Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 11/21/2008

Question
I am buying a house and the basement has egress windows. My mother is handicapped and I would like to make one of the windows a entrance to the basement,would this be possible?
Thank you for your time and consideration.

Answer
Sandra - thanks for your question!

Sure, it's possible!  You need to decide up front what "degree of accessibility" you want to achieve for her.  Will she be using a wheelchair?  Will she operate the chair on her own, or with assistance?  Or can she negotiate a short flight of stairs?

If she's going to be using a wheelchair, you'll need to install a handicap-accessible ramp.  A ramp is a rather large, expensive piece of construction, so you need to consider it carefully.

The slope of the ramp must be no more than 1:12 - this means for every inch of height between the ground outside the window and the floor of the basement, you need one foot of ramp.  For example if the ground outside is 30" inches above the basement, the ramp will need to be 30' long...a lot of construction.

In addition, the ramp will need to meet other requirements including handrails, landings, wheelguards, etc.  And since it's "underground" you'll need some sort of walls on the side(s) of it.

You will probably want to protect it from the weather, too.

Could be an expensive undertaking!

It would be far less expensive to make arrangements for her on the first floor of the house; a ramp from the front yard into the house will be much smaller and far less expensive, and can be easily built to be removed when it's no longer needed - unlike the permanent concrete ramp you'll need for the basement.

If however your mother doesn't need wheelchair access, you can install a prefabricated basement stair - you'll remove the window and install a door, then add the stair.  One manufacturer of this unit is Bilco (www.bilco.com) - check their "PermEntry" unit.  Their are others, too.

Or you can custom-build the door and stair if the prefab units aren't what you're looking for.

Check your local building AND zoning codes before you start, however.  Ramps and basement entry stairs are not allowed everywhere.

Hope this helps,

Richard Taylor, AIA
www.rtastudio.com
www.rtaplans.com