Tinley Park has the most specific window well rules of any town we serve, and they are written right into the village code. Section 155.07 of the Supplemental Regulations sets a minimum window well width of 3 feet measured perpendicular to the face of the building wall, requires the head of the window to sit at or above the top of the area wall, and requires a drain connected to the sub-soil drainage system and/or discharging to the storm water system.
That level of detail is not an accident. Tinley Park's median home was built in 1987, roughly 81% of the housing stock went up between 1970 and 2009, and the village sits in the Little Calumet River watershed along Midlothian Creek. It has been through seven federal flood declarations between 1993 and 2023.
We build to those rules. Every cover is measured to the well on site, carries snow load, and — over an egress well — opens from inside without a key, a tool or special knowledge.
Explore our custom window well covers for your Tinley Park home, measured and built on site for your wells.
Tinley Park's Supplemental Regulations go well past the base code on foundation drainage, and if you are building or finishing here it is worth reading them in full. The window well provisions: minimum width of 3 feet measured perpendicular to the face of the building wall; the head of the window at or above the top of the area wall; and a drain connected to the sub-soil drainage system and/or discharging to the storm water system.
The related foundation requirements are just as specific. Drain tile is required at a minimum of 4 inches in diameter, covered with 8 inches of gravel, and connected to a water-tight pump pit. Sump pumps shall discharge into the rear yard — not the front or side yards — a minimum of ten feet from any lot line.
Read together, that is a village that has decided foundation water is a design problem, not a maintenance problem. A window well cover fits that thinking: the drain in the bottom of the well is the backup, and the cover is what keeps most of the water from ever needing it.
Tinley Park drains to Midlothian Creek and sits in the Little Calumet River watershed. The village has been included in seven federal flood declarations between 1993 and 2023, and the April 18, 2013 event caused documented basement flooding across the area.
The village holds a CRS Class 6 rating from FEMA, which earns a 20% flood insurance discount inside the mapped floodplain and 10% outside it. Notably, Tinley Park has zero FEMA repetitive-loss properties — a good sign that the drainage requirements above are doing real work.
Not every part of the village drains equally well. The Kimberly Heights subdivision has documented ponding and drainage problems, and the village budgeted millions to convert open ditches there to storm sewers beginning in spring 2024. If you are in that area, surface water is the water you are fighting, and an open window well is a direct path for it.
One clarification, because it comes up: Tinley Park does not mandate overhead sewer conversion. The village describes it as one solution option, not a requirement.
Tinley Park adopted the 2021 International Residential Code, including Appendix F, on November 1, 2022. The base egress requirements apply: a basement sleeping room needs an emergency escape and rescue opening of at least 5.7 square feet net clear, with a minimum clear height of 24 inches, a minimum clear width of 20 inches, and a sill no more than 44 inches above the finished floor.
The well outside it must be at least 9 square feet with a minimum projection and width of 36 inches — and in Tinley Park, at least 3 feet wide measured perpendicular to the wall under Section 155.07. A well deeper than 44 inches needs a permanently affixed ladder or steps, and the ladder may encroach into the required well dimensions by no more than 6 inches.
Any cover over an egress well must be releasable from the inside without a key, tool, or special knowledge, and without more effort than operating the window itself. Reach the Community Development Building Division at (708) 444-5100 to confirm what your project needs before you start.
Tinley Park spans township lines — Bremen, Orland and Rich Townships in Cook County, and Frankfort Township in Will County — so if you are near the county line, confirm which county's stormwater rules apply to your lot.
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