Window wells engineered for Denver.

A window well looks simple. It isn't. In Denver — where expansive clay swells against your foundation, where late-spring snow melts in twelve hours, and where freeze-thaw cycles work every joint loose — the well is doing the hardest job in the system. Get the well wrong and water finds the inside of your basement.

We install new window wells as part of every egress window project, and Egress Denver replaces failing wells on existing installs across the metro every week. Every well we touch sits on a deep gravel base, anchors mechanically into the foundation, and ties drainage to either your perimeter drain or a daylighted outfall.

Window well types we install

The drainage detail that matters

Below every well bottom we set 12 to 18 inches of clean drain rock, wrapped in fabric, that connects to either the foundation perimeter drain (interior or exterior) or a horizontal outfall daylighted into the yard. That detail — not the well brand — is what keeps your basement dry.

Read more about why drainage is the make-or-break detail in our window well drainage guide, or see how wells fit into a full egress window install.

Where Denver wells fail (and why)

We replace failing wells across Denver every week — most often in older neighborhoods like Park Hill (80207), Berkeley (80212), Sloan's Lake (80212), and Englewood (80110), where the original 1950s wells were hand-set with no drainage. The pattern is always the same: clay swells, the well shifts, gravel disappears into the soil, and a slow snow melt fills the well faster than it can drain. The fix is the drainage detail underneath, not a fancier well.

Wells & code compliance

A code-compliant emergency escape opening isn't just the window — the well is part of the package. The well must be at least 36\" deep, give the occupant enough room to operate the window and climb out, and include a permanently affixed ladder if it's deeper than 44\". A shortcut on the well will fail inspection and undo the legal bedroom designation. Our legal basement bedroom guide covers the full requirement.

Drainage systems we install

Every well we touch is built on a 12–18 inch base of clean drain rock wrapped in non-woven filter fabric, tied to either your foundation perimeter drain or a horizontal outfall daylighted to lower grade. The fabric keeps fines from migrating into the gravel, the depth keeps the void from saturating in a snow-melt event, and the tie-in gives the water a place to actually go. We install drainage as part of egress projects — we are not a basement waterproofing or foundation repair company, and we'll refer you to a specialist if that's the work you actually need.

Flooding prevention & Denver freeze-thaw

The reason Denver wells fail so consistently is a stack of three local conditions: expansive clay soil that swells against the well wall and pinches the gravel base, freeze-thaw cycling from October through April that works every joint loose, and aggressive March–April snow melt that arrives faster than saturated clay can absorb. Without a deep, drained, fabric-wrapped base, every well becomes a holding tank within a season or two. Our drainage detail is engineered to defeat all three at once.

Safety ladders & covers

Per IRC, any window well deeper than 44 inches requires a permanently affixed ladder or step system that doesn't reduce the required net clear opening. We install code-compliant powder-coated ladders on every deep well and pair them with a clear polycarbonate cover that keeps snow, leaves, children, and pets out — without blocking emergency escape from inside the basement.

Window well replacement

Window well replacement is one of the most common projects Egress Denver runs — and one of the most commonly done wrong by other crews. A proper replacement isn't a swap of the steel shell; it's an excavation, a drainage rebuild, a mechanical re-anchor to the foundation, and a regraded backfill. We replace galvanized, composite, and old hand-set wells across the metro every week, usually in a single day on site.

Replacing damaged window wells

Damaged wells — pulled anchors, bowed walls from clay pressure, rusted-through galvanized shells, cracked composite panels — are common across older Denver neighborhoods. Replacing damaged window wells means addressing the root cause, not just the visible failure: in almost every case, the original drainage detail underneath was undersized or missing entirely. We rebuild the gravel base and tie-in as part of every replacement.

Modern window well upgrades

Modern window well upgrades go beyond a basic galvanized shell — composite stone-look wells that disappear into a finished landscape, oversized wells that flood the basement with daylight, deep tiered systems that double as a built-in ladder, and clear polycarbonate covers that keep snow and debris out year-round. If your existing well is functional but ugly or undersized, a like-for-like upgrade is usually a one-day project.

Upgrading basement drainage systems

Most basement window flooding traces back to the same root cause: the drainage system around the well was never built for Denver clay. Upgrading basement drainage systems at the well — deeper gravel base, clean filter fabric, a real perimeter-drain or daylighted tie-in — fixes the flooding the old assembly has been causing for years. Read more in the window well drainage guide.