Fort Wayne Egress Windows Boman Kemp egress window systems: what they are and what they cost installed here
Boman Kemp systems come up in most serious egress conversations because they solve the part of the job people have not thought about: making the window, the buck, and the well work as one assembly instead of three parts that have to be made to agree on site. We install them in Fort Wayne, and we also install plain galvanized wells with good windows. Which one you want depends on the house and the budget, not on brand loyalty.
What the system is
A steel buck frame that goes into the cut opening, a window sized to it, a well sized to the opening, and a step system built into the well. The value sits in the interfaces. In a conventional install, the buck, window, and well are three purchases and the crew makes them work together. In a kit they already do, which removes a whole class of detail errors around flashing, sill height, and the relationship between the opening and the well projection.
For new construction the buck can be set before the pour, which gives you a formed opening and no cutting at all. For a retrofit into an existing Allen County basement, the opening is cut the usual way and the buck is set into it.
Where it earns the premium here
- Deep wells. Our basements are full depth because footings go below a roughly 36-inch frost line, so egress wells past 44 inches are normal and a proper integrated step system is meaningfully better than a bolt-on ladder in corrugated steel.
- Finished basements. Cutting into a room that is already finished puts a premium on the buck and flashing detail, because water near finished wall assemblies is a much more expensive mistake than water in a utility space.
- Tall wells on sloped lots, where the well is holding back real soil load rather than just lining a hole.
Where a plain steel well wins
If the well will be shallow, if the basement is unfinished, or if the goal is simply to bring a non-conforming bedroom into compliance at the lowest honest cost, a galvanized corrugated well over a genuine drainage column does the job for less.
That caveat about drainage is the whole point on this ground. What determines whether a well lasts around Fort Wayne is almost never the brand on the flange. It is whether the water under it has a real outlet, because a gravel column into lake-plain clay is a storage tank. The flooding well page explains the mechanism, and it is why every replacement we quote includes rebuilding the bed and finding an outlet.
Pricing in this market
| Scope | Range |
|---|---|
| Full egress install, galvanized well, egress-rated window | $3,500–$5,500 typical |
| Full egress install with an engineered kit system | $4,500–$6,500 typical |
| Well only, engineered system into an existing compliant opening | $1,800–$3,000 |
| Well only, galvanized steel with a new drainage bed | $1,000–$3,000 |
| Drainage rebuild under either | $300–$1,000 |
| Fitted cover | $150–$600 |
All inside the published pricing ranges. Permits of $150–$600 are separate and passed through at cost.
What we will not tell you
We are not a dealer and we are not paid more for steering you toward one product. If a competing quote specifies a kit system at a fair price, that is a good job. If a quote specifies the cheapest compliant well but includes a properly sized header, a real drainage outlet, a code ladder, and the permit, that is also a good job. The bids worth worrying about are the ones that skip the header, the drainage, or the permit, whatever brand appears on the invoice.
Get a number for your house
The egress cost calculator prices both paths in about a minute, and the on-site measure is free. We install across Fort Wayne, New Haven, Huntertown, Leo-Cedarville, Auburn, Columbia City, Roanoke, and Decatur.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Boman Kemp egress system?
A matched kit: a steel buck frame, an egress-sized window, a window well, and an integrated step system engineered to work together, so the opening and the well are one assembly rather than three separately sourced parts meeting in your foundation. They are used for retrofits and for bucks set into new poured walls.
What does a kit system install cost in Fort Wayne?
It lands in the upper half of our normal full-egress range, typically $4,500–$6,500 for the cut, window, and well, against $3,500–$5,500 for a galvanized well with an egress-rated window. The difference buys an engineered well, an integrated step detail, and a cleaner buck interface.
Do the integrated steps satisfy the code ladder rule?
They are designed to. R310 requires a permanent ladder or steps on any well deeper than 44 inches, with rungs at least 12 inches wide, projecting at least 3 inches, spaced no more than 18 inches on center. We verify the as-installed geometry on site, because the requirement applies to what is actually in your yard.
Is it worth the premium on the lake plain?
The well body is rarely what fails here. Drainage is. If the budget forces a choice between an engineered well and a properly built drainage outlet, take the drainage. If both fit, the kit is a good product.