Three Things to Note in Your Greeley Basement Finish.
Greeley, like most local municipalities and counties are adopting the 2018 IRC (international residential code) rules for homes. In regards to basement egress windows, if there is to be a bedroom in your basement, that bedrooms must have a few things to qualify. First being a windows large enough to be considered an Emergency egress option. Next what to do if you have a window but its too small! Finally your bedroom must technically have a closet to be considered a bedroom, so we’ll go over that.
Greeley basement window size minimums
All local communities share this requirement for basement windows but there are a few things to note: First is that the minimum OPENABLE area of a window must not be less that 5.7 square feet. to measure this, open your basement window as far as you can, then measure the height and with of the open area. This is my math: Height in inches x Width in inches then divide by 144 to get your square feet. Like this: 22 inches X 36 Inches equals 792 Sq inches. 792 \ 144 = 5.5 square feet. (Too small)
What do I do if my basement windows are too small?
We have two options here.
The first is to see if we can swap out the window for a different style. The math example above was a real situation. The window was a slider window and the part that opened was too small to pass, Greeley and the homeowner were not willing to let this slide, so we simply swapped the window for a larger window that was only one large pane and opened in to allow for a 11.5 sq foot opening. This window was great and had other desirable features that made this an easy decision fort the owner.
The second option is to remove the window and cut the opening in the cement wall to allow for the size of window we would need. This option is best if your window is way too small and a simple style swap wont remedy the situation.
Include a closet to be able to consider the area a bedroom.
Its a simple difference and may seem arbitrary but for Real estate, tax, and occupancy purposes adding a closet is a part of making a room an official bedroom. There are reasons one would choose to include or even exclude a closet from a room in their home. The nice part of the closet clause is that if you have a room that requires a closet, we have been known to easily install them to rooms that did not originally have them!
Resources
Greeley Specific Basement Requirements
Greeley Single family Residential Official Basement Finish Guide
