Rive-Sud · Longueuil
Glass, thermos units and doors in Longueuil and the South Shore
Longueuil is a city of apartments. Flats in low-rise buildings are its most common kind of home, and a large part of its housing went up between 1961 and 1980, the same years Montréal-Sud and then Ville Jacques-Cartier merged into the city. The requests that follow are the ones apartment buildings of that age produce: fogged thermos units, balcony sliders that drag, torn screens. We're a free referral service. We pass your request to an independent glass professional working on the Rive-Sud, and that pro quotes and does the job.
At a glance
- Housing
- Mostly flats in low-rise buildings; much of it from the 1960s and 70s
- Language
- A French-first city; note your preferred language on the request
- Subsidies
- Rénoclimat applies; RénoPlex doesn't off the island
- Permits
- Set by the Ville de Longueuil, not Montréal's boroughs
A city of apartments and 1960s–70s homes
Longueuil began as a seigneurie granted to Charles Le Moyne in 1657, but most of what you see from the street is much newer. The city grew by merger, with Montréal-Sud in 1961 and Ville Jacques-Cartier in 1969, and a large share of today's homes date from those two decades. Apartments in buildings under five storeys outnumber every other type of home.
In buildings of that period, windows and doors have often been replaced flat by flat over the years. One building may hold thermos units of several ages, so a fog problem on the second floor says little about the ground floor. If you rent, tell your landlord first. If you own or manage the building, our page for property managers explains how to group several flats into one request.
Fogged thermos units in apartment buildings
A haze trapped between the panes, sometimes only along the bottom of the glass, means a thermos (the sealed glass unit in the window) has lost its seal. Condensation you can wipe off the room side is something else: indoor humidity meeting cold glass on a winter morning. The first is a glass problem. The second usually calls for less moisture indoors, not new glass.
For a failed seal, there are three routes. Defogging clears the haze and leaves the unit in place. A new thermos in the existing frame replaces only what failed. A new window is the answer when the frame itself is done. In a building, one pro can often measure several units in one visit, so if several flats are fogging at once, say so up front. It changes how the job is planned and quoted.
Patio doors and screens
- Sliding patio door repair: worn rollers, a bent track or a lock that no longer catches are parts, and a balcony slider can usually be fixed without a new door.
- Patio door screens: a screen that jumps its track or has torn mesh is rescreened or refitted.
- Window screens: a torn moustiquaire is rescreened in its frame; ask whether the pro works on site or in the shop.
- Patio door glass: a cracked or fogged panel is replaced as a thermos, and the door stays in place.
Rénoclimat for owners
Longueuil is off the island, so RénoPlex, the Ville de Montréal's program for small residential buildings on its own territory, doesn't reach it. Rénoclimat, the provincial program, does. It helps owners who replace whole windows or doors with ENERGY STAR certified models in the existing openings, with an energy evaluation before the work and another after it.
Two points shape the plan. Replacing only the glass, a sash, or a door without its frame doesn't qualify, so a thermos swap won't earn the grant. And the first evaluation has to happen before any work starts. Our guide to window subsidies goes through both programs step by step.
Permits: check with the Ville de Longueuil
Longueuil sets its own rules, and Montréal's borough rules don't carry across the river. We haven't confirmed what the City requires for same-size windows or doors, so we won't guess. Contact the City before you sign a contract, especially for a patio door, a bay window or any change to the size of an opening, which always need a permit on the island.
The pro we connect you with may know what the City asked for on recent jobs, but the City's own answer is the one to rely on. Ask for your soumission (the written quote) to describe the product and the work in enough detail to show at the permit office.
Longueuil questions
Do you have glass pros who work in Longueuil?
Generally, yes. Longueuil is within the area where the independent pros we work with take jobs on the Rive-Sud, though coverage depends on the kind of work. Tell us your sector of Longueuil and what needs fixing, and attach photos if you can. We pass the request to a pro who does that job and follow up so it doesn't stall. If no one can take it, we say so.
Can the thermos units in a Longueuil apartment building be replaced?
Yes, one by one or as a group. If the frames are sound, each fogged thermos can be replaced on its own, and grouping several units in one visit usually makes the job simpler to plan. Tenants should go through the landlord; in a condo, check with the syndicate first. Our page for condo owners and syndicates covers the building-wide route.
Do I need a permit in Longueuil to change windows?
Ask the City before you order. Longueuil runs its own permit process, separate from Montréal's boroughs, and we haven't verified its rules for like-for-like windows. Patio doors, bay windows and any change to an opening need particular care: on the island they always need a permit, so don't assume otherwise here. The pro can prepare a detailed quote for the City to review.
Is thermos repair available across the South Shore?
Yes, and it works the same way on the Rive-Sud as on the island. The pro measures the glass, a new thermos is made to those measurements, and it's fitted into your existing frame on a second visit. Because each unit is made to order, it isn't same-day work; ask how long the order takes. Photos of the whole window and the fogged glass help the first quote.
Can a screen be repaired at home on the South Shore?
Sometimes. Some pros rescreen on site, others prefer you bring the screen to them, and it depends on who takes your job. Say which you'd prefer on the request and we pass it on. Torn mesh in a sound frame is the simple case; a bent or broken frame may mean a new screen made to measure. Our screen repair page explains both.