Emergency glass · Oshawa
Broken window right now? Secure it first
Time matters here, so this is the order: get people clear, take photos, cover the opening, then order proper glass. Board-up tonight, new home or storefront window glass later. We're a referral service, not a glazier. We pass your request to a local glass professional in Durham who does board-ups, and follow up so it doesn't sit.
- Safety and photos before anything else
- Board-up now, proper glass after
- Home and storefront windows
The first hour
The first hour: safety, pets, cleanup, temporary cover
Clear the room
Keep children and pets out, shut the door, and put shoes on. Window glass scatters further than it looks.
Photograph first
Wide shots inside and out, close-ups, and whatever did it. Your insurer will ask.
Loose pieces only
Wear gloves and use a dustpan and a sturdy box. Leave shards in the frame for the pro; they can drop without warning.
Cover it safely
Heavy plastic taped to the frame from inside keeps out wind and rain. Glue doesn't make cracked glass safe; it only hides the crack.
Tonight or tomorrow?
Is a broken window an emergency?
Not always. A crack in one pane of a sealed unit, or a broken storm with the main window intact, can wait for a normal quote. It's urgent when:
Weather is getting in
Winter nights here often drop below freezing, so an open room can't wait.
It can't be locked
A ground-floor window, a broken door lite or a storefront.
Glass is hanging
Pieces that could fall over a sidewalk, doorway or stairs.
Securing it
Board-up and temporary glazing
Two ways to close the opening while the permanent glass is made:
Board up or fit a temporary pane
Loose pieces come out of the frame first. Plywood is strong and quick. A clear temporary pane lets daylight in and keeps a shop looking open for the morning.
Measure for the permanent glass
Sealed units and tempered or laminated shop glass are made to order, so measuring now saves a trip.
Wind damage
Storm and wind damage: photos and insurance
Around here, windows usually break in wind: a limb through the front window, debris against a storefront. The May 2022 derecho, which spun up a tornado in Uxbridge, is the storm Durham remembers.
For the claim, photograph before cleanup, keep the board-up receipt, and ask the pro for a written description of the damage.
What shapes the bill
What shapes the cost of an emergency visit
An urgent visit costs more than a booked one. What decides how much:
- An evening, overnight or weekend call
- Size, height and floor of the opening
- Plywood or a clear temporary pane
- A return visit to fit the permanent glass
- Disposal of the broken pieces
- The permanent glass: sealed unit, tempered or laminated
Ask for board-up, return visit and disposal to be listed separately, so the invoice holds no surprises.
For shops
Businesses: break-ins and the City's vandalism fund
For a shopkeeper the morning after, the order is the same: make the sidewalk safe, photograph, report as your insurer requires, then secure the opening. A pro who does storefront glass repair can board up and measure on one visit.
Oshawa's Graffiti and Vandalism Remediation Fund has covered part of commercial window, door and lock repairs, and insurance deductibles. It's first come, first served and subject to availability; see vandalism glass repair. For doors and multi-unit work, see commercial glass.
After the plywood
From board-up to permanent glass
A board-up isn't the fix. The pro orders the glass, returns to fit it and takes the board away; confirm the date before they leave. If the frame cracked or the sash twisted, the lasting fix may be a new window. Broken window glass covers the everyday version of this job, and our windows overview the rest. Landlords: the City's property standards expect broken glass to be reglazed, so plywood is a stopgap.
Questions
Broken window questions
Explore your options
After the board-up
Local pros handle board-ups and urgent home and storefront window glass across Durham, including Downtown Oshawa, Stevenson & the Oshawa Centre area, Whitby, Ajax and Courtice.
Send a photo of the broken window
Mark the request urgent and include a photo, so the pro knows whether to bring plywood or a temporary pane. Say whether it's a home or a storefront, and which floor.