I am designing my ICF home with a full basement which will be almost all below grade.  I do not intend to put any bed rooms down there but I just realized I had not thought about egress windows.  I guess code will require them.

Anyone have experience with window wells with below grade ICF basement?  

I had planned on only one door.  I will also install a fire sprinkler system throughout the home.  It will be code here soon for new construction.

My main concern is heat loss and moisture.  It rains a lot here.

You can install an Icf box T walled into the main wall however this creates many issues when it comes to water proofing and getting a good seal.

The following is just an opinion based on experiance. clearly you will need to have a drain tile installed, at the window well area T into that and run an additional tile vertical, debris covers are available to cap the end. This tile should be a 4" -5" inches below the sill of the window, waterproof the wall as you have the rest of the foundation. The next step is to install an aggregate fill again just below the window sill a few inches, you will have some settling in the fill we use a vibrator to reduce the amount of future settling and this works well. Once you have settled the aggregate fill build your widow well box or install what ever you decide to use for a window well, there are many different methods for this as well as products available in premade. Another important factor is water mitigation, for example the water coming off the roof in that area should be diverted, the landscaping in that area should also divert water. One last item is a well cover these are also available at most construction supply stores. Should you choose to build your well with landscape timbers or patio blocks the covers will not work, at this point the only factor that may create an issue would be snow and ice build up that could clog your tile so you may have to shovel the snow out of the wells occasionally.

WILDBLUE, we have done several below grade structure using window wells for egress. Check out this web site for MARFLEX they carry window wells, they come in a variety of sizes and covers.They also are very easy to install to icf walls, and have covers and grates to go with the kits.www.mar-flex.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STACKING THE CAROLINAS ONE BLOCK AT A TIME
TODD BIGGERSTAFF/ TB MACS ICF CONTRACTOR

mar-flex is what I recommend, check out there water proofing. This is what we spray on our ICF's.

Rockwell has the finest window well in the industry, by "my opionion". The cost is competitive to most higher end wells, they look superior to all hands down, and dont require cross bracing for flex etc. when backfilling. Should be in the $600 range.

Dave

I've used ScapeWEL from Bilco products and also built them using ICF blocks. ICF are what I call the better choice, but not something everyone wants to do, hence the Bilco product