What Are the Egress Window Requirements for a Fargo Basement?
A basement bedroom in Fargo needs an egress window with at least 5.7 square feet of net clear opening, a clear opening height of at least 24 inches, a clear width of at least 20 inches, and a sill no more than 44 inches above the finished floor. Dodd Roofing and Exteriors installs egress windows across the Fargo-Moorhead metro, and the question usually comes up when someone is finishing a basement or listing a home with a room that cannot legally be called a bedroom yet.
What size does an egress window have to be?
Net clear opening means the actual open space you could crawl through with the sash fully operated, not the rough opening and not the glass size. That trips people up, because a unit that clears exactly 20 inches wide and 24 inches tall only yields 3.3 square feet, well short of 5.7. The window also has to open from the inside without keys, tools, or special knowledge.
Does the window well have to meet code too?
Yes. A well serving an egress window needs at least 9 square feet of horizontal area with a minimum projection and width of 36 inches. If the well is deeper than 44 inches, it needs a permanently affixed ladder or steps that stay usable with the window fully open, and covers or grates have to open without tools. Drainage is the part people skip, and in the FM metro spring melt finds that mistake fast.
Do you need a permit to add one in Fargo?
Cutting a new opening in a foundation wall is permitted work. North Dakota adopts the IRC statewide and Fargo, West Fargo, and Horace enforce it locally. Moorhead falls under the Minnesota Residential Code, which uses the same 5.7 square foot figure but runs its own permit and inspection process. A new opening in a load bearing wall also needs a properly sized header.
Does an egress window add resale value?
It is what allows a below grade room to be counted and marketed as a bedroom. Appraisers and MLS rules in the Fargo-Moorhead area generally will not count a basement room without conforming egress, so a three bedroom house on paper gets listed as two. It is also a second way out of a finished basement during a fire, which is the reason the requirement exists.
What does the installation involve?
Saw cutting the concrete, temporary support and a structural header, setting the well, tying the well drain into the footing drain or a dry well, backfilling, then setting and flashing the window. We handle it as part of our window replacement work and coordinate it with any siding or exterior repairs on the same elevation.
Dodd Roofing and Exteriors serves Fargo, West Fargo, Moorhead, and Horace. Call (701) 831-0710 to walk through egress sizing for your basement, or see our Fargo window installation page for the rest of what we install.
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