Window replacement costs in Seattle

Seattle has plenty of old houses, and in Washington the lead rules for window work are the state's own. About four in ten homes in the Seattle metro were built before 1980, and close to one in ten before 1940.

EPA lists Washington among the states authorized to run their own lead-safe renovation program in place of the federal one. The state Commerce department requires RRP certification for renovation, repair and painting work on homes built before 1978. An installer certified through EPA has to register that certificate with the state, and the company needs its own Washington firm certification. Taking out an old painted window disturbs that paint, and that's what those rules are about.

The new window has to meet the Seattle Energy Code. SDCI's checklist for single-family subject-to-field-inspection permits caps window and door U-factor at 0.30, and lets up to 15 square feet of glass per home skip that limit.

Bedrooms get one more rule on that checklist. A replacement in an existing permitted bedroom or basement must be the manufacturer's largest standard size that fits the opening, and its clear opening can't be any smaller than the old one.