Choosing a window style for your Winnipeg home
The style decides how a window opens, how tightly it seals against prairie wind, and how it looks on your house. This page helps you choose. When you're ready, we connect you with independent local pros who quote the style you want; our replacement windows page covers install methods and the rebate.
Crank windows
Casement and awning windows
Casements and awnings
Hinged at the side or top and opened with a crank. The sash presses into its weatherstripping, so wind pushes it tighter.
The crank
The casement part that fails first, often stripped in the cold. It's a replaceable part, and rarely a reason for a new window.
Heavier triple-pane sashes
A third pane adds weight to a casement's hinges and crank. Good units are built for it; ask how large sashes are supported.
Sliders and hung
Sliding and double-hung windows
Sliders and hung windows
Sash that glides sideways or moves up and down. Neither projects, but brush seals pass more air and frost can build at the rails.
Tracks, balances and locks
Worn rollers, tired balances and locks that won't catch are usually parts jobs, not reasons to replace the whole window.
Old wood hung sash
Original wood windows on a character home can often be repaired and kept, with good storms outside, rather than replaced.
Projecting windows
Bay and bow windows
Bays and bows
Several windows joined to project from the wall, with a small roof above and a seat below. All of it needs insulating and flashing.
One fogged pane
Each window in a bay has its own sealed unit. One that fogs can usually be replaced without disturbing the rest of the bay.
Hail and the bay roof
The little roof over a bay takes hail like the main roof. After a storm, look for stains above the glass and dented flashing.
Fixed and special
Picture, garden and egress windows
Picture windows
Fixed glass for the view, often the biggest unit in the house. With nothing opening, it seals simply; pair it with casements for air.
Garden windows
A small glass box projecting from the kitchen wall. Snow sits on its glass roof, so drainage and sealing matter as much as glass.
Egress windows
A basement bedroom needs a window you can climb out of. A slider opens only halfway, so casements often suit; check with the City before enlarging.
Frames
Frame materials: vinyl, hybrid, fibreglass, wood
Vinyl, hybrid and fibreglass
Vinyl is the common replacement frame here. Hybrid and fibreglass are stiffer, which helps on big windows, dark colours and heavy glass.
Wood
Right for many character homes, with paint or cladding outside. Old wood sash can often be repaired instead of replaced.
Triple-pane glass
Whatever the frame, triple pane is the Winnipeg default, and it's the only glass the Efficiency Manitoba rebate pays for.
Your house
Matching style to your home's era
Pre-war character homes
Wood hung windows with storms are typical. Repair and good storms keep the look; heritage districts may need a permit for changes.
Postwar and 1960s–70s bungalows
Often sliders or hung windows, many already replaced once. When they give out, casements are one option; like-for-like is another.
Houses from the 1980s on
Often vinyl casements whose sealed units are reaching the fogging stage. A new sealed unit or a retrofit insert may be enough.
Questions
Window style questions
Service areas
Window installers across Winnipeg and beyond
We pass style and installation requests to independent pros across the city. Past the Perimeter, we'll check that a pro covers your address.
Winnipeg neighbourhoods
Tell us the style you're considering
Say which rooms, what you have now and what you'd like instead. We pass it to a local installer who confirms what fits the opening and quotes it.