Egress Windows in Red Deer, AB
Permit, dig, concrete cut, window, steel well and clean-up, all by the same crew. Your basement egress window gets finished by the people who started it.
Updated
Basement egress windows, start to finish
Red Deer Custom Windows installs egress windows in Red Deer basements, and we do the entire job: dig outside, cut the foundation, set the window, put in the window well. An egress window is simply one big enough to climb out of in a fire. The Alberta Building Code wants one in every bedroom that doesn't have its own door outside, and that includes basement bedrooms and suites.
Red Deer Custom Windows provides basement egress window installation to Red Deer and surrounding Alberta towns, including Lacombe, Sylvan Lake, Blackfalds, Innisfail, Olds, Ponoka and Stettler. Customers keep telling us other companies would only quote part of it: a digger here, a concrete cutter there, a window guy after that. We've done the whole thing in one go since 2001, and every egress install carries our 5-year installation warranty. One crew, one bill, one person to call.
What one crew covers on an egress job
- Permit drawings drawn up and filed with the City for you
- Utility locates booked before a shovel touches dirt
- A clean, square foundation cut with a wet concrete saw
- Galvanized steel window well on drain gravel, then backfill
- Framing inside left ready for drywall, and the mess gone
Types of egress window jobs
No two basements start from the same spot. Nearly every job we quote lands in one of these.
New Cut-In Egress Windows
No window in the bedroom, or a tiny one? We cut a new opening in the concrete with a concrete saw, add a steel or wood header above if the wall calls for it, and build the rest from there. Dig, cut, frame, window, well, backfill. It's the biggest of these jobs and the one we do most.
Enlarged Basement Windows
Lots of older Red Deer basements have little hopper or slider windows nobody could squeeze through. We cut that opening wider and deeper, fit a bigger window and add a new well. Expect a smaller bill than for a brand-new hole, since half the cutting has already been done.
Egress Window Wells
A window well is the liner that holds the dirt back from a basement window. Steel or plastic both exist; we use galvanized steel with drain gravel underneath. For egress, you need at least 760 mm of clear space in front of the window, so a skinny old well usually has to go.
Casement Egress Windows
Casements swing open their full width, which lets a smaller window hit the egress size. Most basement bedrooms we finish get one for exactly that reason. There's more about the style on our casement and tilt-and-turn windows page.
Slider Egress Windows
A slider opens only half its width, so it needs a bigger frame to pass. Where the wall is wide and the well can stay shallow, a slider works and saves a little money over a casement.
What are the egress window requirements in Alberta?
Under the National Building Code, 2023 Alberta Edition, a bedroom egress window needs at least 0.35 m² of clear opening (about 3.8 sq ft), with no side under 380 mm (15 in). It has to open from inside without keys or tools. If it opens into a window well, you need 760 mm of clear space in front.
Clear opening means the hole you can actually climb through with the window wide open. The frame size doesn't count. Here's how it plays out: someone buys a big-looking slider, the inspector measures the half that opens, and the window fails. We check the real opening on paper before we order. Do the bedrooms first.
- Requirement | Minimum | In inches
- Clear opening area | 0.35 m² | About 3.8 sq ft
- Smallest side of the opening | 380 mm | About 15 in
- Clear space in front, inside a well | 760 mm | About 30 in
- How it opens | From inside, no keys or tools | Same
Do I need a permit for an egress window in Red Deer?
Yes. Cutting a new opening, or making an old one bigger, is a structural change, and the City of Red Deer requires a building permit for it. Swapping a basement window for one the same size needs no permit. The permit comes with an inspection, which is where the egress size gets confirmed.
We draw it up and file the permit as part of the job. Neighbouring towns run similar rules, so it works much the same for window replacement in Blackfalds or out in Penhold. On a basement suite in Sylvan Lake, we cut a new egress opening, set a steel window well and pulled the permit: two days on site, about $5,800 all in.
What happens on the day we dig
- Utility lines are marked before the first shovel
- The hole gets dug outside, with the soil piled on tarps to save your lawn
- The foundation is cut with a water-cooled concrete saw, which keeps the dust down
- The window gets set, sealed and flashed, then the well goes in
Pricing
How much does an egress window cost in Red Deer?
A new egress window cut into a Red Deer foundation typically costs $4,000 to $6,000 installed in 2026, the top of the $1,000 to $6,000 range local price guides list for basement windows. Enlarging an existing opening costs less. Window size, soil, how deep the well sits and the permit fee decide where yours lands.
Ranges from a 2026 Red Deer price guide and our own recent egress jobs. Permit fees are set by the city.
Contact Us| Job | What's included | Installed price (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Window swap, opening already meets egress | New window only | $1,000 to $2,000 |
| Enlarged basement window | Wider cut, window, new well | $3,000 to $5,000 |
| New cut-in egress window | Dig, cut, header, window, well | $4,000 to $6,000 |
| Building permit | Drawings and application | City fee added at cost |
How our egress window installs go
Check the room and the code
The owner looks at the bedroom, the wall and the yard, then works out a window size that passes.
Permit and locates
We file the building permit and book utility locates, so nobody hits a gas line.
Dig, cut and install
Hole dug, foundation cut, window and well in. Two days on site for most basements.
Backfill and clean up
Drain gravel and backfill around the well, the yard raked tidy, and the inspection booked.
FAQ
Egress windows FAQ
How long does it take to install an egress window?
Most egress windows take us two days on site: day one to dig and cut the foundation, day two for the window, the well and the backfill. The permit comes first and usually takes a couple of weeks, depending on the town. The inspection follows once the work is done.
Can you install an egress window in winter?
Yes, though frozen ground slows the dig. In a hard January the frost can go well over a metre deep, so we may thaw the ground first. It's like rigging up on a frozen lease: tarps up, heater running, basement sealed off, nobody rushing. Plenty of people wait for spring and save some money.
How big does an egress window well need to be?
The Alberta Building Code requires at least 760 mm (about 30 in) of clear space between the open window and the back of the well. The well also has to be wide enough for the window to swing fully open. Most egress wells we put in sit about 1 m deep, front to back.
Will an egress window let water into my basement?
Not when it goes in properly. We seal and flash the window into the concrete and set the well on a bed of drain gravel, so rain and snowmelt soak away instead of pooling. Slope the soil away from the well and add a cover, especially before the spring melt. Trust us, April tests every well in town.
Does a basement suite need egress windows?
Yes. Every bedroom in a basement suite needs an egress window, unless it has a door straight outside. The City of Red Deer checks for this when it reviews a suite permit. In our experience the egress windows are one of the first things to sort out when a basement becomes a legal suite.