Window wells tend to be boring considering that homeowners do spend a great deal of time inside their house looking outside into the landscape. By adding an interesting terraced boulder wall with colorful plants injected into the nooks and crannies of the boulders you now have an inviting look. Because this involves installing a series of heavy stones in the vicinity of your basement wall there are some site preparation required before the stone is installed. Listed below is an order of operations:
· excavate10” below the window sill and remove fill
· drill a series of 6” dia holes down to a depth of 4’
· install 6” sono tubes and cut the top off flush with the excavated grade
· lay 2” of ridged styrofoam SM onto the grade
· using 2x4” lumber form to the outside of the boulder wall
· install rebar stirrups into the sono tubes and in a grid on top of the Styrofoam
· pour, place and broom finish the concrete 3000psi with air entrainment






Once the base is prepared the next step is to install the stones onto the concrete footing and taking care to batter the stones back greater than 8” each lift to allow for planting pockets and to make the wall blend in better. The purpose is not to make a WALL but to terrace back the landscape boulders to let a greater deal of light into the basement. Below are some pictures of finished installations





Window wells have always been the lost item to be detailed, most homeowners inset a metal flange to handle the difference in grade. However with this type of natural installation you will quickly see the aesthetic benefits in:
· increased light in the basement
· colorful view from downstairs
· interesting view from outside
NOTE: make sure there is a proper drain at the height of the window sill that drains down to the weepers or storm drains.

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