Structural

Egress Window Well

Structural · definition

An excavated, retained, and drained well allowing a code-compliant egress window below grade — required to make a basement bedroom legal.

Source: InterNACHI — Window Well Inspection

  • Egress

    A code-required path of exit from a space in an emergency. Bedrooms and finished basements require a compliant egress window or door of m…

  • Expansion Joint

    A deliberate separation that lets adjacent concrete or structure move with temperature and load without cracking or buckling.

  • Efflorescence

    White mineral deposits left on masonry or concrete as water migrates through and evaporates. A sign of moisture movement to investigate,…

  • Expansive Soil

    Clay-rich soil that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, cyclically stressing foundations. A leading cause of foundation cracking and mo…

  • Differential Settlement

    Uneven sinking of parts of a foundation, the cause of most serious structural cracking, sticking doors, and sloping floors.

  • Exterior Waterproofing

    Excavating to the footing and applying a membrane/coating plus drainage to the outside of the foundation — the most thorough (and costly)…

  • Deflection

    How much a beam or joist bends under load. Code limits it (e.g., L/360) so floors don't feel bouncy or crack finishes even when not at ri…

  • Flitch Beam

    A composite beam of steel plate sandwiched between wood members, used where a slim but very strong beam is needed.

Where this term fits in a remodel

The pillar guides set terms like this one in context — what the work involves, what drives its cost, and where it sits in the sequence of a project. Pricing a specific house takes a defined scope and an on-site assessment.

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