Window replacement costs in Mobile

Mobile averages about 67 inches of precipitation a year, and a window here spends a lot of its life wet. In a typical year, about 21 days bring an inch of rain or more, and June through August alone average about 21 inches. Wind pushes that rain sideways into any gap around the frame, so on a replacement, the way the new unit is flashed and sealed into the wall decides whether that wall stays dry. A good window set into a leaky opening still lets water in.

There's no dry season to wait for, either. Winter, spring and fall each average somewhere between about 14 and 17 inches. A run of clear days is something you watch the forecast for, not something the calendar promises.

Mobile's houses lean older. The median one dates to 1981, and roughly 18 percent predate 1960. Nearly half are from the 1970s or earlier, so plenty of their window openings have taken more than four decades of that rain.

On a house like that, the wood around the old window is where the surprises hide. Once the old unit is out, the crew can see the framing for the first time, and a soft sill or a stained header is far easier to fix then than after the new window is sealed in.