Windows & Doors in Alexandria: Glengarry's Main Street Homes

Alexandria is the kind of town where the Priest's Mill still stands over the Garry River and Main Street keeps a proper downtown alive. It is also a town of century brick homes, post-war bungalows and drafty windows that have seen a few too many Glengarry winters. Unisson Groupe now measures, manufactures, delivers and installs windows and doors in Alexandria from our own factory in Saint-Laurent, about 120 km down the road.

Why Unisson now serves Alexandria, and what factory-direct means for you

Alexandria sits almost exactly halfway between Ottawa and Montréal, the administrative and retail heart of North Glengarry with close to 3,000 people in the town itself and roughly 10,000 across the township. For years, Alexandria homeowners have called us after seeing our windows in a relative's place in Vaudreuil or Rigaud, and for years we had to say the crews stopped at the provincial line. That changed in 2026: our service territory now runs the length of the Ottawa River corridor from Hawkesbury to Ottawa, and down through Glengarry to the St. Lawrence. Alexandria, on County Road 34, is squarely inside it.

Being a manufacturer rather than a dealer matters more in a small town than in a big city. There is no showroom in Alexandria taking a margin, no subcontracted installer you have never met, and no finger-pointing between the company that sold the window and the company that put it in. The same business that extrudes and assembles your window in Saint-Laurent sends its own installers to Main Street, and the same business answers the phone when you have a question in year eight.

Practically, factory-direct means three things for an Alexandria buyer: a made-to-measure window built to the exact dimensions of a 1905 brick opening rather than a stock size shimmed to fit, a single written warranty covering product and installation together, and a price that does not include a middleman. Our estimator comes to your home at no charge, in English or in French, which in a township where roughly four in ten residents are francophone is not a courtesy but a necessity.

• One company: measured, manufactured, delivered and installed by Unisson, RBQ licence 5670-0248
• Made to measure: every unit built for its specific opening at our Saint-Laurent factory
• Bilingual service: estimate, contract and installation in the language you choose

Alexandria homes: what is on the street, and what typically fails

Alexandria grew up around Father Alexander Macdonell's grist mill of 1819 and then boomed with the Ottawa-to-Montréal railway in the 1880s, and the housing stock reads like that timeline. Along Main Street and the side streets near the churches you find two-storey brick and clapboard homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s, many with tall, narrow double-hung openings and original wood sills. Further out, toward the Sports Palace and the hospital, the town filled in during the 1950s through 1970s with one-storey bungalows and split-levels, usually on their second or third set of windows by now. In our experience, an Alexandria home is far more likely to be over 50 years old than under 20, and that is consistent with census figures showing well over a third of dwellings in the united counties predating 1960.

What fails is remarkably predictable. In the older homes, it is rot at the sill and lower sash where a century of snowmelt has wicked into wood, plus air leakage around frames that were never flashed to modern standards. In the bungalows, it is the first-generation vinyl or aluminum sliders installed in the 1980s and 1990s: fogged sealed units, cracked corner welds, latches that no longer pull tight, and single-pane basement hoppers. Patio doors from that era, often facing the backyard and the prevailing wind, are usually the single worst-performing opening in the house.

The climate does the rest. Alexandria winters routinely deliver nights in the minus twenties, with cold snaps near minus 30, and Cornwall's records show extremes well beyond that. Just as hard on a window is the freeze-thaw cycling of March and November, when meltwater runs into hairline gaps by day and expands as ice by night. Add the humidity of a town built around a mill pond, and condensation on old glass becomes mould on old wood within a few seasons.

• Pre-1920 brick and clapboard: sill rot, sash weights, no flashing, drafty double-hungs
• 1950s to 1970s bungalows: failed sealed units, worn sliders, single-pane basement windows
• Everywhere: patio doors that leak air, entry doors with compressed weatherstripping

Which products fit Alexandria homes

For most Alexandria homes we recommend our UPVC windows with triple glazing. UPVC does not rot, does not need painting, and holds its seal through the freeze-thaw cycles that eat wood. For the brick century homes on Main Street, where the look matters and the openings are tall, our hybrid windows, an aluminum-clad exterior over a UPVC core, offer a crisp painted-wood appearance and a wide colour range without the maintenance. Casements and awnings suit the narrow openings of older homes and seal tighter than sliders; sliders remain a sensible choice for wide bungalow openings.

