Egress Window Installation in Big Lake, MN
Your Big Lake basement is turning into a bedroom or two, and each one needs a window you can climb out of.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Egress window installation in Big Lake is mostly in the 1990s and 2000s neighborhoods, where families finish basements and add a bedroom, plus some lake homes where the lower level is being redone. JMB Builders, ten minutes away in Zimmerman, cuts the wall, sets the window and a well with drainage gravel, trims the inside, and checks the permit with the City of Big Lake. Priced per window.
- Ten minutes from our Zimmerman base
- Priced per window, dig to trim
- Well set on drainage gravel
Most Big Lake egress calls come from the subdivisions that grew in the 1990s and 2000s. The basements are poured walls with small windows, and when a family finishes one, each bedroom needs an emergency escape opening that meets code. The usual plan is to take an existing basement window and cut it wider and lower, which keeps the new opening where the framing already expects a window.
On lake properties the ground matters more. A lot that slopes toward the water can put one side of the basement deep in the ground and the other nearly at grade. Where the soil holds water, the well needs a good bed of drainage gravel so water soaks away instead of sitting against the glass. We look at grade and drainage before we pick the wall.
Most cities require a permit for an egress cut. We check with the City of Big Lake building department for your address, or with the township or county if you are outside city limits, and pull the permit.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
What you supply
- The room or rooms that will be bedrooms
- Window style, frame color, and the well and cover you like
- Access to the yard for the dig, with anything stored there moved
- Inside paint color, or leave the trim primed and caulked
What JMB supplies
- Gopher State One Call locate before we dig
- Permit with whoever issues it for your address
- Dig-out, wet-saw cut, concrete hauled away
- Header where the wall requires one, engineer sizing when needed
- Egress window set on a treated buck in a sill pan, flashed and sealed
- Well anchored to the wall on drainage gravel, then backfilled
- Inside returns or jamb extensions and casing, and finished photos
How it is priced: per window
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- How many bedrooms, and so how many windows
- Enlarging an existing window vs. a new cut
- Depth below grade on a sloped lake lot
- Soil and drainage at the well
- Well material and cover
- Finished basement to protect, or open framing
Send photos of each wall from inside and outside and a shot of the yard on that side so we can see the grade.
How long it takes
Two to three days per window, plus inspection timing. Two windows on the same visit share the dig days.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized reply within one business day. Prefer a look in person? A free in-home estimate is always an option.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Egress Window Installation in Big Lake, MN: questions, answered
Do I need a permit for an egress window in Big Lake?
Most Minnesota cities require a building permit to cut a foundation wall for egress. We check with the City of Big Lake building department, or the township or county if your address is outside city limits, and pull the permit.
Can you put in two egress windows at once?
Yes, and it saves time. Two bedrooms in one basement finish is common in Big Lake's newer neighborhoods, and both windows can be dug, cut and set on the same visit. Each is still priced per window.
My lake lot slopes. Does that change the egress window?
It can. On a sloped lot one side of the basement may be deep in the ground and the other close to grade. A shallow side means a shorter cut and a small well, so we often recommend the window go there if the room layout allows it.
How do you keep water out of an egress well?
The well is anchored to the foundation and sits on a bed of drainage gravel so water soaks away. The grade around it slopes away from the house, and a cover keeps snow and leaves out. A cover has to open from inside without tools.
Can you enlarge my basement window instead of cutting a new one?
Yes. It is the most common way to do it. The old window comes out, the opening is cut wider and lower, and a new egress window and well go in. Less of the wall is cut than for a brand-new opening.
Do you do egress windows in Becker and Monticello too?
Yes. We are based in Zimmerman, ten minutes from Big Lake, and cut egress windows in Becker, Monticello and across the north metro. Send photos for a reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and the builders we work with. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
Related jobs we do
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Read morePage reviewed October 9, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All by city pages
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