Egress Window Cost in Calgary, Explained
You will not find a price list on this page, and here is the reason up front. Two basement egress windows that look alike can be very different jobs. Identical units on neighbouring houses end up costing different amounts because of the foundation material, how far down the dig goes, whether equipment can get to the wall, and what landscaping has to be rebuilt once the install is done.
Instead, this page lays out each of those factors in plain terms. If you already hold a quote from another company, you can use them to check whether it was written by someone who actually looked at your foundation.
A written quote for your basement
Send interior and exterior photos, the height from your finished floor to the sill, and a picture of whatever sits outside that wall. After the site visit, a written quote follows within 48 hours. It stands as written unless digging reveals a foundation different from the one we could inspect, and in that case we call you before going further.
Get a quoteThe Factors That Change the Price
Listed from biggest effect to smallest, give or take. We ask about each one on the first call. A company that cannot say which apply to your home has not really priced your home.
Whether the opening needs to grow at all
A new basement window that fits the opening already in the wall is one kind of job. A window that needs the concrete around it made larger, or a brand-new opening where there was none, is a very different one. We measure the existing opening against what the code asks for first, because that gap decides how much concrete is removed and shapes every step after it.
How thick the wall is, and what is inside it
More wall means longer on the saw and heavier pieces to lift out. Rebar matters even more: it slows the cut, and the way the wall is reinforced affects how the load above the new window or door has to be carried.
The foundation material
A modern poured, reinforced foundation is the most predictable wall to work in. Concrete block and older unreinforced pours react differently once a section comes out, and a very old wall is often worth an engineer's look before any quote is written. ICF and preserved wood foundations are separate jobs of their own.
How deep the dig goes, and where the soil ends up
Outside, the foundation has to be uncovered to below the new sill. That depth follows from your finished basement floor compared with the ground outside, and all the soil that comes out either needs room on the lot or a truck to take it away.
Getting equipment to the wall
A small machine with a clear path along the lane or a roomy side yard keeps things simple. A tight, fenced yard with a deck and a gas meter in the way means digging by hand and carrying soil out in buckets, which is among the biggest cost swings on any basement window or door job. We find out which situation you have before pricing it.
The window well you choose, and its depth
Galvanized corrugated wells, precast concrete wells and poured reinforced wells sit far apart on cost, and the depth needed often narrows the choice more than looks do. A deeper well needs a system that retains the soil for good, along with the permanent ladder or steps the code calls for once a well is deep enough.
Drainage for the well
Where there is working weeping tile at the footing, connecting to it is the tidy solution. If there is no tile, or it has stopped doing its job, a drainage rock sump sized to the surrounding soil takes its place. We settle which applies once the excavation is open, and the two are priced differently.
Putting the yard back together
Lawn and garden beds are inexpensive to restore. Paver patios, stamped concrete, a deck that must be taken apart, or established plants unlikely to survive the excavation add real cost — and some of those cannot be restored at all. We tell you which before work begins.
Engineering and permits
Certain openings need lintel sizing and structural drawings stamped by an APEGA-licensed P.Eng. before a permit is issued; others do not. A full-height entrance door through the foundation nearly always needs them, while a small window enlargement in a newer reinforced wall frequently does not. You learn which category your job falls into before committing, and we check the permit requirement for your address with the authority having jurisdiction instead of guessing.
Included in the Quote, and Priced Separately
When two quotes for one window are far apart, the rate is rarely the reason. Usually one of them is missing some of the items below.
Standard on a new or enlarged opening
- On-site measurement of the wall, the existing window opening and the sill height from the finished floor
- Alberta One-Call locates arranged before digging starts
- Excavation down the outside of the foundation to below the new sill
- Cutting with a diamond wall saw, lifting the concrete out in manageable sections instead of breaking it
- A steel lintel sized for the opening and installed to support the wall above
- Supply and installation of the basement window, including insulation, flashing and sealing
- A window well sized for the window it serves and fastened to the foundation
- Drainage rock plus a drain connected to weeping tile or a rock sump
- A permanent ladder or steps wherever the well depth calls for one
- Backfilling in layers, with the grade sloped to carry water away from the foundation
- Hauling away all excavated soil and cut concrete
If one of these items truly does not apply to your project, your quote states that in writing instead of leaving it out without comment.
Extras, priced on their own
- Building permit fees, which the authority having jurisdiction sets and collects
- Stamped structural drawings from an APEGA-licensed engineer, where the permit or the scope calls for them
- Finding and protecting private underground lines on your property, such as garage gas lines, irrigation and low-voltage wiring
- Finishing inside around the new window or door — drywall, trim, paint and blinds
- Rebuilding hardscape such as pavers, interlocking brick, stamped concrete or landscape walls
- Taking down and rebuilding decks, sheds or fences that stand in the way of the wall
- Replacing established trees or shrubs that cannot survive digging beside the foundation
- Repairing existing foundation cracks, leaks or movement uncovered during the dig
- Secondary suite items beyond egress, such as fire separation, alarms, ceiling height and ventilation
- Jobs outside our stated service area
We show these now so none of them catch you off guard later. Any that your project needs are written into the quote before you sign.
