Egress Window Question.

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Nelsonba

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I'm adding a bathroom to the 2nd floor of my house and I'm planning to steal a 3' x 2' area from the corner of a bedroom. I called the permit office to see what types of plans they need to see. They said since I was going to be modifying part of the bedroom I might have to install an egress window. This seems ridiculous since all I'm doing is basically boxing in the corner to allow more room for the bathroom.

Currently I have two double hung windows right next to each other. I like the look of the double hung windows, but they wouldn't be big enough to pass for egress. The opening is currently 24 inches tall by 26 inches wide which meets the width and height requirements, but not the total opening requirements. Code says the opening has to be 5.7 square feet.

Are there any options I'm not thinking of? I don't want to put in a sliding window or a crank out window because it wouldn't fit with the rest of the house. I really don't want to reframe the window opening to allow for bigger double hung windows.

Thanks
 

Jadnashua

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Get a definitive yes or no, not a maybe, then think about it. Somebody know the national code on this? Basically it is always a good idea to have two ways out of a bedroom, and since you are changing it, that may be part of the price of admittance. They don't enforce things retroactively (you're grandfathered normally), but make a change, and the whole thing must meet current codes.
 

theelviscerator

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On a double hung window only the bottom half counts toward egress.

thats why a slider or casement is always your best choice for smallest window to meet code.
 

AZ Contractor

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Where emergency escape and rescue openings are provided they shall have a sill height of not more than 44 inches above the floor

All emergency escape and rescue openings shall have a minimum clear opening of 5.7 square feet

The minimum net clear opening height shall be 24 inches

The minimum net clear opening width shall be 20 inches
 
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