Every window we make is ENERGY STAR certified. Since 2020, Canada uses a single national specification for windows, so the same standard applies in Alexandria as in Yellowknife: a U-factor of 1.22 W/m²·K or lower, or an Energy Rating of 34 or higher. Our triple-glazed units with argon fill and low-E coatings clear that bar with room to spare, and several of our configurations reach the higher Most Efficient tier. In practical terms that means warmer glass on a January morning, less condensation, and a furnace that cycles less often.

Doors deserve the same attention. Our insulated steel and fibreglass entry doors come with multi-point locking and a proper thermal break, which matters on a Main Street home where the front door faces the wind. For the backyards of the bungalow streets, our patio doors are built as complete assemblies rather than site-fitted panels, with triple glazing and low-profile thresholds that shed meltwater instead of collecting it.

• UPVC triple-glazed windows: the workhorse for bungalows and most replacements
• Hybrid aluminum-UPVC windows: for brick century homes and colour-matched exteriors
• Entry and patio doors: insulated, multi-point locking, ENERGY STAR certified

Ontario specifics: building code, rebates and permits in North Glengarry

Ontario's 2024 Building Code took effect on January 1, 2025, and every unit we install in Alexandria is specified to meet or exceed it. Two points matter for replacements. First, a bedroom window that currently serves as an emergency exit must still provide the required clear opening after replacement, which our estimator checks on site. Second, Ontario's energy-efficiency supplement (SB-12) sets window performance requirements for new construction; our ENERGY STAR triple-glazed units comfortably exceed those numbers, so a replacement with Unisson leaves your home ahead of code rather than merely at it.

On rebates, the picture as we write in late summer 2026 is this: the federal Greener Homes grant and loan have closed to new applicants, and Ontario has not yet joined the new Greener Homes Affordability Program. The program that is active is Ontario's Home Renovation Savings Program, delivered by Save on Energy with Enbridge Gas, which has been offering a rebate per eligible ENERGY STAR window or door opening, generally requiring a minimum number of openings and, on some paths, pairing windows with another upgrade such as insulation. Amounts, conditions and end dates change, so confirm current terms on the program's site before you order; we will happily provide the product documentation an application requires.

Permits are refreshingly simple in North Glengarry. The township's own guidance is that replacing a window or door with one of the same size does not require a building permit, while changing the size of an opening does. If your project involves enlarging a window, adding a new one, or converting a basement room into a bedroom, we will flag it and you can confirm with the township building department in Alexandria before work begins.

• Same-size replacement: generally no permit in North Glengarry; confirm any change to an opening
• Egress: bedroom exit windows keep their required clear opening after replacement
• Rebates: check the Home Renovation Savings Program's current terms; we supply the paperwork

How it works from Montréal: measurement, factory, delivery, installation

It starts with a free in-home estimate. An Unisson estimator drives to Alexandria, measures every opening, checks sills and framing, and leaves you a written, itemized quote. There is no obligation and no pressure; many Alexandria clients start with the worst two or three windows and phase the rest. Once you sign, the order goes straight to our factory in Saint-Laurent, where your windows are built to the measured dimensions. Typical manufacturing lead time is four to eight weeks, longer in the spring rush, so an order placed in early autumn is usually installed before hard frost.

Delivery and installation are handled by our own crews, not a subcontractor. Alexandria is about an hour and a quarter from the factory via Highway 40 and the 417, so the crew arrives with your units in the morning and a typical home of eight to twelve windows is done in one to two days. We remove old units, repair minor sill damage, insulate with low-expansion foam, flash and seal every opening, and haul away the debris. Work is scheduled year-round; winter installations are done one opening at a time so the house never sits open.

Unisson backs its installations for 10 years, on top of the manufacturer warranty that we, as the manufacturer, provide on the windows themselves. Because one company made and installed the product, a claim is one phone call. Financing is available for Ontario clients, which lets a whole-house project be spread over manageable monthly payments rather than waiting another winter.

• Step 1: free in-home measurement and written quote, in English or French
• Step 2: manufacturing at our Saint-Laurent factory, typically 4 to 8 weeks
• Step 3: delivery and installation by Unisson crews, cleanup included
• Step 4: 10-year installation warranty plus manufacturer product warranty; financing available

Frequently Asked Questions