Before comparing window prices, find out whether each quote is a full-frame replacement or an insert. They are different amounts of work with different outcomes, and in a bedroom they are not always interchangeable.
The biggest driver is method, not product. A full-frame replacement goes to the rough opening and costs more; an insert fits inside the old frame and costs less but leaves the frame and shrinks the glass. In a sleeping room that can drop the opening below the 5.7 square foot egress minimum, in which case the cheaper method is not available. After that it is glass package, frame material and how much trim is disturbed.
We do not publish a blanket window price. The spread is real, and the thing that moves it most — whether the job is full-frame or insert, which is a different scope rather than a different price for the same thing — is not knowable from a phone call.
What we will do is give you an itemised number in writing after looking at the property, with the code-driven lines named so you can see which are requirements and which are choices. It is free and it is yours to keep whoever does the work.
Because it is more work and it carries more risk for whoever quotes it. Full-frame removes the old frame down to the rough opening, which means interior and exterior trim comes off and goes back, the opening gets flashed and insulated fresh, and anything rotten in the sill is now visible and must be dealt with.
An insert leaves the frame, keeps the trim and takes a fraction of the time. That is a genuine saving on a sound frame, and we install them.
The thing to be clear-eyed about is that you are not buying the same outcome. An insert keeps the existing frame and its existing flashing, unexamined, inside the wall. The comparison in full.
Yes, and this is the one that surprises people mid-project. An emergency escape opening in a sleeping room, basement or habitable attic has to be at least 5.7 square feet net clear — 821 square inches — at least 24 inches high and 20 inches wide, by normal operation from inside.
An insert shrinks the opening on all four sides. If the existing bedroom window is already near that minimum, an insert takes it under, and the cheaper method is simply not available for that opening. On an older house it may even mean the rough opening has to be enlarged, which is masonry or framing work and a different order of cost.
Measure before you shop. Width times height of the clear opening, in inches, against 821.
City of Saint Paul, Section R310 of the 2020 Minnesota Residential Code: “5.7 Square Feet Minimum Net Clear Opening Area […] Note: 5.7 Square Feet = 821 Square Inches when multiplying width times height of the opening in inches.” Source: City of Saint Paul, Emergency Escape and Rescue Openings
Meaningfully, and it is the part most worth understanding because it is where the sales pressure goes. Pane count, low-E coatings and argon or krypton fill all cost money and all feed into one tested number: the U-factor on the NFRC label.
Buy the number rather than the feature list. Two quotes that both say “low-E and argon” can land at different U-factors, and the U-factor is the fact. How to read the label, including why the UV percentage in the brochure is not a number worth paying for.
Frame material matters too — vinyl, fibreglass, wood and clad wood sit at different price points and different lifespans in this climate.
The method, in words: full-frame or insert. The product line and, for every window, the NFRC U-factor. The net clear opening dimensions for any sleeping room. Whether interior and exterior trim is included and what the finish will be. Whether the permit is included.
Quotes that give a price per window and a brand name are not comparable to each other. Quotes that give method, U-factor and trim scope are.
This page quotes Minnesota statutes and the adopted Minnesota building code and links to the official text of each so you can read it yourself. It is general information from a licensed contractor, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading your own policy. Statutes and codes are amended; the linked sources are authoritative, this page is not. Last reviewed 2026-10-27.
Straight answers to the questions Minnesota homeowners ask before they call anyone.
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Read the FAQ →We’ll walk it, photograph it, and give you a written scope that says exactly what is required and why. Retail or insurance.
We’ll walk the roof, photograph what we find, and hand you a written scope that names the code requirement behind every line. Yours to keep, whoever does the work.
We measure the work by how it holds up — and by what clients say once we're gone.