John Woolfrey, ADecision Windows & Doors

I’ve always been fascinated by windows. When you think about it, they’re quite magical. I mean, they’re solid, but you can see right though them. Physics says that’s so because they don’t reflect any of the colours of the light spectrum. From inside your house, you can look through them to see the world outdoors. They’re your home’s eyes. They bring the outside in, while keeping out the cold, heat, dust and noise.

As I child, I remember every window in the house I grew up in and exactly how each one. Eventually, I washed them. Then I washed other people’s windows, right through college. I had quite a clientele because I left them spotless and streakless, thanks to my obsession, I guess. When I added housepainting to my skillset, one of the things I was asked to do was strip, replace panes for, reputty and repaint 70-year-old storm windows.

A Montrealer born and bred, I know every fabulous style of architecture that varies from district to district. And because I’m a little window obsessed, it has always irked me to see the wrong windows on beautiful, old homes. It’s bothered me so much that I’ve often wished I could be in charge of windows for the whole city and decide which windows people definitely could not choose for their homes. I even thought of a title: Window Czar.

Fortunately, many Montreal boroughs and cities today have bylaws designed to ensure that when homeowners replace their old, drafty windows with energy-efficient new ones, they choose a style that’s most in line with their home’s architecture – preferably, windows that replicate the house’s original windows.

And that’s where I come in now. After a fortuitous meeting with a man by the conspicuously Russian name of Andrey Platonov, owner of ADecision Windows & Doors, I’m on my way to becoming a sort of Window Czar. Andrey has given me the means to help homeowners find new windows to match the originals as closely as possible. I can provide you with photos of houses just like yours with their original windows intact to show you how your home looked before a previous owner changed them to something quite different – and often not as attractive.

Whatever the style or age of your home, finding beautiful, energy-efficient, quality windows to enhance your home’s appearance at a reasonable price is something I love doing. Just give me a call and let me get to work for you!