How to Choose, Buy, & Install Window Well Covers in 5 Easy Steps
A good window well cover keeps leaves, rain, and yard debris out of your basement window well and stops water from pooling against the foundation. This helps to prevent basement flooding and prevents injury from accidental falls at ground level. Clear polycarbonate covers do all of that while still letting natural light reach the basement below.
Once you get a feel for what each cover style is meant to do—whether it’s keeping out debris and water, improving ventilation in your window well, or improving safety—everything else falls into place. This article is designed to answer your questions and help make the decision-making easy!
How to Choose the Right Window Well Cover
The right window well cover protects your basement for years, so getting the style right matters as much as getting the size right. The cover you pick decides how dry your wells stay, how safe the opening is for kids and pets, and how much natural light reaches the basement. The four goals below cover what most homeowners think about first.
Goal 1: Keep leaves, sticks, and other debris out of your window wells
A solid, clear polycarbonate cover or a metal grate blocks falling leaves and yard debris from collecting at the bottom of your well. This keeps your basement window cleaner and reduces the trapped material that can hold moisture against your foundation.
Goal 2: Prevent water damage and basement flooding
A clear polycarbonate cover keeps rain and snowmelt out of the window well, as well as debris, which protects your basement window and lowers the chance of basement flooding. This is one of the most common reasons homeowners replace an old cover with a new one from us.
Goal 3: Protect children and pets from accidental falls
Open window wells are a real safety concern. Covers that fasten to the well prevent kids, pets, and visitors from stepping into the opening, giving homeowners peace of mi
Goal 4: Let more natural light into your finished basement
Clear polycarbonate covers let natural light pour into the basement while still protecting the well from the weather. This is a popular choice for finished basements where you want the space to feel open and bright instead of closed off.
Goal 5: Increase airflow through the window well
Steel and aluminum grates let air move freely through the well, which helps cut down on moisture buildup and keeps the space below feeling fresher. Fresh air ventilation into the basement is easy because the window well cover does not have to be moved for the window to open. Grates are also a strong pick for wells in high-traffic spots next to walkways or driveways.
Handling Tricky Window Well Situations
We look at every part of your window well before building your cover. You measure the well for your initial estimate, but our team confirms every dimension with you before we manufacture your cover.
If your basement window extends above the top of the window well, we still have options:
- Back panels and backsplashes are added to Sloped and Flat covers to help keep debris and water out.
- Atrium domes and Super Slant covers rise above the lip of the well to cover taller windows.
- Bubble domes work for metal wells in select sizes.
For egress window wells, we offer cover designs that open from the inside, so you keep both your safety and your code compliance.
Important note: if you have a crank-out style basement window that comes above the lip of the window well, a low-profile cover will not be code-compliant. Low-profile covers clip directly to the well and block the window from opening. Call us, and we will point you to a cover style that works with your window type.
Choose Quality Materials That Last
The material a window well cover is made from determines how long it lasts and how well it does its job. A cover sits out in the weather year-round, taking on rain, snow, summer UV damage, falling debris, and the occasional mower stone or weed whip. A quality cover should be able to handle all of that without fading, cracking, or shattering.
That is where Window Well Experts comes in. Our covers are made from high-quality polycarbonate with UV protection, so they hold their shape and clarity over time, are less likely to chip, break, or turn yellow in the sun, and carry weight when something or someone lands on top.
Cover Weight Ratings
How much weight a cover can hold depends on its style and profile. The chart below breaks down the capacity of each option, so you can match the cover to the people and pets that walk near your wells.
Sloped, Flat, and Super Slant covers, along with our grates, are rated up to 400 pounds of static weight capacity. Atrium and Bubble domes are rated up to 150 pounds since their taller profile is built for coverage and clearance over the window.
With a cover style in mind, the rest comes together quickly. Our team handles the sizing checks and shipping on our end, and the five steps below walk you through what to expect from your first measurement to installation day.
Step 1: Get Your Free Estimate
Download our Measuring Guide PDF and measure your wells carefully. Call us or send your dimensions through our online form. We can give you an estimate over the phone, or we will email your free estimate as soon as we receive your information.
Step 2: Place Your Order
Call us, and we will verify your billing and shipping address, the cover style, and the accessories you want. We accept all major credit cards and PayPal.
Step 3: Confirm Your Measurements
After you place your order, our team will ask you to double-check every measurement and provide photos of your wells. This helps us build a window well cover that fits your specific opening, no matter what your window well is made of. After our engineering and manufacturing teams make your cover, the next step is to be on the lookout for tracking information.
Step 4: Watch for Tracking Information
You will get an email with tracking information as soon as your covers ship, so keep an eye on your inbox.
Step 5: Install Your Covers
Every cover ships with the hardware and step-by-step instructions you need to install it yourself, and most window well cover installations take less than 45 minutes, depending on the size of your well. Most of the work really happens up front when you are picking the right cover for your basement window wells, so if you need help choosing or hit a snag during install, our team is one phone call away.
Installing our best selling window well cover is really a straightforward, DIY installation, and only requires a drill, a marker and a screwdriver. We include all hardware needed for installation.
We are available if you have any questions, just give us a call!
Ready to Order Your Window Well Covers?
Call us at 888-650-9355, or submit a contact form. Our customer service team will walk you through sizing, cover style options, and the installation process so your covers arrive at your home ready to install.