How to Replace True Split Light Window Glass

A friend of ours owns an old house that is full of charm and character only old houses exhibit. Having an older home presents a few different maintenance challenges, like one he asked about last weekend. He asked how to fix broken glass in the storm door at the back of his house.

 

Our friend got lucky, she actually has an old wooden storm door, which can actually be repaired without much trouble. The glass of her door is divided into nine pieces, each of these pieces or sections is separated by wooden moldings. This style of door is known as a true partition light panel. Not all doors are built this way, some will have a piece of glass covering the entire window opening and instead of having wooden dividers between each section, trim is applied over the glass. A duplicate set of applied trim is applied to the other side of the glass, giving the appearance of a true split light.

 

In a door or window that has true split light panes, the glass in each section can be removed and replaced individually, and this is the process for doing it. On the inside of the panel, the glass is typically held in place with a putty known as glazing compound. On the outside of the glass, the widow trim will hold the glass in place. The first step in removing your broken glass piece is to remove the frosting compound. The best tool for this is a heat gun, which looks like a hair dryer on steroids. The heat gun is an industrial version, which has a much higher heat setting than your hair dryer, but the concept is the same.

 

The first thing you will need to do is put on a pair of good work gloves. I would recommend the leather. Cotton or garden gloves won’t protect you from the sharp edges of the glass you’re working on, so spend a couple extra bucks and get a good pair of leather gloves. The second thing to do, and just as important as your work gloves, is to put on a good pair of safety glasses. These will protect your eyes from any flying glass fragments.

 

Now, with a stiff spatula in hand, take your heat gun and heat up the glazing compound. It will take a couple of minutes for the compound to soften enough for you to peel it off the glass. I like to take an extra precaution before starting work on the broken glass panel. If the glass is cracked, I like to run painter’s tape over the glass in a crisscross pattern. Put the tape on both sides of the glass. This will help keep the glass in one piece until you are ready to remove it. If the glass is already broken, remove as many loose pieces as possible before beginning work on the glass panel.

  

After removing the icing compound, it’s time to remove the icing dots. These are small triangle-shaped pieces of metal that hold the window against the wooden stops. You can use your putty knife to remove them. Once the glazing tips are removed, the glass should come out of the opening. This is a place where gloves are a must. Remove all broken glass, and then clean the area under the glass.

 

Obtain a replacement glass piece at your local DIY store or glass retailer. The traditional method is to simply reinstall the glass into the door and secure it with glazing nails and compound, however many home repair experts now recommend that you first run a bead of silicone caulk under the glass to seal it, and this really does Sense to me Stop air infiltration anywhere you can. One trick I’ve learned the hard way, cover the glass area right next to where you’re going to use the caulk with painter’s tape. Silicon is a real pain, excuse the pun, to get it off the glass. The tape will catch any leaks.

 

Once the glass and silicone are in place, install new glazing points on the inside of the glass. These are easy to install with the flat face of the putty knife. Place at least two points along each edge of the glass panel. Next, it’s time to re-install the glazing compound. Scoop some of the compound out of the can it came in and work it into your hand. Work until you can form a long, flexible snake out of the compound, then place the snake-shaped compound on the window. After you have the compound on all four sides of the glass, take your putty knife and clean up the appearance of the glazing compound. The best method is to hold the putty knife at a sharp angle with one edge on the glass and pull the putty knife from one corner to the next. Don’t stop in the middle, it’s very hard to start over. Be patient, it takes practice to get the finish to look good.

 

And that’s it. Of course, if your door is not made of wood, this repair will not work for you. Newer modern doors will have windows that have metal tracks around the windows that are often a manufacturer-specific design. Also, most modern glass panels are typically two panes of glass with an inert gas between the panes. This inert gas helps make the window more energy efficient. Therefore, new windows are typically not repairable by the average homeowner. You may be able to get a new glass panel including the frame from the manufacturer.

 

But, if like our friend, you have the older split true light panels, yes you can do the repair. But maybe now is a good time to consider replacing the entire door with an energy efficient unit. Depending on your individual situation, the replacement may qualify you for a 2009 rax rebate.