A Burning Issue In the Basement

When Wayne Green recently decided to transform his 27-year-old unfinished basement into a combination fifth bedroom, home theater and storage area, he began shopping for contractors and crunching numbers. It didn't seem as if it would be a huge project.

But there was one expense he didn't expect: adding a budget-busting window. The sobering news came from Fairfax County permit officials, who said his older basement had to be brought up to code. For Green, that meant adding an approved emergency exit.

After rejecting window bids as high as $8,000, the Springfield man settled on D&A Concrete Cutting Services, of Front Royal, which charged about $2,000 to install a 24-by-36-inch casement window.

That tidy sum might have bought a wide-screen television for Green's home theater, but complying with code was "the smart and right thing to do," he said.

"Some people say, 'Why do I have to be legislated to do every single thing?' " he said. "But from a safety standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to provide a means of escape to get your family out . . . in case of a fire."

Without an emergency exit, the results can be grim. For instance, on Jan. 5, 2002, a blaze swept through a Gaithersburg townhouse, killing four family members sleeping in the basement. According to the National Fire Protection Association, from 1999 to 2002, an average of 18,200 fires a year broke out in below-grade residential areas, killing 130 and injuring 940.

In response, building and fire codes in many jurisdictions require "emergency escape and rescue openings" in both new basements and certain older basements. The predictable result is a flurry of aftermarket products, competing manufacturer claims and homeowner confusion.

For new homes, the matter is simple. Since 2000 or so, all new basements -- with or without bedrooms -- must have a code-compliant escape and rescue opening. In addition, each bedroom in the basement must have its own escape window.

For older dwellings, questions typically center on two issues: Which older basements need an exit window? And what are the specifications regarding location, size, window type and installation?

A 'Finishing' Rule

Residential and fire codes are complex and vary among jurisdictions, but they share common features, said Roland Hall of the Philadelphia-based International Code Council.

Code typically does not require basements in older homes to have an escape opening, unless the dwelling has a below-grade bedroom or has recently been or is going to be modified, said Paul Lynch, director of residential inspections for Fairfax County.

Some homeowners are surprised to learn that a bedroom in a basement must be outfitted with a window, he said, but the applicable regulations date back several decades. If the bedroom predates these codes, however, a window generally is not required.