Here’s mine I built about 15 years ago. They are looking a little rough around the edges, lol.
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I have no concerns with the clear cover on my egress window here , the manufacturer says it will hold the weight of an adult person and I have felt no compulsion to go jump on it and test that theory,…we get plenty of snow here but I would rather try to lift the cover than try to empty a snow filled well…you can concoct all kinds of scenarios that will keep You scared to death, oh yeah and did You hear about the asteroid screaming towards the planet behind that cloud over there…
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clear polycarbonate will let a lot more light in the basement Ryan…
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Just a note since it hasn’t been mentioned and everybody’s talking about Getting Out in case of a fire. No one has mentioned the other main reason is to allow a firefighter to gain entrance.
The reason for needing a means of egress are TwoFold; to allow for an exit in case of an emergency, and to provide access for a firefighter to gain entrance.
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That’s a good point. And in my opinion another benefit of solid covers. Much easier/quicker to clear off the snow to gain entry.
Should swing in to allow snow to fall into the room. Swinging out will be a problem with snow in the well.
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I know inswing casement windows are available. I have yet to see one in the wild being used in a basement.
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They are sold specifically for basement egress.
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I would like to see more inswing casement windows be put into use for this purpose. Not only for snow on uncovered wells, but also for when the window interferes with the cover.
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Mine swings in…
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EERO: Window wells.
Screens, Bars, Covers are permitted on window wells.
They must meet window well code requirements.
1: Size has to meet the minimum net clear opening size for emergency egresses. Five square feet. Opening width of 20 inches.
2: Covers must be able to open, without the use of a key, or any other special tools.
Since there is a fence mostly surrounding the window well, it does not seem to be much of a fall hazard for adults. The fact that the fence has horizontal balusters makes it an attractive nuisance to small children and because of the depth of window well, you have a fall/injury hazard for small children. I would be more concerned with the horizontal balusters on the fencing for that reason.
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The AHJ nixed it. The whole point of the climable gaurd rail was to climb out of the well! From an aesthetic view i see no advantage to vertical gaurdrails (highly visible) to less visible horzontal fall protection.
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My local AHJ would nix it also… MUST have a gate directly above the ‘ladder’ (if equipped) if a “fence” is desired.
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Good point, now the concern is the child climbing and falling even further.
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Oh great. This post and all the replies are making me think I have to add about another 100 narratives to my template. I’m going to stop reading these posts. Of course I’m kidding but it is really crazy all the crazy stuff we see and have to think about.
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Oh, But we could add a lot more. 
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Something as simple as an egress window and its well can have a lot of things wrong.
- Depth/Ladder?
- Drain?
- Well size?
- Window size?
- Adequate cover?
- Sill height?
- Window proper operation?
- Obstacles in path of egress?
These are just the things off the top of my head and others could probably add more.
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I have no idea how people managed before these fancy egress contraptions.
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That is often brought up for several reasons including why stair handrails should return to the wall, but after a fair amount of research, I’ve never found firefighters as any official reason for these requirements.
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