Wouldn't the fact that it is walkout eliminate the need for an egress window? If you could get to the door just as easily as you could get out of the window, why wouldn't you??

If i'm in the basement and there's a fire, I'm either going up the stairs and out the front door or I'm going out the basement door to the backyard. Why the hell am I going to the trouble of knocking out a window that is 6' above the ground and wiggling out of it when there are two other possible exits?

Op here. The bedroom would be for MIL use and we would install an egress window since it is not just for an occasional visit. But she would have to sleep there as is in the meantime - hiring a contractor, getting permits and having the work done itself. That is why I want to know the legalities of it.

It would be expensive but doable to dig out an area and provide a large enough window well for egress to make it legal. Until then its only for sales and rentals where you can't list it as a bedroom unless it meets all the criteria.

you people are terrible, install an egress like most responsible adults

um- of course you can. You can't rent it out- but you can let anyone sleep there who you like. In fact you could sleep there yourself.

We have a similar setup-- we have been given informal estimates of 5k to dig out the window and make it an egress window.

Just an FYI - many of the older homes that we live in have windows in bedrooms that don't meet the current building codes. My house for example is a 1959 split level and the bedroom windows are too small and the sills too high off the floor to be meet current egress requirements.

no

If you are worried about safety, it doesn't matter what county you're in. If you're worried about complying with code, I'm not sure how exactly an inspector is going to discover your MIL sleeping in the basement.

What is driving this question? Fear of getting sued?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the basement is walk out, doesn't the exit door count as the emergency egress for fairfax county?

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/navbar/faqs/basement.htm

no. The emergency egress must service the bedroom.

Oh, I thought she was using the entire basement as a bedroom. my mistake.

No.

Anonymous wrote:If the basement is walk out, doesn't the exit door count as the emergency egress for fairfax county?

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/navbar/faqs/basement.htm

no. The emergency egress must service the bedroom.

If the basement is walk out, doesn't the exit door count as the emergency egress for fairfax county?

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/navbar/faqs/basement.htm

You can let someone sleep in your linen closet. But if there's a fire, I can promise you'll regret it.

As a homeowner can I use a bedroom in the basement for guests or MIL to sleep? There is not rental agreement or exchange of money or anything like that. The room only have one of those box windows to bring in day light.

Basement is walk out if it matters.

Also, on the same note how much does it cost approximately to change this into a legal room? This is in NoVa BTW.