Window and siding replacement in Town and Country
What the code and the permit desk actually require here — and what the houses in Town and Country tend to be hiding behind the siding.
- People
- 11,640
- Homes
- 3,842
- Size
- 11.49 square miles
- From downtown
- About 15 miles west
- ZIP codes
- 63131, 63017
- Founded or incorporated
- 1950
Originally a farming settlement called Altheim (1886); incorporated as a village in 1950 and re-incorporated as a fourth-class city in 1975. It is also home to Bellerive Country Club, which hosted the 1965 U.S. Open and the 1992 and 2018 PGA Championships. A real-estate directory lists roughly 183 named private subdivisions inside the city, but individual subdivision names were not independently verified for this file.
Town and Country
Median house/condo built is 1984; the city's 'Estate' and 'Suburban Estate' residential zoning categories favor large-lot single-family construction, exemplified by the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Theodore A. Pappas House (Usonian style).
What that vintage turns up
First-generation vinyl replacements went in across this whole period and they are now hitting both of the ages that matter at once: the frames are inside the twenty-to-forty-year band and the sealed glass units are well past the eight-to-twenty-year band. That combination produces the most common call we get on houses this age — fogged glass in a frame that is still perfectly sound. The honest first answer there is replacing the glass unit, not the window.
Hardboard and wood-composite lap siding from this era is the one with the paperwork. Masonite's hardboard covered product installed between 1980 and 1998 and reached roughly four million homeowners; Louisiana-Pacific's Inner-Seal siding had its own national settlement in the mid-1990s. Both claim programmes closed years ago, so the relevance now is diagnostic rather than financial: swelling, delamination and mushrooming along the bottom edges of the boards on a house of this age is a known product history, not necessarily the owner having neglected it.
The one to watch on a house of this age
Synthetic stucco applied before about 1997 is the high-risk cohort. Roughly ninety-five per cent of American applications were the face-sealed kind, which has no way to drain what gets past it, and the failures traced back overwhelmingly to flashing that was left out. Drainable systems are a different animal and are not the problem.
Lead paint. No, for anything built after 1978 — but confirm the build year before assuming it. 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
Town and Country shares a boundary with Country Life Acres. 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 Town and Country
Siding replacement Conditional
City Building Code Quick Reference Sheet: 'No permit required for siding provided that no sheathing is removed or replaced.' So a straight re-side over existing sheathing needs no permit; removing or replacing sheathing triggers one. Separately, the Building Permits & Inspections page's list of work needing a permit ('new residential and commercial structures, additions, renovations, basement finishes, fireplaces, fire suppression, heating and air conditioning systems and replacements, roof replacements, retaining walls, porches, decks, swimming pools, solar systems, and any structure requiring piers, footings, framing, beams or a roof') does not name siding.
Window replacement, same opening No permit Enlarging or cutting an opening Permit required
City Building Code Quick Reference Sheet: 'No permit required if replacing windows of the same size and type only.' The same sheet states a permit IS needed where structural changes are made to headers or where the size is increased such that tempered glass is required. Enlarging an opening or cutting a new one therefore requires a permit.
There is no legal efficiency requirement for a window in Town and Country
No energy code adoption found. Article III adopts only the St. Louis County Electrical Code and St. Louis County Plumbing Code 'as subsequently amended from time to time' — no county energy code. The Building Permits & Inspections page lists the 2018 IBC, IEBC, IFC, IMC, IPMC and IRC and does not mention the IECC.
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 Not published
No contractor licensing or registration article appears in Chapter 500, and the Building Permits & Inspections page states no contractor registration, bond or insurance requirement.
What the permit costs
Building Permit Fees page: '$30 for the first $1,000 (cost of work)', '$5 for each additional $1,000 (cost of work)', '$60 per inspection'. 'For residential projects with a construction valuation of $50,000 or more a cash escrow deposit of $5,000 is required for street guarantees before a building permit will be issued.' Code Chapter 500 Article I also sets a '$25.00' initial application fee for most permits and '$60.00 for each inspection'. Architectural review carries a separate non-refundable '$250.00' filing fee (plus $200.00 to appeal a disapproval).
Local quirks
City Code Chapter 500, Article V (Architectural Review for Commercial Buildings and Residences) states: 'The use of polyvinyl chloride (vinyl) siding and soffits is prohibited.' The same article requires that 'materials should be selected for suitability to the type of building' and that 'colors, including trim and accent colors, should be harmonious and visually compatible with neighboring buildings.' Architectural review is triggered for 'all new or existing principal buildings' and 'all residential building additions of five hundred (500) square feet and over'; the article does not list siding or window replacement as separate triggers. Additionally, the building permit submittal checklist requires 'Indication of contact with subdivision trustees for plans affecting the exterior of a residence' — a subdivision indenture/trustee step that applies squarely to re-siding and window work. Town and Country adopts St. Louis County Electrical and Plumbing Codes but its own 2018 I-Codes for building/residential.
Who to call
- Building dept
- 314-587-2820
- Official
- Not published. Any site printing a name here is guessing.
- Permits
- Department page
How Town and Country 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town and Country | Depends | No | — |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 Town and Country
Nothing completed in Town and Country so far. Rather than pad this out, we have left it blank until there is a real job to describe.
Where these facts came from
Everything on this page about Town and Country was read off a published source. Where a question has no published answer we have said so rather than filling the gap.
Sources: town-and-country.org · town-and-country.org · town-and-country.org · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · ecode360.com · ecode360.com
Getting quotes in Town and Country?
Ask every bidder what the permit and energy rules here are. Then ask us.
Tell us about the house
We answer the phone. If we miss you, we call back.