Window and siding replacement in Kirkwood
What the code and the permit desk actually require here — and what the houses in Kirkwood tend to be hiding behind the siding.
- People
- 29,461
- Homes
- 13,106
- Size
- 9.2 square miles
- From downtown
- About 12 miles west
- ZIP codes
- 63122
- Founded or incorporated
- 1853
Kirkwood has a city Landmarks Commission and 9 locally designated historic districts (spanning the 1850s to the 1950s, including three Mid-Century Modern districts), 4 of which are also individually listed on the National Register, plus 85 designated individual landmarks.
Kirkwood
Kirkwood's housing spans from 1850s-era districts (Jefferson-Argonne, West Argonne, North Taylor) through a 1920s district (Central Place) to 1950s Mid-Century Modern subdivisions (Barrett Brae, Craig Woods, Sugar Creek Ranch); overall median home age is about 58 years.
What that vintage turns up
Original single-pane aluminium and wood units, most of which have been replaced at least once by now — which means what you are usually looking at is a first-generation replacement window from the 1990s, not the original. Aluminium frames of this age conduct cold straight through and sweat in January, which is what people are describing when they say a room feels draughty in a house with no measurable draught.
Aluminium siding was the default for years and a lot of it is still up. It does not rot and it does not burn; what it does is chalk, so the factory finish oxidises to a powder that comes off on your hand, and it dents and never un-dents. The honest decision on aluminium in decent shape is repaint against replace, and repainting is often the right answer. Later in this window, hardboard and wood-composite lap started going up, and that material has a litigation history rather than a maintenance history.
The one to watch on a house of this age
Plywood and board sheathing under this vintage holds up better than the OSB that came later, which means rot found here is usually local to a flashing failure rather than general. Find the leak, not just the soft spot.
Lead paint. Likely on anything built before 1978, and the rule does not care how much paint there is. 69.2% of the homes in St. Louis County were built before 1980, and on anything pre-1978 the EPA renovation rule applies to both of these trades. Window replacement is never exempt from it, at any size — a single window triggers it. A whole-house re-side clears the twenty square foot exterior threshold on the first wall. What the rule actually requires of a contractor.
Neighbourhoods
We work across Barrett Brae, Central Place, Craig Woods, Jefferson-Argonne, Meramec Highlands, North Taylor, Savoy, Sugar Creek Ranch and West Argonne.
Historic districts
Kirkwood has 4: Downtown Kirkwood (NRHP), East Monroe (NRHP), Jefferson-Argonne (NRHP) and North Taylor (NRHP). This matters more for windows than for almost any other kind of work. A visible change to a window on a designated property can need preservation review before a building permit will issue, and in the strictest districts in this metro the material the window is made of is written into the ordinance. Which local rules bite, and which are only advisory.
Next door
Kirkwood shares a boundary with Des Peres, Frontenac, Glendale, Huntleigh, Oakland and Warson Woods. Where we have a page for a neighbour it is linked; where we do not, the rules there are still different from the rules here.
The rules in Kirkwood
Siding replacement Not published
Kirkwood publishes only general language. The Building Division page states 'Permits are issued and inspections are required for all new construction, and the remodeling and repair of existing structures in the City of Kirkwood to insure compliance with the appropriate codes,' and the Building Commissioner's page states 'All contractors performing repair work, remodeling, or new construction must be licensed and most obtain a Building Permit.' Neither the department pages, the Brochures & FAQ page (which covers demolition, detached garages, fences, generators, occupancy, retaining walls and sheds) nor the Click2Gov online permit portal (occupancy, water heater, furnace/AC, backflow preventer) mentions siding.
Window replacement, same opening Not published Enlarging or cutting an opening Not published
No Kirkwood page or code section reviewed addresses window replacement. The adopted 2021 IRC is adopted 'as modified' with the modifications on file with the City Clerk rather than published online, so neither the same-opening case nor the enlarged/new-opening case can be answered from published material. Note that Kirkwood's Architectural Guidelines (Chapter 25, Article VII) do address windows as a design matter for exterior renovations.
