Egress,windows,and,the,home,in homerepair how to Egress windows and the home inspection, what the home buyer

Elegance and style are mostly the factors why timber flooring is well-liked to home builders. Aside from that, timber flooring is one of the most gorgeous and long-lasting flooring options that any homeowner could make. It's going to add val This year when you go up into the attic to get the Christmas decorations take a look around the attic to see if there is any frost on the roof ceiling or rafters. If there is then you have a moisture problem that should be taken care of. Moi

Normal 0 false false false EN-CA X-NONE X-NONE Conducting home cottage and commercial inspectionsin the Orillia, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst and all of Muskoka areas I will oftencome across basements and attic spaces that have been converted to living spacein particular bedrooms. Many, many, homes listed now are specified as 2+ 1 oras 3+1  bedroom home The plus unit is a bedroom on another level like the former attic or basement.All bedrooms in Ontario must have a door to exit into the home and a directexit to the exterior of the home. They cannot exit into another room nor canthey exit into an enclosed space such as a porch or garage. Here is what I lookfor and what the homeowner should know about proper Egress or exit windows. Basicinformation for EGRESS WINDOWSThe minimum width of opening is 20inches.The minimum height is of opening is 24 inches.The sill height must be 44 inches or less from interior floor to top of windowsill.In Ontario the window must have minimum 3.8sq. ft total of clear opening or more. Normal 0 false false false EN-CA X-NONE X-NONE Inaddition, if any part of the window is below grade a suitable sized egresswindow well must be provided. This will normally require drilling into thebasement wall to install concrete anchors. Be sure to use a code compliantwindow well. If the window well will be deeper than 44" from verticalgrade, a code compliant ladder will need to be installed. Ladders or rungs needan inside width of at least 12 inches, and need to project at >3 inches fromthe wall,  spaced not more the 18 inchesapart. Many of the preformed window wells are made with integral code compliantCovers, if any are not allowed to lock and must be easily removable by a child. Usually they are made oflightweight clear plastic.  /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0cm;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0cm;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} Normal 0 false false false EN-CA X-NONE X-NONE Hereare some excerpts from the Ontario Building Code:* An egress window cannot be less than 46 cm. (18") in any direction.* The window opening has to be at least 3871 sq. cm. (600 sq. inches) * If there is a window well for the basement window, it must extend 92 cm. (3feet) out from the house wall. (note: this is the minimum room a fire fighterin full gear needs to get in to rescue you.Basement living areas require an emergency escape andrescue egress doors and windows. It's the law. Homeowners may come up with allsorts of reasons why they don’t think they need an it however if you have asleeping area in the basement for family, friends, or a basement rentalapartment or room; it is important to have a means of escape in case of a fireor other emergency. Small basement windows do not allow for escape and caneasily create a death trap in the basement. Many basements have only one realmeans of escape inside, to climb up a set of wooden stairs to the main floor.If the fire is on the main floor such as in the kitchen you would be trapped inthe basement. There would be no means to get to you by emergency services suchas the fire department. If the fire started in the furnace or mechanical room youcould easily be blocked and trapped. For both peace of mind for your loved ones, not to mention your liability ifsomeone did get hurt or lost their life in a fire,  investing in a basement egress window anddoing it right is well worth it. If yourent out a granny suite or maybe rent out a room in the basement it is yourresponsibility as the homeowner/ landlord to insure a safe means of escape froma fire, you are liable and responsible to insure that means of escape is thereand meets local building code requirements for a basement egress window. Installing a basement egress window may sound easy, but there is a lot moreto it than just cutting a hole and installing the new window. There arestructural concerns when increasing the windows width, the wall and header mustbe addressed to meet building code requirements for a egress window there mayalso be concerns with height from the floor. There are drainage concerns as theegress window area has to be excavated all the way down to the base of the homesfoundation or footing to tie into your homes existing drainage system. A  drainage tile from the egress windowwell  must be installed into the existingdrainage system to prevent the window well from flooding into the basement orholding water that could freeze a window shut in the winter. This can be a real hazard in the Bracebridge Gravenhurst and Muskoka area. The well will haveto have to be gravel filled after excavation to aid in drainage of the egresswindow well system. The base of basement Egress Window should be no more than *36" to *44"" from the floor The Basement Egress Window opening must be a minimum of *3.8 (24" x 24") to *5.7 (24" x 36") square feet. Not the window itself, but the opening when fully opened. Egress window type plays a big role here, a 32" X 40" slider window may seem to be large enough, but when you subtract the window frame, sash frames, screen frames and the fact that a slider window will slide open less than half the overall width it would be too small to meet egress window code requirements.The Egress Window opening must be minimally *15 inches to 20 inches at the smallest width or height.Egress windows must be easy to open from the inside without any advanced brainpower or strength-training. It must be the natural operation of the window and not a tilt in for cleaning opening sizes such as in a tilt in slider that requires additional window usage understanding that may not be know or easy to operate for some individuals.The Egress Window should not be a hopper type that opens to the inside from the top down, you don't want to have to crawl over a glass sash to get out of the egress window.You must have a large Egress Window Well. Minimum 36" wide from the glass of the opened egress window to the side of the area well. At least 9 square feet of clear space in the area egress window well.Egress Window Wells installed more than *36 inches to 44 inches deep should have steps or ladder to climb out. The Egress Window Well should extend at least *4 inches on all sides of the window to prevent water damage and wood rot around the window, and it is better to use a vinyl window installed to the foundation without wood exposed to the exterior on the frame. The must be at least one basement egress window in each bedroom. Where there is more than one apartment in a basement area there will always have to be a basement egress window in each apartment.There MUST be proper egress window well drainage including excavating down to the base or footing of the foundation and tying into the existing drainage system around the home. There also needs to be gravel and other drainage criteria met to insure that the window well will not fill with water and leak into the home.There is also homeowner responsibility to keep the egress window well area unobstructed and operational for the opening egress basement window, keep the egress window well area clear of snow and debris at all times.All attic egress windows must provide a way to get to ground level whether permanently fixed such as a ladder that can swing up for security or a folding ladder that may be secured inside and unrolled out the window when required. Normal 0 false false false EN-CA X-NONE X-NONE During any of my home cottage or commercialinspections in Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Muskoka and Orillia I look to assuremy clients that the windows from any bedroom are assessable to the exterior andthat they are the correct size for proper exiting in case of fire. In additionfor fire safety  if windows are belowgrade are the window wells the correct size and accessible for firefighters.  Reporting on proper egress windows and windowwells is just too important not to get Done Right /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0cm;mso-para-margin-right:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0cm;line-height:115%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}