St. Boniface · Winnipeg
Windows and glass in St. Boniface
On a −30 morning in Windsor Park, it's common to find a rim of ice along the bottom of a 1960s window, on the room side of the glass. That's usually humid indoor air meeting cold glass, not a broken window, and it's a different fix from fog trapped between the panes. St. Boniface has both, and every era of house in between. We connect you with independent local glass pros who can tell which you have and quote the fix.
At a glance
- Housing
- Older homes in Norwood; 1950s to 70s in Windsor Park and Southdale
- Community
- The heart of francophone Winnipeg
- Common jobs
- Sliders, sealed units, garden doors, sash repair
- Language
- Note your preferred language on the request form
A historic francophone community with homes from every era
St. Boniface is the largest francophone community in Western Canada, and its roots go back to a Catholic mission founded in 1818. Far more of its residents speak both English and French than in the city as a whole, and in central St. Boniface the share is higher still.
If you'd rather deal in French, say so: there's room on the request form to note your preferred language, and we pass it on with your job. We can't promise the pro who takes it speaks French, but they'll know your preference before they call.
The housing is just as layered. Norwood West is mostly homes from 1960 or earlier. Windsor Park and Southdale were built out in the 1950s and 60s. The eastern edge keeps adding new subdivisions, whose questions (rollers, screens, early seal failures) match those on our Fort Garry page.
Norwood: older homes and wood windows
Houses as old as Norwood's often have some windows replaced over the years and others kept, so one house can need both kinds of work: a wood sash repaired on the porch, and a fogged sealed unit swapped in a newer bedroom window.
Older houses on this clay have usually settled, and openings drift out of square. That's ordinary, and measuring and fitting around it is the pro's job. What you can do is ask on the quote how they'll handle it: shims and new trim, or a window built to the opening.
Windsor Park and Southdale: 1950s–70s windows and sealed units
Windsor Park is split between homes from before 1961 and the two decades after; Southdale is mostly from the 1960s and 70s. That's slider and picture-window territory, often with a storm door out front. Three problems are common in houses this age:
- Sliders that stick or won't lock. Worn rollers, a bent track or a broken latch can often be fixed without a new window. See sliding and double-hung windows.
- Fogged sealed units. Many of these houses had windows replaced in the 1990s or 2000s, and those units are now at the age when seals fail. The foggy sealed unit page sets out the three fixes.
- Frost on the room side. Older glass runs cold, so a humid house frosts it in a cold snap. Lower humidity and air moving across the glass help; a warmer window helps more.
If most of the windows are failing at once, ENERGY STAR triple-pane replacement is worth pricing, partly because it can earn the Efficiency Manitoba rebate and a glass-only fix can't.
Patio doors and screens
- Sliding patio door repair: a garden door that drags, won't latch or builds ice at the sill usually needs rollers, an adjustment or weatherstripping before it needs replacing.
- Window screens: torn or sagging screens rescreened in their frames, ready for the short summer.
- Storm doors: a new closer, sweep or glass insert keeps an older storm door working.
- Door glass: a cracked panel in a garden door or front door replaced without a new door.
St. Boniface questions
Can I ask for a French-speaking pro?
You can say so. There's room on the request form to note your preferred language, and we pass that along with your job. We can't promise the pro who takes it speaks French; that depends on who is available for your kind of work. If it matters a lot, say so clearly, and the pro will know before they contact you.
Can a 1960s slider window be repaired?
Often, yes. The usual faults in an older slider are worn rollers, a bent or dirty track, a broken latch or a failed sealed unit, and each can be fixed on its own. Replacement makes more sense when the frame is cracked or warped, or the window leaks air all the way round. Send a photo of the whole window and a close-up of the track with your request.
Do postwar homes in Windsor Park need full window replacement?
Not necessarily. A house from the 1950s or 60s may already have had its windows replaced once, and a fogged unit or a stiff slider in those can often be fixed. Full replacement is worth pricing when several windows are failing, the frames are soft, or you want triple pane and the rebate that comes with it. Our repair or replace guide walks through the choice.
Why do windows in 1960s houses frost up in a cold snap?
Because the inner glass gets colder than the point where indoor moisture freezes. Warm, humid air from cooking, showers and people meets glass chilled from outside, and the moisture freezes on the room side. It scrapes or wipes off, which is how you know the seal isn't the problem. Lower humidity and moving air help. Our frost versus fog guide explains more.