Basement Egress Window Cost (2026): $8,859 to $13,629
Adding a code-compliant egress window to a poured concrete basement wall costs about $8,859 to $13,629. One code-size egress window cut into a poured concrete wall, with the well, ladder, cover, drainage and interior return, itemized with crew hours.
Describe it
Every line, by trade
The egress window in the Clamp app: described in plain words, then the estimate at $6,814.60 job cost, every line grouped by trade. Sample data. Illustration of the Clamp app.
The job at a glance
One build, fully itemized, with crew hours.
| Build | Job cost | Labor | Crew hours | Materials | Illustrative selling price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Egress window in a poured wall | $6,815 | $3,449 | 29 to 39 h | $2,066 | $8,859 to $13,629 |
Dump fees and other costs ($1,300) are the same in every build and included in the job cost. Materials include allowances. Illustrative selling price is the job cost at a 30% to 100% markup; your price depends on your own overhead and profit. Labor hours are a planning range and include setup, daily cleanup and material runs; they are never a charge to the customer. Permit and inspection fees are not included; requirements vary by jurisdiction.
Which price is closer to yours?
- Lean, +30%: A handyman or owner-operator who does the work with a small crew and no office. Usually the lowest quote. The owner handles scheduling, questions and callbacks around the work itself.
- Standard, +50%: A remodeling company with a crew, an office, insurance and someone to answer the phone. Close to the average remodeler's overhead in the National Association of Home Builders cost-of-doing-business survey.
- Full-Service, +100%: A design-build firm with designers, a salesperson and a project manager who runs the job. The extra pays for planning, coordination and one point of contact from design to final inspection.
Higher markup means more business behind the job, not by itself better work, and a lower markup is not by itself a better deal. For contractors: how each markup splits into overhead and profit is in the overhead categories guide.
The build in detail
A. Egress window in a poured wall: $6,815
About four cubic yards of excavation, a saw-cut opening in the poured wall, a code-size window, a well with ladder and cover, gravel tied to drainage, and an insulated, trimmed interior return. Labor is $3,449 of the $6,815 job cost, or 50.6%. It is about 29 to 39 hours of work, including setup, daily cleanup and material runs.
Labor cost by trade
Labor only. Materials, allowances and dump fees are in the line items below. Hours are person-hours at typical production from Clamp’s labor hours catalog, as a range: a planning figure, not a schedule and not a charge to the customer.
| Trade | Hours | Labor cost | Lean×1.30 | Standard×1.50 | Full-Service×2.00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo & Prep | 2 to 5 h | $300 | $390 | $450 | $600 |
| Sitework | 3 to 6 h | $329 | $428 | $494 | $658 |
| Carpentry | 18 to 26 h | $2,820 | $3,666 | $4,230 | $5,640 |
| Setup, cleanup and material runs | 2 to 7 h | in the prices | |||
| All labor | 29 to 39 h | $3,449 | $4,484 | $5,174 | $6,898 |
Every line item
Labor $3,449 + materials and allowances $2,066 + dump fees and other $1,300 = $6,815 direct job cost. Hours are person-hours at typical production, on labor rows only, and the direct-cost row adds about 15% for setup, daily cleanup and material runs; an allowance or material row names the labor line that installs it, and a subcontract row has none, because the sub’s price includes their own time. Some labor quantities include a difficulty factor, so they can exceed the measured area; each row’s derivation is in the downloadable data.
