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35 minutes from our Arlington Avenue shop in Riverside, in Orange County, so we schedule this area in batches.
Every city on this list asks something different of a window job. Here is what changes the work in this one.
Fullerton's median home was built in 1969, but its biggest single decade is the 1950s, at about 22 percent of the housing, with the 1960s and 1970s close behind at about 20 percent each. Close to 9 percent predates 1950. The city is split almost evenly between owners and renters, about 52 percent owner-occupied, so on many jobs here the client is a landlord or building owner rather than the person living in the house.
Permits come from the Building and Safety Division of Fullerton's Community and Economic Development Department, whose FAQ lists window and door changeouts among the remodeling work that requires a permit. In the northern hills, the city adopted updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps on 6 May 2025, growing the Very High zone from 1,186 to 1,516 acres, including the West and East Coyote Hills; work there can fall under California Building Code Chapter 7A for exterior wildfire exposure, which we confirm by parcel before specifying glass.
In Fullerton, more than a dozen neighborhoods are recognized as historic districts, and many carry Residential Preservation Zone zoning with design guidelines, reviewed by the Planning Division. College Park received its R-2P zoning in 1979 and Jacaranda, Malvern and Brookdale theirs in 1997, and Lower Golden Hill, Oceanview and Skyline Park have been under review for new zones. The guidelines require window and door openings on front and side elevations to stay compatible with the style and period of the house. Fullerton also adopted the Mills Act in 2020.
Utilities and code in Fullerton
The U-factor and SHGC limits are the Title 24 numbers for Climate Zone 8. They are printed on the NFRC label of every unit we install, and we hand you the paperwork at the end of the job.
If your street is not on that list, we still come out. The list is a guide, not a boundary.
The closest other cities we cover, with the drive time to each from our Riverside shop.
In Fullerton, the street a house sits on can settle the job before anyone talks about glass: a preservation zone, a postwar tract or a hillside in the fire map.
Start with the old town grid. Fullerton recognizes more than a dozen residential neighborhoods as historic districts, and many of them carry Residential Preservation Zone zoning with their own design guidelines. College Park, twelve blocks platted in 1922 and filled with modest California bungalows, got its preservation zone in 1979. Jacaranda, Malvern and Brookdale, mostly built in the mid-1920s, followed in 1997, and the city has been reviewing new zones for Lower Golden Hill, Oceanview and Skyline Park. The guidelines are specific about windows: the size, proportion and detailing of openings on the front and side of the house have to suit its style and period, a single fixed sheet of plate glass is not allowed unless the original design had one, and front door openings are not to be added. On these streets we plan the replacement around the opening as it was built, and we check with the Planning Division before we quote.
Most of the city, though, is postwar. The 1950s are Fullerton’s single biggest building decade, and the 1960s and 1970s each add about as much again. Outside the preservation zones, the work on those houses is about performance, fit and appearance rather than design review.
Up on the north side, the question is fire. In May 2025 the city adopted new fire hazard maps that grew its Very High zone by 28 percent, to 1,516 acres, with the West and East Coyote Hills among the areas affected. Work in those zones can fall under the state’s Chapter 7A wildfire construction rules, so for a house near the hills we confirm the parcel’s designation first and specify glazing to match.
One more thing is particular to Fullerton: the city is close to half renters, so we plan for tenants, access windows and a building owner who may not live on site.
We do not publish a price list, because matching the original openings on a 1920s College Park bungalow inside a preservation zone and replacing a sliding patio door on a 1950s tract house across town are not the same job. Start with our cost pages for how pricing works, then let a free in-home measure put real numbers on your openings.
We measure every opening, tell you what is worth doing first, and leave you a written number. No obligation.