Des Moines Egress Windows About Des Moines Egress Windows
Des Moines Egress Windows is a locally operated specialist in exactly one kind of work: cutting code-compliant egress openings into basement walls across the Des Moines metro, and everything that job touches - window wells, drainage, basement window replacement, and concrete cutting. We don’t side houses, we don’t remodel kitchens, and we don’t sell you a window when what your basement actually needs is a saw, a header, and a drainage bed done right.
Why a single-trade outfit
Egress work sits in an awkward spot between trades. Window companies can set a unit in an existing opening but won’t touch a foundation. Excavators can dig but don’t size headers. General remodelers subcontract the cut and mark it up. The result, all over this metro, is basement bedrooms that look finished and fail the two tests that matter: the inspector’s tape measure and a spring rainstorm.
We built the operation around the whole sequence instead - permit, utility locates, excavation, diamond-blade cut, structural framing, window, well, drainage, backfill, and the final inspection. One crew responsible for the entire chain means nobody can point at somebody else when the well holds water.
What we believe about this work
The code is the product. Under IRC R310, an egress window needs a net clear opening of at least 5.7 square feet, at least 24 inches of clear height and 20 inches of clear width, and a sill no more than 44 inches off the floor - with a code-sized well and ladder below grade. Those numbers are the difference between a bedroom and a storage room with drywall. We size every unit backward from them, and we build to whichever code edition your city enforces - Des Moines is on the 2024 IRC, West Des Moines the 2021, Urbandale the 2018, and Ankeny its own locally amended residential code. Same R310 targets, different offices, and we file with the right one.
Published pricing beats a sales pitch. A full install typically runs $3,500–$6,500 and the pricing page itemizes the rest, permit included. You’ll get a flat quote after a free on-site measure - never a number that grows once the saw is out.
Honesty about what we can’t promise. Permits and inspections belong to your city. We build to code and handle the paperwork, but nobody can guarantee an approval, and we won’t pretend otherwise.
Drainage is half the job. Central Iowa clay holds water against foundation walls, and the metro’s 42-inch frost line means shallow shortcuts heave. Every well we set gets a real gravel base tied to the footing drain tile where one exists - because hydrostatic pressure doesn’t care how nice the window is.
Who does the work
Iowa law requires construction contractors to register with the Iowa Division of Labor, so ask any crew that bids your cut for its registration and proof of insurance. The jobs here run from glass-block removal in Beaverdale bricks to second and third openings in new Ankeny basements. We won’t quote years-in-business numbers or paste up testimonials; the way we’d rather earn trust is by publishing our prices, citing the code accurately, and walking you through the actual install process before you spend a dollar.
Where we work
Des Moines proper plus Ankeny, West Des Moines, Urbandale, and Johnston - each with its own building department, and we handle the differences. Whether you’re finishing a basement for a growing family, adding a conforming bedroom before listing, or fixing a well that floods every March, send the form for a free on-site measure. If all your basement needs is a window swap or a cover and drainage fix, that’s what we’ll tell you.