Egress Windows on Main Floor

[mjg32]

My wife and I bought a house about 18 months ago for a relative to live in. The person ended up ill and in a nursing home so after waiting 5 months to see if he would improve finally decided to rent it out. Trying to do the right thing I applied for a rental certificate. The inspector comes out and tells me that a window in each of the main floor bedrooms does not meet egress code. These windows were replaced in 2003 by the previous owner with new double-hung vinyl windows that are 36 inches wide but the clear opening is only 19.5 inches whereas minimum by code is 24. Really irks me to have to replace almost new windows Talked to an attorney who said I could file for a variance which costs $600 and he has never seen anyone win. I'm trying not to be angry about this while I try to figure out if there is some modification short of replacing the windows that can be done to meet code. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

[Marc]

Michael, I think you're referring to 'Minimum opening height' R310.1.2

Do correct me if I'm wrong.

Marc

[mjg32]

Hi Marc,

Sorry for the lack of clarity. Yes, that is exactly what I am talking about.

Regards -

[mjg32]

PS -- I did find some casement windows with egress hinges that meet code using the Jeld-Wen calculator at http://www.jeld-wen.com/professional/to ... calculator but I would still rather not replace nearly new windows. Besides being expensive it seems really wasteful.

[John Kogel]

Habitat for Humanity will take your old windows and they will get used.

There are window frames which allow the entire window to swing out in an emergency, but you can't change what you've got into something it ain't. []

[mjg32]

Hi John,

Excellent idea. I was hoping there might be a pocket replacement I could use but it appears that a pocket is not going to work in a vinyl frame like this and a pocket replacement would not leave much for Habitat for Humanity. I've replaced other older windows with pockets but I cannot for the life of me figure out how these newer vinyl windows can work with a pocket replacement.

Regards,

Mike