Egress Window Installation in Blaine, MN
You are finishing the basement in your Blaine home and the bedroom needs a way out.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Egress window installation in Blaine, MN, for basement bedrooms in older split-entries and 1990s–2000s homes. JMB Builders digs out the outside, cuts or enlarges the opening in the foundation wall, sets the window and the well with drainage gravel, and trims the inside. We check with the City of Blaine building department and pull the permit. Priced per window. Photos get a reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.
- Priced per window, cut to trim
- Window, well and gravel included
- Permit checked with the City of Blaine
Blaine has two kinds of basements we see egress work in. The older core of the city has 1960s–80s ramblers and split-entries. A split-entry's lower level sits half out of the ground, and its windows are already bigger than a rambler's basement hopper, so the job is often enlarging an existing opening downward with a shallower well. The 1990s–2000s houses farther out often had the basement left unfinished, and owners finishing it now need an egress window cut where there is none.
Either way the steps are the same. The outside is dug out after utilities are marked, the wall is cut with a wet saw, a header goes over the opening where the wall needs one, and the window is set on a treated buck in a sill pan and sealed. The well is anchored to the foundation on a bed of drainage gravel, the yard is backfilled, and the inside gets returns or jamb extensions and casing. We measure the clear opening and sill height against the code range before the saw comes out.
A foundation cut for egress is the kind of work cities typically permit. We check with the City of Blaine building department, pull the permit and schedule the inspection. We installed in Blaine in June 2026, and we also do egress work next door in Coon Rapids and Spring Lake Park.
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
- Which room the window serves and where on the wall you want it
- A clear path in the yard for digging and hauling out the cut concrete
- Your choice of window style (casement or slider), color and well style
- Paint color for the inside trim, or leave it primed and caulked and paint it yourself
What JMB supplies
- Utility locates called in before any digging
- Permit application with the City of Blaine and the inspection scheduled
- Excavation, wet-saw cutting of the block or poured wall, and concrete haul-away
- A header over the opening where the wall requires one
- Treated buck, egress window, sill pan, flashing, foam and sealant
- Window well anchored to the foundation, drainage gravel and backfill
- Drywall returns or wood jamb extensions and casing inside
- Photos of the finished window and well in your job folder
How it is priced: per window
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Enlarging a split-entry window vs. cutting a new opening in a full basement wall
- Poured concrete vs. block, and how deep below grade the cut goes
- Well size and type, with or without a cover
- What is over the dig: a deck, AC unit, meter or landscaping
- Finished drywall inside vs. an open stud wall
- Permit fee from the city
- Painting the new trim, quoted as a separate line
Send photos of the wall inside and outside, the ground where the well would go, and tell us whether the basement is finished yet.
How long it takes
One egress window: usually two to three days from dig to trim, plus the inspection. The wall is closed up at the end of the cutting day.
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.
Situations and options
Enlarging a split-entry lower-level window
The existing window comes out and the opening is cut lower to reach egress size. Because the floor is only partly below grade, the well is usually shallower than on a full basement.
New cut in a 1990s–2000s basement
A new opening in a wall that never had a window there. We pick a spot clear of beams, posts, plumbing and the electrical panel, and set a header over the cut where the wall needs one.
Casement or slider
Casements swing fully open, which gets the clear opening to egress size in a narrower cut. Sliders only open halfway, so the cut in the wall has to be wider to give the same clear space.
Egress Window Installation in Blaine, MN: questions, answered
Does the City of Blaine require a permit for an egress window?
Most cities require a building permit to cut or enlarge an opening in a foundation wall, and we treat an egress window that way. We check with the City of Blaine building department before the job, pull the permit, and schedule the inspection. The permit fee is a line on the quote.
Can the lower-level window in my Blaine split-entry be made into an egress window?
Often, yes. Split-entry lower-level windows already sit partly above grade, so enlarging the opening downward is usually the simplest route to egress size. We measure the existing opening and the sill height from the floor and tell you from photos whether it can work.
Do I need an egress window to finish a basement bedroom in Blaine?
A basement room used as a bedroom needs an emergency escape opening that meets code. In practice that is an egress window with a well outside it big enough to climb out of. When the house is sold, a room without one is not counted as a bedroom.
Should I put the egress window in before or after the basement is drywalled?
Before is easier. With open studs, the cut, the buck and the returns go in without patching finished walls. If the room is already drywalled, we cut back to the opening and finish it with returns or jamb extensions and casing.
How do you keep water out of a new egress well?
The well is anchored to the foundation and set on drainage gravel so water soaks down instead of pooling at the glass. The window sits in a sill pan with flashing, and the grade is shaped to slope away. If you add a cover for snow and leaves, it has to lift off from inside without tools.
Do you install egress windows in Coon Rapids and Spring Lake Park too?
Yes. We are based in Zimmerman and cut egress windows in Blaine, Coon Rapids, Spring Lake Park, Ham Lake and across the Twin Cities metro. Each city issues its own permit, and we pull it where it is required.
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.
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Read morePage reviewed October 9, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All by city pages
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