Window replacement costs in Boise

A lot of Boise is new. Nearly half the metro's housing went up this century, and the median house dates from 1999.

The city still treats a window swap as permit work. Boise's homeowner guide lists new and replacement window openings, along with widening or shrinking existing ones, among the jobs that need a building permit. Homeowners can apply online for a window permit themselves through the city's permitting system, schedule the inspections and pay there. The city's current codes page lists the 2018 residential code and the 2018 energy code.

Older neighborhoods can add a step. Boise has ten historic districts. Building permit rules are the same inside them, but the guide adds a step for windows, siding and tree removal: the Planning Division has to sign off first. That sign-off, a certificate of appropriateness, comes before the building permit application and before any work starts.

The weather asks a lot of the glass. Boise averages a July high of 92.7 degrees and a January low of 25.5, according to NOAA's state report for Idaho. So the glass has to handle hard summer sun and real freezes in winter.