least 3-ft. clear perpendicular from the window to the concrete.

Flush Beam, Stair Landing

Here's a photo to show you what a 'flush' beam looks like. We use this technique mainly in basement remodels when we need to gain some headroom. The new flush beam was installed where you can see the metal joist hangers. We used this technique in this location because this has become the stair landing - we needed every inch we could get for the minimum required headroom of 6-ft. 8-in.

In this photo, taken in September 2008, you can see the stair landing. We cut the concrete wall (well, Ken Shannon of Cascade Concrete Cutting actually did the cutting), poured new footings along the edges, and poured a new slab at the landing, too.

Breaking Concrete

The project started, of course, with drawings. But it is legal to start demolition before securing permits, so we got started by jackhammering the basement floor in June 2008. That turned out to be a good decision, as we were able to do a little last-minute design change before submitting the drawings.


We knew we would replace the plumbing waste lines below the concrete, which were 84 years old and ready to give out at any moment! So, we started by breaking concrete right around those pipes. After a while, we noticed that the concrete was only 1-2-in. thick, so we decided to remove it all and pour a new 5-in. thick radiant slab with concrete with an integral color.

Here's how our basement floor looked in September 2008, when the new slab was poured: