Our 1st Egress Window

Well, we did it. Last Thursday we got all the material together and started our first egress window project. Here's what the front looked like pre-demolition:

Melanie and the boys dug out the first layer and hauled it to the back yard with the red wagon.

I started at about 2 pm with it looking like this and got it most of the way dug out when DelRay and Caleen showed up to help--and boy was I glad to see them!! (and their wheelbarrow)


While Dad was finishing up the digging, I started planning the cutting and taking out the old window. The window came out pretty easily and then the cutting began. We got 3, 7 inch carbon concrete blades for $2.15 each at Stars Ferry Building Supply. We figured with a 7 inch blade we'd be able to cut through at least 3 inches of the six inch thick concrete wall. What we didn't plan on was the 3/4 inch plaster on the inside and the thickening of the wall as it goes down. Turns out we were only able to cut through 2" from either side, leaving about 3 inches of concrete in the middle.

So, once we got the wall scored from either side, we didn't know what to do next. As we stood there scratching our heads, I asked Melanie to hand me our little short handled 9 lb sledge hammer, just to see what happened if we hit it. Well, it didn't just fall out, but after about 5 hits to an upper corner, a big chunk broke off. That gave us hope and so for the next 2 hours we traded off beating on the wall. Luckily there wasn't any rebar in the wall or we'd still be beating on it.





Once we got the main part of the hole broken out, we squared up the rough parts and were ready for the framing.











From there we shimmed the jam, set the window and sealed it with GreatStuff. We were very excited and happily suprised that we got it in in one afternoon. Which was handy because we left for Eastern Idaho for the weekend and it poured rain while we were gone. (no leaks :)
My wife after a long, tiring day.

Notice the darkness around the house :)
We finished at about 11 pm.
The boys now have an escape hatch!!
And we have an official 3 bedroom home.