Window Replacement in Brooklyn Park, MN
From the 1960s ramblers south of 85th Avenue to the post-2000 subdivisions north of it, Brooklyn Park windows are aging out on a schedule.
Owner-run. The owner has personally installed more than 10,000 windows over 24 years in Minnesota. Licensed residential contractor, MN Lic. BC809328. EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm.
Our closest city page, and one of the most varied
Brooklyn Park is the nearest of the west-metro cities to our East Bethel base, about 35 minutes down MN-252 or US-169. It is also a city of two halves. The city's own 2040 Comprehensive Plan describes the housing it built through the 1960s this way: "a one-story model, typically a compact or gable-roofed rambler with a large picture window and a detached double garage was most common." Then the 1970s brought a mix of townhomes, single-family homes and apartment buildings, and by the city's count more than half of all its housing, 14,210 units, was built between 1970 and 1989.
A development border at 85th Avenue, dating to 1954, held growth back for decades. Much of the land north of 85th did not fill in until after 2000. So a Brooklyn Park address south of 85th usually means a 1950s to 1970s house, and one north of it usually means a 1990s or 2000s house. Those two groups need very different window conversations.
The numbers behind Brooklyn Park's housing
The median home here was built in 1980, and 51.3 percent of the city's 30,130 housing units were built before that year. By decade: about 8 percent from the 1950s, 13 percent from the 1960s, a full 25 percent from the 1970s, 18 percent from the 1980s, 13 percent from the 1990s, 11 percent from the 2000s and 6 percent from the 2010s. Sixty percent of the stock is single-family detached, 16 percent is townhomes, and 70 percent of homes are owner-occupied.
Here is how those decades show up in the windows we replace.
- The 1950s and 1960s ramblers have that large picture window the comp plan mentions. Original picture units are often single-pane or an early sealed unit that has long since fogged, flanked by wood or aluminum sliders and double-hungs. Sills on the south and west sides are frequently soft.
- The 1970s stock, the biggest block in the city, is full of first-generation aluminum sliders and early wood casements. The aluminum frames conduct cold straight through, so they frost on the inside during a hard cold snap.
- The 1980s and 1990s homes and townhomes carry builder-grade wood or early vinyl with seal failure and rotted sash bottoms.
- Post-2000 homes north of 85th have builder-grade vinyl now at or past 20 years: broken balances, sashes that drop, and seals letting go.
Permit rules in Brooklyn Park
Brooklyn Park's Building Permits and Inspections page states that a permit is required before a building is "constructed, enlarged, altered, repaired, moved, or demolished." The city does exempt some minor window work: storm windows and storm doors, vinyl jamb liner weather-stripping on an existing sash, and replacing glass, screens, wood parts and other small repairs. Full window and door replacement is not on that exempt list, so it needs a permit.
The good news is that Brooklyn Park lets licensed contractors pull permits for replacement windows (other than new egress windows) and doors through its Instant Permit process. A new egress window where none existed needs the full electronic permit application. Our office handles all of this. We pull the permit under license BC809328, submit whatever the city requires, and schedule the inspection. You do not deal with the city at all.
Insert or full-frame for a Brooklyn Park home
Full-frame replacement takes out the entire old window, including the frame and sill, and starts fresh from the rough opening. Insert replacement leaves the existing frame in place and fits a new unit inside it. On a 1960s rambler where the picture window frame has been soaking up water for 60 years, full-frame is usually the honest recommendation, because there is nothing worth saving. It also lets us fix the flashing and insulate the gap around the frame properly.
On a post-2000 home north of 85th, the frames are usually still square and dry, and an insert gives you a new window without disturbing siding or interior trim. Many 1980s and 1990s houses land somewhere in between, and we may recommend inserts on the sheltered elevations and full-frame on the weather side. We check every opening during the in-home visit before we tell you which way to go.
One more Brooklyn Park detail: the townhomes that came with the 1970s building wave often share walls and rooflines with their neighbors, so the exterior finish has to match what is already there. Our aluminum wrapping is color-matched to the existing trim, so there is no second contractor to schedule.
What working with The Window Guys looks like
We are owner-run. The owner has installed more than 10,000 windows over 24 years, and he is the one who measures your house and writes your proposal. ProVia is our primary window line, chosen for how it performs through Minnesota winters and how well it fits older openings. Andersen and Marvin are available when a project calls for them. Our crews handle exterior aluminum wrapping and all interior wood trim, jamb, casing and stops, so the inside of a full-frame job looks finished, not patched.
Start with our online pricing tool to see a rough number before anyone visits. Then we come out, measure, and give you a firm quote. We serve nine counties and work throughout Hennepin County, from the neighborhoods along the Mississippi River on the city's east side to the newer streets near Rush Creek Regional Trail and the Mississippi Gateway Regional Park.
Whether your kids are in Osseo Area Schools, Anoka-Hennepin or Robbinsdale, whether you live near Palmer Lake Park or out by North Hennepin Community College and Hennepin Technical College, the process is the same. Most jobs finish in one to two days. Reach us at (612) 408-0569.
Brooklyn Park window questions we hear most
Is a permit required to replace windows in Brooklyn Park?
Yes. The city exempts only minor work like storm windows, jamb liner weather-stripping and glass or screen repairs. Replacing the window itself requires a permit, which licensed contractors can pull through the city's Instant Permit process. Our office does this for you.
My Brooklyn Park rambler has a huge picture window from the 1960s. Can that be replaced?
Yes, and it is one of the most satisfying replacements we do. A large picture window is often the coldest spot in an older rambler. We can replace it with a modern insulated picture unit or, if you want ventilation, break the opening into a picture window flanked by operating units.
Is there lead paint to worry about in an older Brooklyn Park home?
Any home built before 1978 may have lead-based paint, and that covers more than half of Brooklyn Park. The Window Guys is an EPA Lead-Safe Certified firm with certified renovators, so we contain the work area, control dust and clean up to the federal standard on every pre-1978 job.
How long will my Brooklyn Park window replacement take?
One to two days for most homes. A full-frame project with new interior trim on every window takes longer, and a house with a lot of openings takes longer than a small rambler. We set the schedule with you before we order the windows.
Ready to price your Brooklyn Park windows?
Get a real number online first, then book an in-home visit when you are ready. No pressure and no sales games.
Also serving nearby: Champlin, Maple Grove, Coon Rapids, Minneapolis.