Order the wrong size cover once and you already know the drill. It rocks on the rim, gaps show at the sides, and it goes right back in the box for a refund. If you’re trying to figure out how to measure for a window well cover before you order another one, the problem almost never started with the product. It started with the tape measure.
Why a Stock Window Well Cover Fails on Older Lincoln Homes
A cover that fits a big box well liner won’t necessarily fit yours. Plenty of Lincoln window wells were formed in place with block or poured concrete decades ago, before today’s egress code existed, so no two are quite the same shape.
Decades of frost heave and soil pressure can push a well wall outward too. A well that started out as a clean half circle can bow a few inches at the middle and still look fine from the yard. See our guide on a bowing window well wall if that sounds like yours. A cover ordered to the well’s original spec, or to a generic size chart, won’t sit flat on a wall that has moved since the house was built.
Grade changes matter too. A deck built over or beside a well, a patio poured closer to the foundation, or fill dirt from a landscaping project can all change the opening a cover has to sit in. None of that shows up on a manufacturer’s size chart, only on a tape measure today.
That’s why a custom cover, usually in the upper part of the $150 to $600 range for covers and ladders, earns its money on these older or altered wells. A stock cover is cheaper up front and works fine on a well that was built to a standard shape. A custom cover costs more because someone measures your actual well instead of pulling a catalog size, and that’s the whole point once a well has bowed or shifted. A cover that’s cracked or broken outright is a different problem with its own fix; see our page on cracked window well cover replacement for that one.
If you’d rather have someone measure the well for you than second-guess a tape measure, call (402) 261-0485 or reach us at /#contact before you order anything.
Window Well Cover Measurements: Width at the Wall, Not the Widest Bow
Most cover fit problems start with a single measuring mistake: measuring the well’s widest point instead of the width where the cover will actually rest. A bowed or oval well can be several inches wider in the middle than where the wall meets the foundation.
Measure width at two points. First, take it straight across at the foundation wall, where the well attaches to the house. Second, take it straight across at the front lip, where the cover will actually sit down. If those two numbers don’t match, you’re not dealing with a symmetrical shape, and a stock rectangular or half round cover won’t seat evenly on both.
Use a metal tape measure, not a fabric one, since fabric sags over an open well and throws the number off. Hold it level and straight across the opening rather than following the curve of the wall. A second person on the far end helps on a well over three feet across.
Write both numbers down along with a quick note on where each one came from. A measurement without a note on its source is easy to misread a week later when you’re filling out an order form.
Projection and Depth: What a Window Well Cover Needs to Fit
Projection is the distance the well sticks out from the foundation wall, measured from the wall straight out to the well’s outer edge. This number tells a cover how far it has to reach, and it’s where a lot of covers come up short on wells built deeper than a modern kit.
Measure depth too, from the top of the well wall down to the bottom of the well or the gravel base. Depth doesn’t usually change the width or projection numbers you need for a flat cover, but it tells you whether the well needs a permanently attached ladder. Code requires one on any well deeper than 44 inches serving an egress window, and a hinged or lift out cover matters more once a ladder sits down there.
A window well serving an egress window also has to keep at least 9 square feet of clear area with a minimum 36 inch projection and width. That’s a code minimum for the well itself, not the cover, but it’s worth checking while you have the tape out. A cover can’t fix a well that never met that minimum in the first place. Lincoln and Lancaster County confirm the exact requirement as part of any egress permit, so check with the local building department at lincoln.ne.gov if you’re not sure whether your well already clears it.
Check Whether the Well Is Square or Has Settled Out of Shape
A well that looks rectangular from the porch isn’t always square up close. Soil settling under one corner, or a slow lean from years of water pressure, can twist the opening enough that a straight edged cover won’t lock down evenly.
Check it the way a framer checks a doorway: measure both diagonals, corner to corner. On a true rectangle those two measurements match. If they’re off by more than an inch or so, the well has racked out of square, and a standard cover will rock or gap on one side no matter how carefully you measured width and length.
This shows up often on 1960s and 1970s Lincoln homes that have gone decades without any drainage work. A homeowner in Waverly with a 1970s ranch ran into exactly that. The well was bowed and slightly racked out of square, and a stock dome cover ordered online got sent back twice before switching to a custom cut cover for about $480, near the top of the usual $150 to $600 range for covers and ladders.
Ground Lip or Foundation Mount: How a Window Well Cover Attaches
Covers attach one of two ways, and it changes what you need to measure. A ground lip cover rests on the ground or gravel around the well’s outer edge and never touches the house. A foundation mount cover anchors to the siding or foundation wall above the well and spans out and over the opening.
A ground lip cover needs an accurate outer perimeter, since that’s the surface it rests on. A foundation mount cover needs an accurate distance from the mounting point on the wall to the well’s far edge, plus its height above grade, so it clears the well and anything planted or piled nearby.
