I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My house is only 7 years old and one of the basement window wells has developed small holes that have rusted through. The window well is a thick metal and appears to be zinc coated and is not suppose to rust through in only 7 years. Small amouts of water leak through and leave rust stains as the water drips. I have used Epoxy Steel Putty as a temporary fix to stop the leaking. Can this be repaired by some sort of brazing or will I have to replace the whole window well? I did contact a local company that makes the window wells and they sent 2 guys out to look at it and they said it would have to be replaced. They may have just said that to sell me a new one. I do not know who to call.
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I do not know when you placed your question, but I can give you some advice on the problem you have.
First, you are correct as far as the window well being galvanized (zinc coating). It should not have leaked through in no 7 years, so it must have been a cheapy. I just replaced the ones on the front of my house, and I live in Widefield (you will know where that is). These were in there for 37 years. As far as brazing or welding, the answer is NO. I have been a welder for 45 years, and you are Not going to fix it that way. Yes, the people you contacted want to put a new one in, and sorry to say, you have no other viable choice. The only choice you have is whether to have them do it, or do it yourself.
There is a lot of digging involved, and a new galvanized well will cost you about $65.00. If you have a kid available that wants to dog and earn some money, have them do it. My 17 yo grandson helped me. Once dug down, take a shovel and break away the well from the house. You may not even need to do that. Anyway, remove the well, clean the cement wall, and make sure the new one will fit where you want it to. Next hold the well in place and mark two spot on the sides to drill for the screws. You can use either expansion nails or the blue concrete screws (these are what I used). When you buy the 1-1/4 inch blue screws, get a 3/16 inch concrete drill at the same place. After you mark the holes, drill them and then put a 5/16 inch socket in the drill and screw the well to the wall. Before you do that though, buy a tube of Black Jack roofing cement and run a good sized bead on the wall where the well will set. This will form a nice seal and you are done, except to fill the dirt back in. As a suggestion, get some crushed rock and place around the sides of the well where it meets the wall. This allows water to drain easier.
The whole procedure is not hard at all. Just labor intensive. If the well you are using is an egress well, then you do not want to do it yourself. Let the big boys do it. There are many good fibreglass and resin type wells that you can view at Barton Supply on Steel Drive. Good luck, and if you want to attempt it yourself, contact me and I will show you what you need to know.
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