Get a an Architect to design a header above the door and provide you with a cut-out detail, when you get that get a few more estimates, if you have a block wall it's not a big deal to cut the opening and put a door in. 20-40k is way to much unless that's the going rate where you at.

Cutting holes in masonry walls seems to be a very high priced business. I got an estimate for cutting a hole in the brick wall of my garage to add a side door, and the estimate was about $8k, which included the lintel, but did not include actually installing a door.

Cutting out for the egress window usually involves digging a large trench in front of the wall, and installing a concrete well that is sealed to the wall. I assume they can buy precast wells, but it is still a large structure that may be expensive to purchase and hard to move into place. I know there are specs for how deep and wide it needs to be to meet code.

They also need to use a concrete saw to the cut the wall, which is probably at least 8 inches thick. It is very physical labor, and making cuts in concrete walls is not easy because you have to hold a very heavy saw vertically or horizontally while cutting, and you don't want it to get away from you and cut the wrong thing (like yourself).

Bruce

How long did it take them to make an opening and slip a lentil in for that price?

My mason did an opening for me a while back we did a walkout basement 12" concrete block with durawall, him and a helper, they cut and got the opening ready in 4-5 hrs. He had a concrete chain saw that cuts up to 15” deep into reinforced concrete, by the time I went out to get them a cup of coffee and a butter roll, when I returned they already made a hole and were moving the broken up block out of the way.

Even 8k is not a realistic price, at that rate, you can retire doing 1 opening a month even if it takes you a week to do it :-)

PreCast Basement Stairs