Take a photo of the well from a few angles before you measure, then note on the photo which edge each number came from. That sounds like overkill until you’re on the phone with an installer two weeks later trying to remember whether the 34 inch figure was the wall side or the front lip. If you’re not sure which mount style yours actually is, a quick call to (402) 261-0485 clears it up before you measure the wrong edge.
Overhang and the Escape Opening Trap With an Oversized Cover
Most covers only need a small overhang, an inch or two past the well’s outer edge, so wind and settling don’t open a gap. More overhang isn’t automatically safer. If an oversized cover’s frame or lip reaches up and over the window itself, it can reduce the clear opening someone needs to escape through.
This is the trap that catches people who round up their measurements to be safe. An egress window needs a minimum 5.7 square foot net clear opening, at least 24 inches of clear height and 20 inches of clear width, to still count as a legal escape route. A cover that overlaps the sash or the frame chips away at that clearance even though the window itself was never touched.
An owner selling a Hickman split level found this out during a buyer’s home inspection. The inspector flagged that the well cover overlapped the window frame by nearly two inches, cutting into the required clear opening and holding up the closing. Swapping it for a correctly sized cover ran about $260, well within the usual $150 to $600 range for covers and ladders, and the sale closed on schedule.
Measure the overhang against the well’s opening, not against the window. Confirm that the cover’s mounting hardware and any lip sit outside the window’s frame rather than over it. If you’re also unsure whether the window opening itself still meets those code minimums, that’s a separate question from the cover, and it’s worth a look at our page on egress window replacement in Lincoln rather than guessing.
Window Well Cover Measurement Checklist
Bring these five numbers to any cover order, whether you’re buying a stock size or having one custom cut.
- Width at the foundation wall
- Width at the front lip
- Projection from the wall to the outer edge
- Depth from the well rim to the floor
- Both diagonals, corner to corner
If the two width numbers or the two diagonal numbers don’t match each other, treat the well as irregular and skip the stock size chart entirely.
An owner near Seward ran into this after a deck was built along the back of the house years after the original well went in. The deck’s support post narrowed the usable projection on one side by almost four inches, so a stock cover cleared the well itself but caught on the post every time it was set in place. A custom cover cut to the current, post deck opening cost about $520 and solved it in one order instead of three.
The same handful of problems usually trace back to fit, not the product:
| If this is what’s happening | Here’s what’s actually wrong | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Cover rocks or won’t sit flat | Well was formed on site and isn’t a true circle or rectangle | Custom cut cover matched to the well’s real perimeter |
| Gaps show at the sides | Width was measured at the widest bow instead of at the foundation wall | Remeasure at the wall and add only the overhang the cover needs |
| Cover overlaps the window frame | Overhang or projection was rounded up too far | Measure overhang against the well opening, not the window, and keep the frame clear |
| Cover won’t lock evenly on all sides | Well has settled or racked out of square | Measure both diagonals; order custom if they don’t match |
| New cover won’t clear a deck post or ledger | A deck or grade change altered the opening after the well was built | Measure current physical clearance, not the well’s original size |
Once you have those five numbers and know whether the well is square, choosing between a flat, dome, or hinged style is a separate decision; see our breakdown of window well cover types for that. If the well itself is bowed, undersized, or won’t hold a cover no matter how it’s cut, that’s a well problem, not a cover problem, and worth a call about window well installation in Lincoln before you spend money on a cover for a well that needs replacing first.
If you’d rather send us your five numbers and a couple of photos than order twice, call (402) 261-0485 or use /#contact and we’ll tell you straight whether a stock cover will work or whether you’re looking at a custom one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I measure a window well for a cover if the well isn’t a perfect circle or rectangle?
Measure the width at the foundation wall and again at the front lip, then check both diagonals corner to corner. If those numbers don’t match on each pair, the well is irregular and a stock cover won’t seat evenly no matter which size chart you use. A custom cut cover, usually in the upper part of the $150 to $600 range for covers and ladders, is built to the well’s actual shape instead of a catalog size.
What’s the difference between a ground lip cover and a foundation mount cover?
A ground lip cover rests on the ground or gravel at the well’s outer edge and never touches the house. A foundation mount cover anchors to the wall or siding above the well and spans out over the opening. Which one you have changes whether you measure the outer perimeter or the distance from the wall mount to the well’s far edge.
How much overhang should a window well cover have?
Most covers only need an inch or two of overhang past the well’s outer edge to keep wind and settling from opening a gap. More isn’t safer. Extra overhang that reaches up and over the window itself can cut into the 5.7 square foot clear opening the window needs to work as an emergency exit.
What if my measurements show the well itself is the problem, not the cover?
If the width, diagonal, or projection numbers reveal a well that’s bowed, undersized, or has settled out of shape, no cover cut to those numbers is going to sit right for long. That’s a window well replacement question rather than a cover order. It’s worth getting the well itself checked before spending money on a custom cover for an opening that won’t hold it.