Window replacement costs in Louisville

Louisville's housing is old. The median home in the metro was built in 1979, and about one in nine went up in 1939 or earlier.

If yours is in a local preservation district, window work needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Louisville Landmarks Commission, judged against that district's own design guidelines. Clifton's show how specific they get. Historic windows on the street-address side or another street-facing side can't be replaced unless the Clifton architectural review committee finds that their condition, safety or energy concerns support it. On the other sides, replacements are allowed, but they have to look like the originals: sash size, muntin pattern, reveal depth, glass-to-frame ratio and trim. Wood, metal or synthetic frames are all allowed.

Two Clifton rules catch people. You can't block in a historic opening to fit a stock-size window, so the new sash has to fit the old hole. And a double-hung is replaced with a double-hung, a casement with a casement.

The guidelines ask owners to talk with Landmarks staff while they're still planning, before any application goes in. Staff also keep a list of window repair contractors, which helps if the committee wants the old windows fixed rather than replaced.