Basement windows · Kingston
Basement windows and bedroom egress: what Kingston requires
A basement window job is one of two things. Replacing a tired window in the same opening is usually straightforward, like most window work. Enlarging the opening so the room below can be a bedroom is construction, and in Kingston it needs a building permit. We're a free referral service: we connect you with an independent local pro who does basement windows, including foundation cutting where a job calls for it.
- Same-size swaps and new egress openings
- Permit questions settled before cutting
- Window wells and drainage included
Like for like
Same-size basement window replacement
When an old basement window rots, rusts or leaks, a new one can usually go into the same opening.
Usually no building permit
The City of Kingston lists replacing windows of the same size, following property line rules, as work that doesn't need a building permit. Heritage buildings are the exception.
What the pro checks
The frame, whether the sill sheds water, and whether the well drains.
A moment to think about egress
If the room may become a bedroom, a same-size swap can leave a window too small to count, often an old slider.
The code in words
Egress basics for bedrooms
Egress means a way out. Under the Ontario Building Code, updated for 2025, a bedroom without its own door to the outside needs a window someone can escape through in a fire. In plain terms, that window has to:
Open wide enough to climb through
The code sets a minimum clear opening when fully open, and a minimum each way, so a long, low slot won't do. The opening counts, not the glass.
Open from inside without tools or keys
Anything needing a key or a tool to open doesn't qualify.
Stay open on its own
No propping. That's one reason casements are a common choice.
Sit within reach, with room outside
The code limits how high the sill can be, and a well in front must leave clear space. The permit review checks the figures.
Bigger openings
Enlarging an opening: City of Kingston permit
Cutting a bigger opening is 'creating or altering' a window, which needs a City building permit, and heritage buildings need approval as well. Check with the City before anyone cuts. In Loyalist Township or Gananoque, the township or town issues permits.
Plan the opening
The pro looks at the wall, the room and the grade outside, and proposes a window and well that meet egress.
Get the permit
Drawings show the opening, the support above it and the window. Ask who prepares and submits them.
Cut, fit and finish
The wall is cut and supported, the window and well go in, the inside is finished, and the inspector checks the work.
Keeping water out
Window wells and drainage
A well holds soil back and gives an egress window its clear space. It also collects water.
A drain at the bottom
Gravel over a drain carries water away. If water sits after rain or a thaw, the drain is blocked or missing.
Grade and downspouts
Soil should slope away, and downspouts shouldn't empty nearby. Kingston's heavy snow means a lot of meltwater in spring.
A cover that lifts
A clear cover keeps snow and leaves out; on an egress well, it must open easily from below.
Basement suites
Basement suites and additional residential units
Close to half of Kingston households rent, and the City encourages additional residential units. Its building permits page has a section on them and links an incentive for adding rental housing; check the current terms there. For a suite, egress windows are one part of a larger permit. Landlords near the university can plan the work outside move-in and move-out weeks; our page for landlords covers requests across several units.
What affects the quote
What drives the cost
Basement window quotes vary more than most. They depend on:
- Same-size swap, or cutting the foundation larger
- The wall: poured concrete, block, or stone in older houses
- Support, framing and waterproofing around a new opening
- The well: size, drainage and cover
- Window type and size, plus interior finishing
- Permit drawings and fees
Send a photo of the window from inside and outside, with rough sizes.
Questions
Basement window questions
Explore your options
Other window help
Pros take on basement window work across the city and nearby, including Westbrook, Bayridge, Kingscourt and Amherstview.
Send photos of the basement window
One from inside, one from outside, with rough sizes. We'll pass it to a local pro who does basement windows.