Window Well Covers

This spring, after a record-setting snow season with a metal roof, we decided to add window well covers to our egress windows.  There are a lot of benefits to this, beyond the obvious snow-clearing.  But our window wells were a little more challenging than in other applications.  

Because these rooms are actively occupied, I didn't want a simple cover that sits on top of the well, preventing the operation of the window.  And with a window that is half above-grade and half below-grade, that was a challenge to find.  I also needed to find a well cover that could hold up to the massive amounts of snow that we are capable of seeing in Minnesota.  

Snow

We are fortunate that even with the split-grade of our windows, they are a fairly standard well size, so having well covers fabricated didn't require a lot of additional engineering, and the strength of the polycarbonate we chose will be able to hold whatever we need it to hold: even us! And it can especially hold the snow load we saw this year.  

Snow hadn't been a huge factor before now, because the type of roof we had held onto most of the snow in the granule layer of the asphalt shingles, not unlike it still does on our garage.  With our insulation intact in previous years, we had almost no snow that slid off the roof.  Since we switched to a metal roof, the roofing material doesn't hold onto moisture in the same way, so snow slides right down and over the top of the gutter (as it should: the gutter should sit so the edge of the gutter aligns with the slope of the roof).  With over 80" of snow this year, our window wells filled with snow, and we wound up with large snow mounds on both sides of our house.  

​The Design

I knew I wanted to basically turn these into mini-greenhouses to keep it simple for clearing snow out of the wells in the winter, but I also needed these to provide safe egress.  With young kids, the extension of the window well height necessitated a ladder.  The kids struggled to pull themselves out of the window well before, now they have an easy means to climb up and out no matter what.  

The other consideration we had was to keep critters from getting trapped in the window wells.  Over the last few years, we've had everything from rabbits and mice to frogs and baby birds - getting the baby robin out while being dive-bombed by its parents was an experience I'd gladly live again, but I'm glad I won't need to!

Cost

​Overall, we spent $1200 for two wells.  I'm particular, so that included using a polycarbonate that can hold 500 lbs, ladders, and permanent installation.  There are some less expensive options with molded plastics, but I definitely worried that these would collapse under the snow load that sheds from the metal roof.  

The extension above grade to the top of the window was a significant cost-add as well, but I wanted to ensure the window could operate under any circumstance. We can rake the top with a big squeegee during the winter and that will help to ensure that no matter what time of year, the bedrooms are getting natural light and proper egress.  I also am comforted knowing that -even though it hasn't been an issue- this gives us another layer of protection from water in the basement.