A replacement window here has to be U-0.30 or lower
Adopted alongside the 2021 IBC, 2021 IRC and 2021 IEBC at Sec. 5-2, and 2021 IMC, IPC, IFGC, Swimming Pool and Spa and Private Sewage Disposal codes.
That figure comes from the 2021 edition this jurisdiction has adopted.
A window fitted here must also carry an SHGC of 0.40 or lower.
For comparison, ENERGY STAR asks for U-0.25 or lower with an SHGC of 0.40 or lower everywhere in this metro, which is stricter than every code edition in force here. And the code only bites when the sash and the glazing are replaced together — replace the glass alone in an existing sash, or add a storm window over the top, and it does not apply.
Contractor registration Yes
City Code Chapter 13, Division 2 (Contractor's Business Licenses): 'No contractor or builder engaged in work requiring City permits, including arboricultural work, shall do business within the City until' licensed. 'Contractor' expressly includes general contractors as well as sign erectors and the electrical, mechanical and plumbing trades - a siding or window contractor doing work requiring a City permit falls within it. Insurance: general commercial liability of $300,000 per occurrence and $300,000 products/completed-operations aggregate, plus workers' compensation where multiple workers are employed. Exceptions: salaried employees, and property owners doing work on their own property occupied at least one year from the start of construction. The Building Division page adds that applicants must upload 'a pdf of your Certificate of Insurance with the City of Kirkwood as the Certificate Holder.'.
Local quirks
Two distinctive items. They name preferred exterior wall materials - brick, stone, clapboard (wood or fiber cement) and high-quality vinyl siding, keyed to the 'contextual predominant palette along the same block face' - and expressly discourage engineered wood siding (OSB, hardboard, plywood) and more than two primary exterior wall materials. Window guidance requires the 'same window type, style, material, and color on all facades' and discourages more than three window types or sizes on front and side facades. Locally designated historic districts are excluded from these guidelines and follow separate standards.
Who to call
- Building dept
- 314-822-5823
- Official
- Randy Noland, Building Commissioner (314-822-5814)
- Permits
- Department page
How Kirkwood compares with the rest of St. Louis County
Same county, same climate, same houses. Not the same rules.
| Place | Permit to re-side | Permit for a window | Window must meet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkwood | Not published | Not published | U-0.30 |
| Affton | Depends | Depends | U-0.34 |
| Ballwin | Yes | Yes | — |
| Brentwood | Yes | Not published | U-0.28 |
| Chesterfield | Depends | Depends | U-0.34 |
| Clayton | Yes | Yes | U-0.30 |
| Creve Coeur | Not published | No | U-0.35 |
| Des Peres | Yes | Yes | U-0.32 |
| Ellisville | Not published | Not published | — |
| Eureka | Depends | Depends | — |
| Florissant | Depends | Yes | U-0.30 |
| Manchester | Depends | Depends | U-0.34 |
| Maryland Heights | Not published | Yes | U-0.35 |
| Mehlville | Depends | Depends | U-0.34 |
| Oakville | Depends | Depends | U-0.34 |
| Richmond Heights | Not published | Not published | U-0.28 |
| Town and Country | Depends | No | — |
| Unincorporated St. Louis County | Depends | Depends | U-0.34 |
| University City | Depends | Yes | U-0.32 |
| Webster Groves | Yes | Yes | U-0.35 |
| Wildwood | Depends | Depends | U-0.34 |
Work we have done in Kirkwood
Not yet — Kirkwood is on our list rather than in our records. We will say so until that changes.
Where these facts came from
Everything on this page about Kirkwood was read off a published source. Where a question has no published answer we have said so rather than filling the gap.
Sources: kirkwoodmo.org · kirkwoodmo.org · kirkwoodmo.org · kirkwoodmo.org · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · utilities.kirkwoodmo.org
Work coming up in Kirkwood?
We will tell you what the rules here are, including when they work in your favour.
Tell us about the house
We answer the phone. If we miss you, we call back.