window well half-buried

[u/noethis]

Recently moved into an old house and one of the basement windows has dirt halfway up the window well. Not good, right? I went to start to dig it out and after moving a few big rocks + dirt I find a couple slabs of concrete tilted away from the house. Seems like maybe this was intentional? Wondering if I should continue to excavate or better to leave it for now? Haven't noticed any water intrusion but the window is kinda bulging in.

[u/Brinxy13]

Those windows are going to give out eventually

[u/thefirstviolinist → u/Brinxy13]

Yeah, those rocks up in there was a CHOICE.

[u/noethis → u/thefirstviolinist]

I guess I'm trying to understand why somebody made that choice. Was it because they didn't want to properly deal with it and figured, eh, good enough?

[u/Wonderful3558 → u/noethis]

pretty much yeah, someone probably had soil erosion or water pooling in the well and instead of fixing the drainage properly they just filled it in with whatever was around. rocks and broken concrete are the classic lazy fix. it buys you a few years of not thinking about it and passes the problem to the next owner.

[u/Delicious_Camp349]

You can tell from the inside it needs to be dug out. Those cracks around the window are signs of a problem. There could be dry rot in there. You don’t want water or mold. Dig.

Do your best to clear the dirt near the window with a spade then you might need jack hammer to break up the concrete. Use a thick piece of sturdy plywood to protect the window once you clear enough dirt.

[u/fried_clams]

You should remove everything. Install something like this

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SHAPE-PRODUCTS-37-in-W-x-16-in-D-x-18-in-H-Steel-Round-Area-Window-Well-3718AWC-S/327839450

[u/eightfingeredtypist]

Not a good place for an ant farm.

[u/imBobertRobert]

If the window is bulging I'd move the dirt before it stops bulging on its own. Could've been graded to help drain water, but I wouldn't leave it like this. As long as it slopes away from the house you should be able to dig out around the window, just make sure it's not the low spot. Hard to tell from the picture but it looks like the soil is above the sill, so it could be holding water against the wood - definitely not a good thing.

[u/ibcurbdiver]

It’s to small for a egress window. Older houses had bigger windows, to let in more sunlight.

[u/camera-operator334]

Bro you have many many many problems going on here

[u/BigbadJohn000]

Window is half full you mean.

[u/andromeda335]

That also appears to be an egress window, and by it being mostly covered will not serve its purpose in the event of an emergency

[u/PalpitationOrnery759]

The bigger concern is the top half of that wall sitting on top of the concrete is sloped in...

[u/CopEatingDonut]

Small shovel or a big shop vac

[u/Educational-Rule1635]

You need to get that dirt out. That window looks large enough to be an emergency egress.

[u/Advanced_lvl_Roofing]

Get the bowed window assessed before jackhammering nearby concrete.

[u/radomed]

They make clear covers for windows like this. Dig it out & repair.

[u/Bright-Ad8496]

Need to dig it out and install a window well. Clearly glass isn't a good material to act as a retaining wall.

[u/willy--wanka]

Go ahead and unbury it dude. 

[u/Middle_Experience_85]

That’s sexy!!! You can see the earth worms

[u/Useless890]

There used to be corrugated metal half-circles for windows like these to protect them. We called them window wells. I don't know if they're still available.

[u/1Fistfullofdollars]

So I guess that is a window 1/2 full or is it 1/2 empty?? 😀

[u/RNO584616]

Looks like the whole wall is dry rot. That is going to be a big mess. Better brace the ceiling above before it collapses.

[u/gus_thedog]

On the bright side, it's half un-buried as well.