Window replacement costs in New Orleans

In New Orleans, hurricane protection and old windows have to get along. The Historic District Landmarks Commission's window guidelines say shutters are one of the most traditional forms of hurricane protection for many homes here, and pre-fitted plywood can be fastened over closed shutters, so the historic windows stay in place. Hurricane-resistant windows, the guide says, tend to have very wide frames and muntins and shallow profiles that don't match historic proportions, and it calls them not appropriate for historic buildings. Fabric storm panels, put up only when a storm threatens, are another option it describes.

In the districts it oversees, the HDLC reviews all alterations to and replacement of visible exterior windows. It does not permit replacing historic wood windows with vinyl or aluminum on street elevations. And it says replacing a whole wood window because one part has deteriorated, usually the sill or bottom rail, is rarely necessary.

The guide is blunt about modern units, too. It puts the life span of vinyl and PVC at about 15 years and says they break down in ultraviolet light. In lower-quality windows, it adds, the seal around double glazing can fail in as few as 10 years and fog the glass. An interior storm window, it says, can reach R-values similar to a new thermal window.