Door & window repair, statewide
Window Glass Repair
New glass in the sash you already own
Cracked panes, fogged sealed units, failed putty and loose beads. In almost every case the glass comes out and new glass goes in, leaving the window, the frame and the trim exactly where they are.
What is actually in your window opening
Glass is a component held in a sash. Knowing which kind you have determines whether this is a small job or a larger one.
Older Delaware windows hold a single sheet of annealed glass, bedded in linseed putty or held by wooden beads. A cracked pane in one of those is about as simple as glazing gets: the old glass and putty come out, new glass is bedded in, and the sash carries on for another few decades.
Newer windows hold an insulated glass unit, which is two or three panes bonded around a spacer with a sealed cavity between them. That unit is a manufactured item in its own right, and it is replaceable as a unit inside your existing sash. When people say a window has fogged, this is what has happened — the perimeter seal failed and moisture entered the cavity. The glass is not dirty and it cannot be cleaned, but nothing about the window frame is wrong.
There is a third category worth naming in this state. Delaware has enough eighteenth and nineteenth century housing that original glass, with its visible waviness and tiny bubbles, is still in place in a lot of homes. It is not reproducible and it is part of why those windows are worth keeping, so where it is sound we work around it rather than through it.
Where safety glazing is required — beside doors, at low sill heights, in bathrooms and in large panes — we supply tempered glass rather than whatever is quickest to source.
The glass is replaceable. The window does not have to be
This is the most useful thing to know before anyone quotes you. A sash is designed to let its glass be removed and renewed, whether it is held by putty, beads or a stop.
Replacement window companies rarely lead with that, because the glass job is worth a fraction of the window job.
The honest exception is a sash that is itself rotten or a frame that has failed structurally. That happens, particularly on exposed coastal elevations, and when it does we will say so plainly rather than glaze a window that cannot hold the glass.
Fogging between the panes means the sealed unit failed. The window did not.
Glass problems we deal with
Assessed on site, with a straight answer on whether it needs doing at all.
Cracked and broken panes
Individual lites replaced, including single panes in divided-lite sash without disturbing the rest.
Fogged sealed units
Failed insulated units replaced inside your existing sash. The haze never clears on its own.
Failed putty and glazing beads
Raked out, rebedded and reglazed — the routine maintenance that keeps an older sash alive.
Safety and tempered glazing
Correct glass supplied where code requires it, particularly near doors and at low sills.
Low-E and efficiency upgrades
If the glass is coming out anyway, the moment to improve what the window does about heat and glare.
Historic glass preservation
Original wavy glass retained wherever it is sound, because it cannot be replaced once it is gone.
The problems Delaware glass has
Coastal weather, humidity and a lot of very old glazing.
Seal failure driven by humidity and temperature
An insulated unit fails from the perimeter inward. Delaware's combination of high humidity, freeze-thaw cycling in winter and strong summer sun on south and west elevations works that seal hard, which is why fogging so often appears on one side of a house first.
Coastal storms and wind-driven debris
Nor'easters and the remnants of tropical systems reach the whole state, and the beach communities take the worst of it. Wind-driven debris breaks glass, and salt spray corrodes the spacer edges and fixings around it.
Century-old putty
Linseed putty has a service life measured in decades, and a great deal of Delaware's housing is well past it. Once putty cracks and falls away, the glass rattles and water gets into the sash rails — which is what actually destroys the window.
Why we are the right call for glass
Reglazing properly is a different skill to selling windows.
A fraction of the price
Glass replacement against full window replacement is not a close comparison, and we will show you both numbers.
No building work
No frames out, no plaster or trim damage, no repainting.
Old glass respected
We will tell you when the original glass is worth keeping rather than quietly swapping it for float glass.
Correct glass specified
Including safety glazing wherever the location calls for it.
Three steps, no runaround
Send us a photo
A clear shot of the damage and where it sits tells us the glazing method and the glass type.
We measure and quote
Glass is cut to the opening, so we measure on the first visit.
We reglaze it
Fitted once the glass is ready, usually quickly.
We are a mobile service covering all three counties. Pick your city below, or call and we will come to you.
Window Glass Repair Across Delaware
Glass repair questions
Can you replace one pane in a divided-lite window?
Yes. That is exactly what divided-lite sash is designed to allow, and it does not disturb the surrounding lites.
Will a foggy window ever clear on its own?
No. The seal has failed and moisture is inside the unit. It may look better on dry days, but the insulating value is permanently gone.
Is defogging a real fix?
It can improve appearance by drilling and venting the unit, but it does not restore the seal or the gas fill. We replace the unit instead, because that is the repair that holds.
The putty around my old windows is crumbling.
That is putty reaching the end of its life, and it is normal on older Delaware homes. Raking out and reglazing is routine and it protects the sash underneath.
Is my old wavy glass worth saving?
If it is intact, yes. It cannot be reproduced, and it is part of why the window is worth keeping.
Other repairs we handle
Doors and windows are all we do, so whatever has failed, it is probably on this list.
Get the glass sorted
Free estimates anywhere in Delaware, on modern and historic glazing.
(302) 406-0168