Window replacement costs in Chicago

If you live near O'Hare or Midway, your windows may already have a story. The Chicago Department of Aviation has sound-insulated more than 22,000 homes around the two airports. About 11 percent of them have had a confirmed problem with windows that give off an odor. Illinois passed a law to pay for replacing those windows and doors with entirely new ones wherever an inspection confirms the smell. If that's your house, call the program's office before you pay for new windows yourself.

Elsewhere in Chicago, the city's Express Permit terms for window replacement show what a straight swap has to meet. They cover new units in existing openings only, so the opening can't get bigger or smaller. The new window needs at least as much glass as the old one, and in a home it can't open any less. It also has to meet the U-value and solar heat gain limits of the Chicago Energy Transformation Code.

A few rules are easy to miss. If a sill sits less than 36 inches off the floor, the window needs a device that keeps the opening under 4 inches within 42 inches of the floor. An operable window less than 24 inches above the ground needs heavy wire screen or hardware cloth against rodents. And in a building without full sprinklers, a window within 10 feet of a fire escape can't go in under these terms unless an Illinois-licensed architect or structural engineer supplies the specs.