(light music) - Hey, Caleb Dansie here, and thanks again for
tuning into our videos. I wanted to share with you
today some information on the engineering for
basement walkout entries, and how we can actually
maximize the amount of options of different places we could
put an entrance on a home. And then also, when we need
to have engineering done and when we do not. So I'm gonna run through
a few different options with you today, show you
on my computer screen three different situations. Two of the situations are where we actually have a existing window that's going to be turned into a door, and then a third option where
there is no existing window, we're just excavating
and putting in a door anywhere in the foundation. So let's jump right into this, I'm gonna flip my computer screen around so that you can see that,
and we'll jump right in. Okay, so the first
example that we have here is when we have a window
that the top of the window is shorter or lower than 83 inches above the top of the
basement concrete slab. So what we have here is a foundation. This is looking from the outside, all of these are gonna be the same view. Looking from the outside, this here's the top of
the foundation wall. We have the existing window where the top of it is
less than 83 inches high. And then the concrete floor down here is shown where the stairs are gonna land on that landing outside, and that's gonna be the same height as the floor inside the basement. So this situation would definitely require a structural reinforcement,
something that's engineered. And in this video today, I'm showing you some pictures, exterior and interior reinforcement, that's what the engineer specified. There's a lot of different ways that the engineer can plan
this out that would work. This is just what we had on
these particular projects. So this is the first option. The reason we're going to
definitely need the engineering is because the height
of the window is lower than the height of an egress
door, which is 83 inches. It's a seven foot door, it's a standard, you cannot make a shorter
door for an egress, which is a emergency exit. So we'll then, after we
get the reinforcement cut and installed, everything done, then we can move to cutting
the concrete opening, which is less than 83 inches tall. And then, or right at 83 inches at least. And then we can put in the door and then trim that out
with either stucco siding or just trim, depending on the width, and what that actual, what that will actually be. So that's gonna be unique for every home, and the situation that we're in with that. So that's the first one, and
here's a picture of that. So on the left side here shows the engineering reinforcement that the engineer specified. And we had to put these on both side, the inside and the outside of the house. And that is there to make sure that that concrete does not break or crack under the forces coming
down from the home above it. So this was a two story home, and that was the load bearing
wall that bore the load of the two stories and
the trusses above that. So, and then on the right side, that shows how it was when
we got all the door installed and everything. Our next example is where
the window is actually higher off the floor inside the
basement than 83 inches. This is where you're actually not going to need any engineering, because the only part of the
concrete that we'll be cutting is the lower portion
underneath the window. So because we're not
disturbing the header, how they poured that concrete originally, and the foundation, is sufficient, we're not disturbing that, so there won't be any engineering here. So then we can put in the
door and take out the window and then trim that out with stucco siding, or just trim, depending
on the situation again. And then here's a picture
of that on the left side showing the top and the right
side showing the bottom. So this is work in progress
that isn't isn't completed yet. So you can see that on the left side here, that header was never disturbed. Then the last example
is the foundation wall turned to walkout door
where there is no window or any opening in the concrete. So we just have a blank canvas, and this is where you're
going to need engineering regardless, no matter what you do. And so I would recommend at this point, if you know if you have
the first situation where your window's height
is lower than 83 inches, you're gonna have to do
engineering regardless. So at that point, you don't have to use a
window to turn into a door. You could go with this route, open up a lot more opportunities for different areas in your home, maximize functionality, side
yard, backyard, privacy, or whatever you're looking to do, this would really help. So you can put it anywhere. And it's actually a lot more simple and can actually, the
engineering cost can be absorbed because we don't have
to worry about the trim, or stucco, or siding, we can just put the
casing of the door around, which will actually
save some cost as well. So this is the third example,
and it's a great option so that we don't have to be constrained to the size of a certain
window, and work around that. It's just a lot easier in some
situations to go this route. The rules of thumb that you need to know are the concrete header, if that window is lower than 83 inches from the foundation, or
the floor in the basement, then we're gonna have to
disturb that header up top and have to do some engineering there. If it's higher than 83
inches, then we're lucky, we don't have to do any engineering. That's always exciting. And then if you're stuck
doing engineering, either way, then that opens up a lot of possibilities to put the walkout anywhere else. So a lot of folks feel kind of restricted to turning a window into a door, but a lot of times if we have
to do engineering either way, it's just as easy to put it anywhere else, and can save some cost
on the exterior finish if you don't use a window. So anyway, I hope that
helps you guys today. And thanks for tuning into our videos. If you have any questions,
you can leave us a message on our website. Over on the right hand
side of our website, there's a place where you
can leave a voice message, a quick voice recording for us. And we can actually make a video and put that out into our
channel and on our website, so other people can get
those questions answered too. So anyway, appreciate you guys, and let us know what you think. And if we can help you with
finishing your basement, or any other remodeling
projects that you have, love to hear from you. Have a great day. Talk to you soon. Bye. (light music)
