Window and siding replacement in Ballwin
What the code and the permit desk actually require here — and what the houses in Ballwin tend to be hiding behind the siding.
- People
- 31,279
- Homes
- 12,563
- Size
- 9.1 square miles
- From downtown
- About 18 miles west
- ZIP codes
- 63011, 63021
- Founded or incorporated
- 1950
Settled in 1837 and incorporated in December 1950, Ballwin's housing stock has a median construction year of 1976; Salem in Ballwin United Methodist Church's original 1870 sanctuary, with a German-language inscription, still stands today.
Ballwin
The housing here is predominantly 1960s-70s subdivision construction.
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.
Next door
Ballwin shares a boundary with Chesterfield, Manchester, Ellisville, Town and Country, Clarkson Valley, Winchester, Wildwood and Valley Park. 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 Ballwin
Siding replacement Permit required
Ballwin publishes no exempt-work list at all. Instead Section 7-81 sets a flat money threshold: no one may “construct, erect or alter any building or structure in the city… when the cost of such construction, erection or alteration exceeds $100.00” without a permit. Every real re-siding job clears $100, so in practice a permit is always required.
Window replacement, same opening Permit required Enlarging or cutting an opening Permit required
The same $100 threshold catches window work, and Section 7-81 separately requires a permit at any cost “where the effect… is to enlarge the capacity or affect the bearing walls of any building or the roof thereof” — which is what cutting or widening an opening does.
There is no legal efficiency requirement for a window in Ballwin
Ballwin adopted the 2015 International Residential Code and then, in the same section, wrote “Delete Chapter 11 Energy Efficiency.” It has adopted no IECC either. A full-text search of the article that adopts Ballwin’s codes returns no occurrence of “Energy Conservation” or “IECC.” So there is no codified U-factor or SHGC requirement for a replacement window in Ballwin at all.
Which does not make it a good idea to buy the cheapest glass available. It means nobody is going to stop you. ENERGY STAR asks for U-0.25 or lower here and that is the number worth buying to, code or no code.
Contractor registration Yes
Ballwin requires all contractors working in the city to hold a Ballwin contractor’s licence and, on top of it, “an active St. Louis County License in their respective field of expertise,” with proof of workers’ compensation cover or an affidavit of exemption. Since the County licenses only mechanical, electrical and plumbing trades, the county half of that requirement has nothing for a siding or window contractor to hold.
What the permit costs
$6.00 per $1,000 of the cost of work, minimum $75. Ballwin computes the cost of work from R.S. Means regional construction cost data rather than from the contract price.
Local quirks
Ballwin runs its own building department — it is one of the few cities in this part of the county that does not contract the work to St. Louis County. Dual licensing: Ballwin is the clearest case in this metro of a city that requires a contractor to hold both a city license and an active St. Louis County license in the relevant trade before pulling a permit - so a siding or window crew licensed only at the county level, or only in another municipality, cannot work. Second quirk: the published code edition is in flux (2015 standards in force, 2024 I-Codes proposed for 2026), and the proposed package conspicuously omits an energy code.
Who to call
- Building dept
- 636-227-2129
- Official
- Not published. Any site printing a name here is guessing.
- Permits
- Department page
How Ballwin 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballwin | Yes | Yes | — |
| Affton | Depends | Depends | U-0.34 |
| 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 |
| Kirkwood | Not published | Not published | 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 Ballwin
None logged in Ballwin yet. When there is one it goes here, with the address block and what was actually done to it. An empty section is better than a number you cannot check.
Where these facts came from
Everything on this page about Ballwin was read off a published source. Where a question has no published answer we have said so rather than filling the gap.
Sources: library.municode.com · library.municode.com · ballwin.mo.us · ballwin.mo.us · ballwin.mo.us · ballwin.mo.us
Windows or siding in Ballwin?
Tell us the address. We look up what the city requires before we work out a price.
Tell us about the house
We answer the phone. If we miss you, we call back.