Window Replacement, Siding, Doors and Decks in Windham, NH

Permits

Permits for siding, windows and decks in Windham

Who issues them. Building permits come from the Building Safety Division of Community Development at 3 North Lowell Road, open weekdays 8 to 4. The town's permitting portal takes an account request first, then online applications for all types of building and trade permits. Inspections are generally scheduled 10 am to 2 pm, weather permitting, with 24 hours' notice through the portal or by phone (Building Inspections).

Decks priced by the square foot. The resident building permit form charges a $25 application fee plus $0.35 per square foot of heated space and $0.12 per square foot of unheated space, and it lists deck, porch and sunroom among the unheated spaces. It asks for a plot plan drawn to scale when the footprint grows, two sets of scaled plans with elevations, cross sections and roof framing, and NHDES approval for shoreline or septic work; a permit is void unless work begins within 180 days (resident building permit form, undated). By that formula, a 12 by 16 foot deck comes to $48.04.

Siding, windows and doors. The town's building pages and permit forms don't list siding, window or door replacement by name; the only window line on the resident form asks for "Window type and size for emergency egress." Ask the Building Safety Division what your job needs before work starts. Tearing down a structure has its own demolition permit, with inspections before and after and a hazardous-materials abatement letter (demolition permit form).

Building Safety Division

3 North Lowell Road, weekdays 8 to 4

Apply online

Windham permitting portal

Decks and porches

$25 plus $0.12 per sq ft (resident form, undated)

Heated additions

$25 plus $0.35 per sq ft

Permit life

Void unless work starts within 180 days

Historic districts

HDC review before a permit; no certificate fee

State rules. New Hampshire leaves permits and their fees to towns (RSA 155-A:2). The 2024 State Building Code took effect July 1, 2026, and either code set is accepted through December 31, 2026; from January 1, 2027 the 2024 codes apply (state code summary). The state doesn't license siding, window or deck contractors; the Attorney General says "contractors do not need to be licensed" and advises a written contract with scope, materials, total price and payment schedule before any work or payment, along with references and proof of insurance, and lists a down payment over 50% as a warning sign (NH AG). When the contract exceeds $5,000, the contractor must give you the RSA 359-G notice, and a homeowner gives written notice of a defect at least 60 days before suing (RSA 359-G).

Older paint. The town posts no lead guidance of its own. Under federal rules, anyone paid to disturb paint in a house built before 1978 must be EPA-certified, and window replacement is always covered regardless of size (EPA RRP for contractors). That matters for the town's 18th- and 19th-century farmhouses more than its newer subdivisions.

Last verified November 2026. Fees, restrictions and deadlines on this page are due for re-checking by January 2027. New England Exterior Pros is a referral service. We don't do the work or file permits; the contractor does.

Decks and porches

Decks and porches in Windham

Decks count as impervious. The zoning ordinance, amended March 10, 2026, defines impervious surface to include roofs, decks, patios and driveways unless they are designed to absorb water (Zoning Ordinance). That matters most in the Watershed Protection Overlay District, where the $25 Minor WPOD application asks for every impervious surface on the lot, decks included, with square footage, caps impervious cover at 30% of the lot, and requires lots already over the cap to reduce it except for in-kind replacement. Applications for new homes, additions and reconstruction there need an erosion and sedimentation control plan (Minor WPOD application). Rebuilding a deck on its old footprint is the simpler path.

Wetland buffers. The Wetland and Watershed Protection District sets buffers of 150 feet from Beaver, Golden and Flat Rock Brooks; 100 feet from other brooks, streams, ponds and wetlands of an acre or more; 50 feet from wetlands over half an acre; and 25 feet from smaller ones, with another 100 feet on slopes of 12% or more. Uses in a buffer may not result in a permanent building, and excavation, fill or surface alteration for construction needs a Planning Board special permit (Zoning Ordinance, section 601).

Shoreline and floodplain. The resident permit form calls for NHDES approval for shoreline work. Under state rules, changing the dimensions of an attached deck in the protected shoreland needs a shoreland impact permit or permit by notification, and on a nonconforming house a new or expanded deck may extend no more than 12 feet toward the water (NHDES shoreland FAQ). In a special flood hazard area every development needs a floodplain permit, and work costing 50% or more of the building's market value counts as substantial improvement (section 607).

Footings. The town posts no deck guide. A local building code amendment proposal posted on the town site lists a 4-foot frost line depth in its design table; confirm current design values with the Building Safety Division (local amendment proposal). Before digging footings, call Dig Safe at 811 at least 72 hours ahead, not counting weekends and holidays (Dig Safe).