Windows & Doors in Barrhaven: Replacing 1990s–2010s Builder Windows

Barrhaven has grown from a Nepean suburb of a few tens of thousands into a community of more than 100,000 people in Ottawa's south end, and most of its houses went up between the late 1970s and the mid-2010s in waves of builder subdivisions. The windows that came with those houses were chosen to hit a price, not to last thirty years, and across Barrhaven they are now fogging, sticking and leaking cold air in the same predictable ways. Unisson Groupe now measures, manufactures and installs replacement windows and doors here, direct from our factory in Saint-Laurent.

Why Unisson now serves Barrhaven

Barrhaven is the western end of our Ontario service corridor, which runs from Hawkesbury along the Ottawa River through Prescott-Russell into eastern and southern Ottawa. From our factory in Saint-Laurent it is about 215 km, a little over two hours by the 417 and the 416, which is a routine run for our delivery and installation crews. What drew us here is scale: tens of thousands of houses of similar age and construction, with windows that are failing on a similar schedule.

Factory-direct manufacturer is the part of our offer that matters most in a builder subdivision. Unisson makes its own UPVC and hybrid windows in Saint-Laurent, sends its own estimator to measure, and installs with its own crews under one RBQ licence (5670-0248) and one written warranty. You are not paying a dealer margin, and you are not depending on a showroom that resells another factory's product and subcontracts the installation to whoever is free that week.

Ottawa is a bilingual city, and Barrhaven has a sizeable francophone community with its own schools. Our estimators and crews work in English and French, so the quote, the contract and the installation-day walkthrough can be in whichever language your household uses.

Barrhaven homes: what builder-grade windows do at 15 to 25 years

Most Barrhaven houses are two-storey singles, semis and townhomes with brick or stone fronts and vinyl siding on the sides and back, built by the large Ottawa production builders. The older neighbourhoods around Barrhaven's original core date from the late 1970s and 1980s; the big waves came in the 1990s and 2000s, and communities such as Longfields, Chapman Mills, Stonebridge and Half Moon Bay kept growing through the 2010s. The windows in nearly all of them were the builder's standard package: double-glazed vinyl sliders and casements with a basic spacer bar, one low-E coating at best, and hardware chosen for cost.

Those sealed units have a service life, and in Barrhaven it is running out. The first sign is fog or a milky haze between the panes that will not wipe off, which means the perimeter seal has failed and moisture has entered the glass unit. Then come stiff or broken crank operators, sliders that no longer lock properly, weatherstripping that has hardened, and a cold draft you can feel at the sill on a windy night. On the sunny south and west sides, the frames may have warped slightly from heat, and on the north side the bottom corners of the glass frost over in January.

Ottawa's climate is hard on marginal windows. Winter nights reach -30 °C, summers are hot and humid, and the freeze-thaw cycles of March and April stress caulking and spacer bars in a way that a milder climate never would. A builder-grade double-glazed unit at 1.6 or 1.8 W/m²·K was already the minimum on the day it was installed; twenty years later, with its argon gone and its seal broken, it is little better than single glazing on the coldest nights.

• Fogged sealed units: failed perimeter seal, moisture between the panes, lost argon
• Worn hardware: stiff or broken cranks, sliders that no longer lock, hardened weatherstripping
• Cold drafts and frost: basic spacer bars and single low-E coatings in a -30 °C climate
• Patio doors: worn rollers, cold glass, condensation on the track

Which windows and doors fit here

For a Barrhaven two-storey, we usually replace builder sliders with UPVC casement and awning windows, which seal by compression when locked and stop the draft that a slider cannot. Multi-point locks and fusion-welded corners are standard. For the brick or stone front, our hybrid windows add an aluminum-clad exterior in a painted colour, a clean upgrade from white vinyl that suits the darker frame colours now common in newer Ottawa subdivisions.

We recommend triple glazing for the whole house. Three panes, two low-E coatings, argon fill and a warm-edge spacer bring the interior glass surface several degrees closer to room temperature, which ends the frost in the corners and makes bedrooms over the garage noticeably warmer. Every unit is ENERGY STAR certified to Canada's single national specification in force since 2020: a U-factor of 1.22 W/m²·K or lower, or an Energy Rating of 34 or higher, a large step down from the builder-grade unit it replaces.

Doors are the other builder-grade weak spot. The original steel front door and the sliding patio door to the deck are often the biggest air leaks in the house. Our insulated steel and fibreglass entry doors come with adjustable thresholds and multi-point locks, and our patio doors use the same triple low-E glazing as the windows with stainless rollers, which is the difference between a kitchen you avoid in January and one you use.

• UPVC casement / awning: replaces builder sliders, compression seals, multi-point locks
• Hybrid UPVC-aluminum: painted exterior colours for brick and stone fronts
• Triple glazing: two low-E coatings, argon fill, warm-edge spacer
• Entry & patio doors: insulated cores, adjustable thresholds, ENERGY STAR glazing

Ontario specifics: code, permits and rebates in Ottawa

Our Ontario installations follow the Ontario Building Code, whose 2024 edition has applied since early 2025. For replacement windows in an existing opening, the code's energy requirements mostly concern new construction, and an ENERGY STAR triple-glazed unit exceeds what the code asks of a new house in Ottawa's climate. Egress is the rule that most often affects a Barrhaven project, because so many homes have finished basements with a bedroom: the replacement window must keep the required clear opening, and we check that at measurement.

On permits, the City of Ottawa has its own rules, and they can be stricter than a rural township's. A same-size replacement in the same opening generally does not need a permit in Ontario, but Ottawa's Building Code Services should be consulted for anything that changes an opening, touches a load-bearing wall or involves a basement egress window, and some sources suggest the city takes a more cautious view of window work than other municipalities. We recommend a quick check with the city before work begins, and we can supply drawings if a permit is required.

The main rebate open in Ontario at the time of writing is the Home Renovation Savings Program, delivered by Save on Energy and Enbridge Gas with provincial support. Most Barrhaven homes heat with natural gas, which puts them in the Enbridge stream. The program has offered a fixed amount per ENERGY STAR window or door opening, on condition of a home energy assessment and at least two eligible upgrades done together, such as windows plus attic insulation or air sealing. Windows alone have not qualified, and amounts and deadlines change, so confirm eligibility with the program before you count on it.

How it works from our Montreal factory

It starts with a free in-home estimate. Our estimator comes out from Saint-Laurent, measures every opening, checks the condition of the existing frames and the sealed units, and goes through frame types, glazing, colours and grille options with you. You receive a written quote by email, in English or French, with no obligation.

After approval, your windows and doors are built in our own Saint-Laurent factory, typically in 6 to 10 weeks depending on the season and the size of the order; spring and early summer are the busiest periods. Delivery and installation are done by our own crews, usually in one to two days for a typical Barrhaven two-storey: old units out, openings insulated and foamed, new units levelled and secured, exterior capped and interior finished before we leave.

One company, one warranty: because we manufacture and install, the written warranty covers both product and workmanship, with the frame, the sealed glass unit and the hardware described separately. Financing is available online with payments spread over 12 to 240 months, which is how most Barrhaven homeowners choose to replace every window in the house at once rather than one elevation per year.

• Step 1: free in-home measurement and written quote
• Step 2: manufacturing at our Saint-Laurent factory, typically 6–10 weeks
• Step 3: delivery and installation by our own crews, usually 1–2 days
• Step 4: one warranty for product and installation, financing over 12–240 months

Frequently Asked Questions