A home glass repair page for everyone. I thought I felt a breeze. Let's fix it!

You can replace that broken piece of glass in as little an hour. No, really.

Broken glass in your home is a real pain in the neck but unlike the glass in your car's windows it doesn't shatter when it breaks. That can be good and bad. Good because it means that if you have a little hairline crack, you can put off replacing the glass until you get good weather. Bad because if it's really broken, as by a baseball, it leaves giant super sharp shards in the frame that can slice your skin like a brand new razor blade. Ouch!

But honestly, home glass repair is not too hard and won't cost you too much money, mostly the price of a piece of glass and some supplies. The whole job shouldn't take more than an hour maybe two if you run into trouble. As a last resort you can always take the broken window into most hardware stores and glass companies and have them do it for you, for a price of course.

I'll give you some basic info and a short story about me before we begin your own home glass repair.

There are two basic window frame types, wood and plastic or metal. The plastic and metal ones almost always need to be brought in to a professional as they are not easy to take apart and usually have a double pane that is really not reparable but must be completely replaced. These are the newer windows that have been in common use since the 1970's.

Here are the basic parts of a single pane window: frame, sash, glass, push points and glazing putty. Push points are little triangular things that hold the pane of glass against the wood sash and glazing putty is similar to modeling clay but has oils in it and is weather resistant. It dries to almost concrete hardness.

Click here to see the tools page

The wood windows are little more than four pieces of wood with a groove for the pane and handles to lift them. I am speaking mostly of the older windows as there are wood windows these days that are essentially the same as the plastic ones except that they're made of wood. They need to be taken in.

Okay, about me. My parents managed a 26 unit apartment building, that's a lot of windows kids, for about 10 years and there were always things to fix, especially broken windows. I have probably replaced hundreds of window panes so I got pretty good at it. I was about ten or eleven when I was thrust into this handyboy position and it lasted for way too many years for my liking. Enough about me and window types, let's fix your window.

See the screen repair page too.

The necessity to remove the window sash from the frame means you'll need a nice flat surface to lay the sash on while you do the repair. The impulse to leave the window in the frame while you do the repair may enter your mind but rest assured that it will need to come out sooner or later. You can remove the broken window glass while the sash is still in the frame so that you don't risk dropping the window and causing more mess and damage and it's easier to do anyway. That being said...

You will need these things for your home glass repair project.

Now remove the two pieces of wood that hold the sash to the frame.

If you have weights that assist in the lifting of the window you will have to remove them as well but make sure you tie them off or they'll slip into the frame and you'll have to take the frame apart to get them out.

Take the sash out and lay it on a flat surface.

Using the chisel or the screwdriver, clean out the groove where the glass sits, making sure that all the points are removed. The old points can break the new glass when you're laying it in the sash.

Now that the window is ready you can put the new glass in the sash and you will almost be done with the home glass repair.

Put a thin, even bead of putty all around the groove where the glass will sit. This will act as a seal to help keep drafts out.

Now put in the new glass and start putting the points in to hold the glass. About one every 6 to 10 inches or so. Use your chisel or screwdriver to help you push the points in. Go slowly as you can easily slip and break the glass. You don't want that to happen right?

Once that is done you can put the putty in. This is the tricky part. Take about a golfball sized piece of putty and work it until it's nice and soft. Now using your hands, make a bead of putty that covers about the same distance from the side edge of the sash as the distance from the edge of the glass to the top edge of the sash. You should apply a bit more putty than is needed.

Once you have applied putty to all four sides, you can use the putty knife to smooth out the putty so you leave a nice smooth finish.

Hold the knife at a 45 degree angle to the vertical edge and almost flat against the glass and sash edge. Pressing firmly but not hard, start at a corner moving towards the other corner.

Repeat this on all four sides. This may take a bit of practice so don't get frustrated if it doesn't turn out perfect the first time. You can always remove the putty and start over if you're not happy with the results. Do make sure that the points are completely covered and that there is enough putty to hold the window in and keep out drafts. The putty should be flush at the top edge of the sash.

Once you're done let the putty dry for a few hours or a day, then replace the sash into the frame.

You just did a home glass repair job, woo hoo! Nice job.

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