| Item | Qty | Unit | Hours | Labor | Material | Line cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo & Prep | ||||||
| Debris Haul-Off (per Load) | 1 | ea | $0 | $0 | $225 | |
| Site Protection, One Room (per job) | 1 | ea | 2 to 5 h | $300 | $0 | $300 |
| Demo & Prep subtotal | 2 to 5 h | $525 | ||||
| Demo & Prep subtotal | 2 to 5 h | $525 | ||||
| Sitework | ||||||
| Concrete Wall Saw Rental | 1 | day | $0 | $0 | $525 | |
| Egress Backfill and Grade | 1 | ea | 1 to 5 h | $225 | $0 | $225 |
| Excavation Equipment Rental | 1 | day | $0 | $0 | $550 | |
| Excavation Labor | 4 | cy | 1 to 2 h | $104 | $0 | $104 |
| Sitework subtotal | 3 to 6 h | $1,404 | ||||
| Sitework subtotal | 3 to 6 h | $1,404 | ||||
| Drywall | ||||||
| Drywall Sheets MaterialsLabor on: Egress Window Interior Return (per window) | 16 | sf | $0 | $12 | $12 | |
| Drywall subtotal | $12 | |||||
| Drywall subtotal | $12 | |||||
| Carpentry | ||||||
| Egress Window Interior Return (per window) | 1 | ea | 3 to 7 h | $245 | $0 | $245 |
| Egress Window Opening Cut (per opening) | 1 | ea | 3 to 9 h | $1,000 | $0 | $1,000 |
| Egress Window Install (per window) | 1 | ea | 2 to 6 h | $650 | $0 | $650 |
| Egress Window Unit (per window)Labor on: Egress Window Install (per window) | 1 | ea | $0 | $850 | $850 | |
| Trim MaterialsLabor on: Egress Window Interior Return (per window) | 16 | lf | $0 | $34 | $34 | |
| Window Well Cover (per well)Labor on: Window Well Install (per well) | 1 | ea | $0 | $350 | $350 | |
| Window Well Drain Tie-In (per well) | 1 | ea | 1 to 5 h | $425 | $0 | $425 |
| Window Well Drain Gravel (per well)Labor on: Window Well Drain Tie-In (per well) | 1 | ea | $0 | $120 | $120 | |
| Window Well Install (per well) | 1 | ea | 2 to 6 h | $500 | $0 | $500 |
| Window Well (per well)Labor on: Window Well Install (per well) | 1 | ea | $0 | $700 | $700 | |
| Carpentry subtotal | 18 to 26 h | $4,874 | ||||
| Carpentry subtotal | 18 to 26 h | $4,874 | ||||
| DIRECT JOB COST | 29 to 39 h | $6,815 | ||||
| DIRECT JOB COST | 29 to 39 h | $6,815 | ||||
Methodology & reproducibility
One reviewed snapshot for this build. The build is frozen from its own estimate run and priced by the published pricer.
Direct cost equals the sum of each row’s rounded quantity × (labor + material + other). Amounts are shown in whole dollars; every column adds to its total.
Scope selection, prose accuracy, arithmetic and provenance mapping reviewed; not independent market-rate verification.
- basement-egress-window/v2: JSON, CSV, field dictionary
Questions
What makes an egress window expensive?
The concrete: saw-cutting a poured wall, the equipment to do it, and four cubic yards of excavation are $3,449 of labor plus rental days before the window itself. The window, well, ladder and cover are the rest.
How much does it cost to cut a concrete wall for a window?
About $1,983 to $3,050, from a direct job cost of $1,525 in this example: $1,000 to saw the opening in the poured wall and $525 for a day's concrete wall saw rental. A block wall, a thicker wall or a larger opening changes both lines; the header question is in What can change the price?
What does the window well cost?
The well itself is $2,095 in direct job cost: $700 for the well, $500 to set it, $425 to tie it into the drain, $120 of drain gravel and a $350 cover. Digging for it adds $654, four cubic yards of excavation and a day of equipment, and backfilling and grading around it $225. Together that is about $3,866 to $5,948.
Does this make the basement room a legal bedroom?
It provides the code egress opening. A legal bedroom also has ceiling-height, smoke-alarm and other requirements that are finish work, which this build excludes.
What can change the price?
Block walls cut differently than poured; a deeper opening means more excavation and a taller well; and drainage that cannot take the well drain needs its own solution, priced when found.
Sources & provenance
- Egress window in a poured wall reviewed snapshot Clamp Research