How to Make Windowless Bedrooms Have Egresses

Create a direct escape route in case of fire. Install a wide door between a windowless bedroom and a hallway, for example. Make sure the hallway has direct access to a descending staircase or large window leading onto the lawn. Add a partial wall of glass blocks from shoulder height to ceiling to create some natural light coming into the room for psychological reasons. Avoid a windowless feeling in any room, or it will seem like sleeping in a closet.

Use sliding doors as a wall unit between two bedrooms, if one has a large window and one does not. Make sure two children's rooms can open up quickly in an emergency. Access the sliding doors to direct children into a hallway within a few seconds. Install the sliding doors on heavy-duty tracking so that they work perfectly over time.

Install an exterior door leading to an outside deck or porch. Use a keyless lock system on the exterior, so that adults can open the door from outside the home, if needed. Install a deck outside an attic or second-floor bedroom that provides stairs leading down to the ground floor.

Build a door via a walk-in closet for egress. Make sure anyone sleeping in the bedroom can exit through the main walk-door, but create an alternative route. Place a door on the other side of a walk-in closet adjoining the bedroom that leads to a hallway in case of fire. Include two routes of escape, in addition to an added windows, so that family members or rescuers may enter through either door.

Consider building interior rows of windows on one wall. Bypass the lack of exterior windows for egress by making sure a sleeping person can enter the main house via windows. Install a row of windows with micro blinds between the panes of glass for privacy. Add the row of windows on an opposite wall from the main bedroom door.