How Much Do Window Wells Cost?

Window wells are a small but important part of protecting the inside of your basement. If water is leaking in from your windows, the problem might be with the window well – or lack thereof. If you don’t have wells around your basement windows, what’s the cost of having them installed? A lot less than the cost of the damage caused by leaking water! 

What Are Window Wells, And What Do They Do?

If your home has a basement with windows that sit below or at the ground level, there’s a good chance you have window wells already. These semi-circular cut-outs surround your windows to give them space for light to get into the sub-grade structure of your home.

As you can imagine, a large hole in the ground is a magnet for water. Before a window well is installed, the contractor has to consider the drainage around it. Most wells include a layer of gravel covering a weeping tile drain that connects to the foundation’s perimeter drain. This added safety measure prevents water from sitting in your well and exerting force on the windows, causing cracks and leaks.

There may be no window wells due to low-quality work or the fact that your basement is a retrofitted space. Regardless, you should have proper wells put in place with drainage capabilities as soon as possible. So how much does this cost?

The Cost Of Window Well Installation

Installing a  is more than just digging a hole in the ground around the glass. You need to protect the space with metal, plastic, or masonry so that debris can’t fall in, link a drainage system like weeping tiles to your existing system, then cover it in with a layer of permeable material like gravel. This keeps water moving away from your windows

Depending on your needs and choices, a good window well installation can run around $500 – $1000, give or take. This will cover the materials used, the need for regrading the project (should this be necessary), and the connection of the well to your foundation’s drainage system. For installing an actual window in the basement, you would need a contractor to cut into the foundation and install a frame; the cost for this would be five times the amount for the window well installation. 

In any case, the Ashworth Drainage team can install new, professional-grade wells to ensure you never experience leaks around your windows. But if you’re having issues with an existing window well, it might be because debris has clogged it. This can happen when the window well is open to the elements or has a broken frame, letting soil spill into the gravel. Maintenance can prevent this, but a severe problem may need professional cleaning or repairs. Afterwards, you can also have a cover installed over it to prevent further debris from clogging up the system.