Make the area safe first
Broken glass is the immediate danger, so deal with people before you deal with the window. Keep children and pets out of the room and away from the ground outside it. Glass travels further than you expect, and small pieces hide in carpet, grass and gravel.
Put on shoes with thick soles before you walk anywhere close to the breakage. Do not lean on the frame or press on any glass that is still standing. A cracked pane can drop without warning, and the pieces left hanging at the top of a frame are the ones most likely to fall.
Outside, glass on a path or pavement is a risk to other people as well. If you cannot clear it safely straight away, block the spot off with whatever is to hand, such as a wheelie bin or a garden chair, until it can be swept.
If the window was broken on purpose, or you think someone has been inside, call the police before you touch anything. Ask for a crime reference number and write it down, because your insurer is likely to ask for it.
Take photos before anything is moved
Once everyone is safe, get your phone out. Photograph the window from inside and from outside, the glass on the floor, and anything that came through it, such as a brick or a ball. Take one wide shot showing the whole wall and a few close ones of the frame.
These pictures do two jobs. They are a record for your insurer or landlord, and they let a glazier see what kind of glass and frame you have before anyone visits. A wide photo that includes something of a known size, such as a door, makes the pane easier to judge.
Make a note of when you found the damage and what you think caused it. It takes a minute now and saves guessing later.
Window smashed right now?
Send a photo and your postcode on WhatsApp, or call us at any hour. You get a quote before any work starts.
Clear up the loose glass carefully
Wear thick gloves, not thin rubber ones, and keep your shoes on. Pick up the large pieces first and lay them flat in a rigid box, or wrap them in several layers of newspaper. Do not drop loose glass straight into a bin bag, because it will cut through the bag and then through whoever lifts it.
Sweep hard floors with a stiff brush, then go over the same ground with a vacuum cleaner to lift the fine fragments. On carpet, vacuum slowly and in more than one direction. Check sills, curtains, sofas and beds close to the window, since splinters land on soft furnishings and stay there.
Leave the glass that is still in the frame alone. Pulling jagged pieces out by hand is an easy way to get cut, and removing them is part of the job when the window is boarded or reglazed. If you book us, we clear the broken glass and take it away, so all you need to do is make a safe path through the room.
Cover the opening
An open window lets in rain, cold and anyone who happens to be passing. If the pane is only cracked and still firmly in place, you can leave it where it is, keep people away from it and arrange a repair. Strips of tape across a crack may help hold small pieces together for a short while, but tape does not make the glass safe to touch or lean on.
If the glass has gone, or is loose, the opening needs a proper cover. That means sheet timber cut to size and fixed across the frame, which is what window boarding is. A board keeps the weather out and leaves the room secure enough to sleep in, or to lock up and leave.
Do not climb a ladder to cover an upstairs window yourself, and do not try to handle a large board alone. Sheet timber is heavy and awkward, and you would be working right beside broken glass. Our emergency boarding up service is there for this, and the phones are answered 24 hours a day, every day.
Get the glass replaced
What happens next depends on the glass. A single pane in a timber or metal frame is often a simple broken window repair: the old glass and its putty or beading come out and a new pane goes in.
Sealed double glazed units and toughened panes are a different matter. Each one is manufactured to the exact size of the opening, so the glazier measures up on the first visit and comes back to fit the glass once it has been made. The board stays up in between.
You do not have to work out which type you have. Send a photo and your postcode, and we will tell you what it looks like and give you a quote before any work starts. For urgent replacements, see emergency glazing.
A cracked pane that still looks stable should not be left for long either. Cracks tend to spread with changes in temperature and with every knock on the frame, and weakened glass is easier to push in from outside.
Tell the people who need to know
If you rent, tell your landlord or letting agent straight away and send them your photos. Who arranges and pays for the repair depends on your tenancy and on how the damage happened, so ask before you book anything unless the property has been left open or unsafe.
If you own the property and may want to claim, tell your insurer promptly. Policies differ, so check your own for what is covered, whether there is an excess and whether they want to hear from you before work is done. If the building is open to the street, say so when you call and ask how they want emergency work handled.
Keep everything: your photos, the crime reference number if there is one, and the invoice. We provide photos of the damage and of the finished job along with an itemised invoice, so you have a clear record to pass on.
At a business, think about staff and customers too. Close off the space inside and on the pavement side until the glass has been cleared and the opening is covered.
