How to Pour a Concrete Patio Around a Basement Window
Creating a window well around a basement window that is below the finished grade of your concrete patio is a necessity for two reasons. One, the window well helps to keep rain and other moisture from building up against the window and potentially leaking into your basement. Two, the window well preserves the amount of light entering the basement and in some instances (such as basement apartments) may be required by code to preserve an emergency escape route from the apartment. You can set up and pour a concrete patio around a basement window easily; the tools you will need to create the form for the window well are inexpensive and easy to work with.
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Things You'll Need
- Shovel
- 36" diameter Sonotube
- Keyhole saw
- Pea gravel
- 2x4s
- Saw
- Hammer
- Nails
Instructions
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1
Dig out the area around your basement window so the soil is at least six inches below the base of your patio (the bottom of the concrete) and the area you dig out is 36 inches wide and 36 inches deep (and centered on the window).
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2
Cut your Sonotube with a keyhole saw to the depth of your patio plus the additional six inches of the window well. For example, if your patio will be five inches thick, add six inches for the window well and you will need to cut your Sonotube to 11 inches.
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3
Mark the center of the basement window and measure 18 inches to each side. Nail a 2x4 vertically to the house foundation so the outside edge of the 2x4 falls on the 18-inch mark on each side.
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4
Cut a 2x4 36 inches long. Place the 2x4 on edge so it extends from the center mark on the window (at a 90-degree angle) into the hole for your window well.
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5
Cut the Sonotube vertically so you can open the circle. Pull the tube open and fit it into the hole so the furthest point of the form is held in place by the 2x4 on edge and the ends meet the 2x4s nailed vertically to the house. You will have to trim the Sonotube to do this. The result will be a form that is slightly more than a semicircle. Nail the Sonotube to the wood.
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6
Use some of the remaining Sonotube to block the window. Flatten a piece of tube and place it across the window opening.
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7
Fill the inside of the Sonotube with pea gravel. You can now pour your concrete patio around the basement window. When the concrete has set, remove enough pea gravel to reveal the window but leave the rest in place for drainage.
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Tips & Warnings
Reverse the Sonotube before putting it in place as the form for your window well. This will place the waxed interior against the concrete and not the pea gravel and make it easier to pull the Sonotube out when the concrete pour is done. Your 2x4 braces will help maintain the shape you need.
Check your local building codes for any specific requirements for egress from basements. If you create a window well that is not up to your local code you may incur the costs of tearing out the concrete patio and rebuilding it or face significant fines.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit interior a bedroom image by Leonid Nyshko from Fotolia.com
