Window replacement costs in Minneapolis

Minneapolis winters put a window through a lot. At the Minneapolis–St. Paul airport, the high stays at or below freezing on about 72 days in a normal year, and the low drops to zero or colder on about 22 nights. Federal energy maps put Hennepin County in climate zone 6.

The paperwork comes from the 2020 Minnesota Residential Code, and Saint Paul's inspections office lays it out plainly. That city requires a permit for new or replacement windows, storm windows included. Its handout also points to a state code rule worth knowing before a window job: once a window or door permit is issued, the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the house have to meet current rules. That means a smoke alarm in each bedroom, one on each level, and a CO alarm within 10 feet of each room used for sleeping.

Bedroom windows get a break. If the rough opening stays the same, a replacement doesn't have to meet today's egress size, as long as it's the largest window that fits the old frame or opening. That break doesn't cover a room used for foster care or day care licensed or registered by the state.

In Minneapolis itself, about four in ten homes were built before 1940, Census figures show. Plenty of these window swaps go into openings that are close to a century old.