Egress First: Basement Window Coverings in Burnsville MN

The first basement window to plan is the one in the bedroom. In a finished lower level, that window is usually the emergency exit too. The shade on it has to clear the glass fast and without a fight, so skip anything that can stick halfway. That's where I start whenever someone asks me about basement window coverings in Burnsville and Shakopee homes.

What are good window treatments for basement egress windows?

Minnesota's residential code says each basement bedroom needs its own emergency escape opening. Unless the room has a door straight outside, that opening is the window. So the bedroom window is the way out.

That sets two rules for the covering. One easy push has to lift it clear. It also has to work for someone half asleep in a room they don't know well. Cordless cellular or roller shades do both. Once it's up, nothing should hang into the opening. I'd leave fixed panels and heavy drapes off this one.

Sleepers want it dark too. A room-darkening shade handles most of that. Some egress windows still catch morning sun past the well. Light guards or block-out channels at the sides keep it from sneaking in around the edges. If a guest is coming for the holidays, raise the shade once yourself before they arrive and show them how it works.

A basement bedroom can also run cool. The window sits close to cold ground. A cellular shade helps insulate that glass, so the bed by the window feels a little less chilly on a winter night.

The TV room

Most winter evenings downstairs happen here. In mid-November the sun is down before 5 in Shakopee, so this room gets a lot of lamp hours.

Basement windows are easy to forget, because they're small and you don't think of anyone looking in. The trouble is where they sit. A window at ground level is right at the feet of anyone crossing the yard. Once a lamp is on downstairs, that little window is the brightest thing on the side of the house.

A room-darkening cellular shade is my usual pick for a small window in a TV room. It blocks that glow and keeps glare off the screen. It also fits a shallow frame and folds up small when you want the daylight back. Leave the top-down option off this one, since anyone in the yard looks down into a ground-level window. Compare the light levels on our cellular shades page.

If your TV room has a walkout door or a big lower-level window, treat it like a main-floor window. The close-at-dusk and open-at-noon routine from Chaska works well on glass that size.

The workout corner and the laundry side

If your treadmill or weight bench sits near the one window in the unfinished half, that window has a different job. Workouts and a nearby dryer both make the air warm and damp, which is hard on fabric over time.

Faux wood blinds are my pick here. They shrug off damp air. Skip real wood, since damp air can warp it. A vinyl blind also handles moisture well. For basement window blinds near a dryer, those are the two to look at.

By day you can tilt the slats so the bench stays private. On the bench at 6 in the morning with the lights on, close them all the way.

Older Shakopee basements and the newer lower levels

Shakopee keeps adding new neighborhoods, so the lower levels in town run from old to brand new and need different things.

Some older houses near downtown have small basement windows set deep in a stone or block wall. They were built for a bit of air. Deep openings like that often take an inside-mounted cellular shade well, since it needs so little room to sit in the frame.

In a newer house, the lower level may have bigger lookout windows or a walkout. Those let in real daylight, which is great until the neighbors' lights come on across the yard. Treat them like upstairs windows. Use the same color as the windows above so the back of the house matches. If you're still building, the new-build timeline for Lakeville and Rosemount works for a Shakopee build too.

Put the lower level on your list early, since it's often the floor that gets finished last. Cover the bedroom and the TV room first and leave the workout corner for later in the winter. Before we leave, we check that the shade on the escape window lifts all the way. After that, test it yourself once a season so you know it still clears the glass in one push. Ask us about basement window coverings in Burnsville whenever the downstairs is ready.

Kevin Sill is CFO and co-owner of the family-owned Budget Blinds franchises serving the Southern Twin Cities.