Window Well Replacement & Repair in Denver, CO

The well's fine — its drainage is dead. The gravel bottom has silted over the years, or the well never got a drain path at all, so storm water arrives faster than the soil can take it and the well becomes a bathtub against your window. Renewing the gravel column, clearing or adding a drain, and redirecting the roof runoff that's feeding it usually ends the problem permanently.

If someone sleeps down there, yes — egress rules exist so a person can get out through the window in a fire, and they specify minimum window opening, well floor area, and a ladder past a certain depth. Many metro basements finished informally don't meet them. Beyond safety, it comes up at appraisal and sale, so bringing the well to spec pays twice.

In this climate, clearly yes — they keep out the rain and snowmelt that drives most well flooding, the leaves that kill drainage, and the rabbits that fall in every spring. The requirements: shed water, carry a person stepping on them, and open easily from inside if it's an egress well. Cheap flimsy domes meet none of those; fitted covers meet all three.

Both, and the drainage is usually the actual problem. A new well over a clogged or missing drain just fills up more attractively. Lakewood and Arvada basements flood at the window well far more often than at the foundation, so I look at where the water is going before quoting a new well.