Basement egress doors are excellent additions to your home, especially if you have a finished basement. They provide more entryways throughout your home and help you meet the requirements for the number of potential escape routes throughout your building. There is a difference between basement doors and basement egress doors. Since basement egress doors are designed to be used as possible escape routes, they have specific requirements that they need to meet to make your home easier to escape from in the event of an emergency.
Here is what you need to know about some of the requirements of basement egress doors. It’s important to note that specific requirements, such as measurements, can vary depending on where you live. If ever you have any questions about the specific requirements for egress doors in your area, your local building code office can answer them for you.
How Big Should Basement Egress Doors Be?
In general, basement egress doors should be anywhere from 32 to 48 inches wide and 78 to 80 inches tall. You can contact your local building code office for the specific measurement requirements in your area.
Egress doors need to meet certain measurements in order to ensure that people can safely escape through them. They need to be wide and tall enough to get through with ease. However, they cannot be too wide or too tall, because this can make the door more difficult to open, which can be quite dangerous in the event of an emergency.
Which Way Should Egress Doors Swing?
In general, egress doors should swing outwards, in the direction that you’d be fleeing. This is so that you don’t need to worry about your exit being blocked by fallen debris if it were to open inwards and to make an escape as easy as possible. Not all egress doors are required to swing outwards, though, such as if they open into a room with low occupancy. However, for high-occupancy areas or high-hazard areas, the egress door must swing out.
If you need to check which way your egress door should swing, you can check with your local building code officials. Codes also exist for other types of egress doors that do not swing, but rather slide or open in another way. Generally, egress doors should swing. In many cases, it is required for egress doors to be swinging doors.
Can You Lock Basement Egress Doors?
You can lock basement doors, however, there are some specifications with this. For instance, you shouldn’t need any special equipment, such as keys, or knowledge or effort in order to unlock an egress door. This is because people can get trapped inside if you need special equipment, knowledge, or effort to unlock a door in the event of an emergency and they do not have these things. Thus, the locking mechanism you use shouldn’t require any of that and should be easy for people to unlock in an emergency.
For many commercial spaces, they will specifically say to leave the door unlocked during business hours, so that people can easily escape should something occur. Some egress doors must have panic hardware. As always, if you want to learn more for your specific situation or area, your local building code officials will be able to answer your questions. There are many different variables involved with egress doors.
How High Can The Threshold Be?
Egress doors generally should have a threshold no higher than ½ inch above the floor. If it is ¼ inch, it can be vertical. If it is between ¼ inch and ½ inch, it should have a slope no greater than 1:2. This is to minimize the risk of tripping during the act of escaping. There are some exceptions to this and it can vary depending on codes, which you can discuss with your local building code officials.
How Visible Must The Door Be?
Very visible. It should be easy for people to pinpoint the basement egress door, and it should not be obstructed by cabinets, curtains, or other obstructions that could make it difficult to locate and difficult to get through. They cannot be disguised by mirrors or paintings or anything that can cause people to not recognize a basement egress door.
Basement Egress Door Requirements
This is by no means an exhaustive list of basement egress door requirements. While this blog touches on some of the basics and general guidelines, you should check with your building code officials in order to learn the specific requirements for your particular area and project.
Peak Windows always ensures that our egress windows and doors are up to code. We stay on top of any changes throughout our service area to ensure that we’re providing you with quality, safe services. Contact us today to learn more about getting an egress door for your home.