The best window well covers

Water pouring through a basement window is almost never a window problem. It is a well that filled up faster than it could drain.

A window well is a hole in the ground pressed against your foundation, directly below a window that was never designed to be underwater. In heavy rain, if more water enters the well than the well drain can take, the level rises until it reaches the window, and then it is inside.

There are three fixes and they are complementary: stop water entering the well, make sure the well can drain, and make sure the ground outside is not feeding it.

Fix one: keep the weather out

A fitted cover is the simplest and most effective single step. It excludes rain and snow directly, and keeps out the leaves and debris that block the drain and turn a working well into a bucket.

#1Keeping rain and snow out of the well

Shape Products window well cover

A molded polycarbonate cover that keeps weather out while still letting light in.

8.5/10★★★★★Our editorial score: 8.5 out of 10

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Specifications, as published by Shape Products

Type	Molded polycarbonate window well cover
What it stops	Rain, snowmelt and leaves filling the well and backing up against the window
Fit	Measure the well's width, projection and height before ordering; wells vary a lot

Measure three dimensions before ordering: the width along the wall, the projection out from the wall, and the height of the well. Wells differ by manufacturer, by vintage and by whoever installed them, and a cover that nearly fits channels water into the well rather than away from it.

Check egress rules first. If the window is a required means of escape from a bedroom, any cover must be openable from inside without tools or special knowledge.

What it gets right

• Stops the well filling in the first place, which is the actual fix
• Keeps leaves and debris out of the well drain, which is the second-order fix
• Clear material preserves basement daylight

Where it falls short

• Sizing is unforgiving — wells vary enormously and a poor fit lets water straight past
• Polycarbonate clouds over years of UV exposure
• Must not obstruct an egress window's escape function

Specifications from Amazon listing (search).

Fix two: make sure the well drains

Most wells have a gravel bed with a drain beneath, connected either to the footing drain or to daylight. After years of leaf litter and silt, that gravel clogs and the drain stops working. Dig out the bottom of the well, clear the gravel bed, and confirm water actually goes somewhere when you pour a bucket in.

If there is no drain at all — and plenty of wells never had one — the well is a container, and a cover becomes essential rather than optional.

Fix three: look at the ground around it

• The grade should fall away from the well, not toward it. Soil settles against foundations over the years and reverses the slope.
• No downspout should discharge anywhere near it. A downspout within a few feet of a window well is a hose pointed at your basement.
• The well rim should sit above the surrounding soil, so surface water cannot simply run over the edge.
• Keep beds and mulch back from the rim. They hold water against the wall and wash into the well.

If water has already been coming in through the window, deal with the wall and the floor too — interior vs exterior waterproofing covers what else may need attention.