The requirements your budget pays to meet
Set by the Alberta building code. A basement bedroom window needs to meet every one of these together, and anyone inside must be able to open it with no tools or special knowledge.
- Minimum clear opening
0.35 m² (3.77 sq ft)
The open, unobstructed space someone can really get through once the sash is out of the way — measured neither across the rough opening nor across the glass.
- Minimum dimension
380 mm (15")
Whichever way the window opens, that clear opening cannot measure under 380 mm in either direction, height or width.
- Maximum sill height
1.5 m above finished floor
Taken from the finished basement floor up to the sill. However large a window is, it does not count as egress if its sill sits above this height.
- Minimum well projection
760 mm clear
In front of the open sash, the well must keep 760 mm of clear space, so the well itself never stands in the way of the exit.
- Ladder or steps
Required deeper than 1.2 m
A window well more than 1.2 m deep must have a permanent ladder or steps, and they may not cut into the clear projection the well is required to keep.
The 0.35 m² refers to clear opening — the space someone can actually climb through with the sash open, measured inside the frame, not across the rough opening or the glass. Basement windows that look big enough fail inspection over this distinction more often than over anything else.
Replacing, Enlarging or Adding a Basement Window
An existing window opening is the biggest single swing factor in cost. When the new egress window can go into a widened version of the old opening, less concrete is removed, the dig is frequently shallower, and on a newer reinforced foundation the load over the window may hardly shift at all.
A brand-new opening in an unbroken wall is bigger work. Without an existing frame to start from, the whole section is sawn and lifted out piece by piece, and a lintel has to be sized for everything above the new head. Expect more saw time, more concrete to haul away, and a higher chance an engineer needs to stamp drawings.
Which situation you are in cannot be judged from an interior photo. It comes down to sill height above the finished floor, foundation thickness and reinforcement, all of which we check in person.
An exterior basement door is bigger again, since a full-height opening takes out more wall, needs a heavier lintel and involves proper engineering. Read how a separate entrance compares .
Window wells matter to the budget
A galvanized corrugated well, a precast concrete one and a poured reinforced one sit far apart on price, and the depth of the window usually decides between them more than looks do. For a deep basement, the well plus its fixed ladder or steps may be the largest add-on in the whole quote. Compare window well options .
Yard access changes everything
When a small excavator can drive in from a back lane or a roomy side yard, costs stay down. Squeeze in a fence, a deck and a gas meter with barely a metre to spare, and the digging is done by hand with the soil hauled out in buckets. The same window on two different lots can mean two very different bills.
Putting the yard back
Replacing grass or a garden bed costs little. Pavers, stamped concrete, a deck that must be taken apart, or a large tree close to the house add real money, and a few of those cannot be restored at all. We raise all of it before work begins.
Cases Where a New Egress Window Is the Wrong Spend
Not every basement needs a new opening. When the current window already satisfies the clear-opening and minimum-dimension figures and only the well falls short, you replace the well and leave the foundation alone. When the sill is too far above the finished floor, though, a bigger well achieves nothing, because the problem is the window position rather than the soil outside it.
Selling a house with an undeveloped basement that the next owner will finish? A new opening beforehand rarely pays for itself. On certain homes, the combination of foundation, depth and access pushes the price high enough that rent from the room would take far too long to cover it, and we will point that out.
Remember too that an egress window satisfies one requirement of a legal secondary suite, not all of them. Smoke alarms, fire separation, ventilation, ceiling height and whether a suite is allowed on your lot fall to other trades and the municipality.
The City of Calgary and the neighbouring towns and counties each set their own permit rules. We check with the authority having jurisdiction for your specific address instead of guessing, and final compliance is confirmed by an inspector.
Common questions
What does egress window installation cost in Calgary?
You will not find a price for this anywhere on our site, and that is a choice rather than an oversight. A basement egress window can be a simple new unit set into an opening that already qualifies, or it can mean enlarging the opening in concrete, digging a deep well and rebuilding a patio afterwards. One published figure cannot describe both of those jobs without misleading most of the people who read it. What we can lay out is what actually sets the number. First, the gap between the window in the wall today and the opening the code asks for — a unit that fits the existing hole is a very different job from one that needs the concrete made larger. Second, the foundation: its thickness, whether it carries rebar, and whether it is poured, block or an older unreinforced pour, because each is cut and supported in its own way. Third, how deep the well must go, which follows from where the sill sits relative to the ground outside. Fourth, access — a compact machine down the lane, or a hand dig past a deck, a fence and a gas meter with every bucket of soil carried out. After that come the window unit and the well you choose, galvanized, precast or poured, and how its drainage connects to weeping tile or a rock sump. Then restoring the yard. Then whether stamped drawings and a permit belong in the scope. Neighbouring houses in Calgary can come out far apart on those items alone, which is why we measure first and price the actual wall.
Find out what your egress window will cost
Share photos from both sides of the wall and the height from floor to sill. A written quote follows within 48 hours of our site visit, for homes across Calgary and the surrounding municipalities.
Still researching? Our full egress window cost guide goes deeper .