The first hour
If one pane of the unit has cracked and the other is intact, the window still keeps heat in and rain out. Tape the crack with clear tape on both sides and keep the sash shut. It’s worse when pieces are falling out. Then pick up the glass in thick gloves, cover the opening with builder’s plastic or a sheet of plywood screwed to the frame, and don’t try to snap out the rest of the pane by hand.
Photograph the window close up and from a distance before you touch anything. The tradesperson will want the photos, and if your flat is insured, you’ll usually need them for the claim too.
What it costs and how to book: wall filling and skimming in Warsaw.
AGC and the new unit
AGC is a Japanese glass group and one of the big makers of window glass in Europe. Glazing factories build units for specific windows from its glass, so you don’t buy ‘AGC glass’ off the shelf. The tradesperson measures the unit and checks how it’s built, and the new one is made to size at the same thickness. That usually means two visits: measuring, then glazing.
After a break-in attempt, it’s worth asking straight away about laminated safety glass in the new unit. On the ground floor and in balcony doors, plenty of people go that way.
Sometimes more than the glass took the hit: a cracked bead, bent hardware, a twisted sash. The tradesperson will see that on the first visit and tell you whether a new unit is enough.
AGC glass replacement: common mistakes
- Pulling shards out of the frame with bare hands.
- Leaving the hole covered by just a curtain overnight. It’s cold, and more glass can fall.
- Gluing the cracked pane and calling it done. The unit has lost its seal either way.
- Ordering a unit yourself from the sash size. It’s the unit’s own size that counts.
Have ready
- Close-ups of the damage and a photo of the whole window.
- Whether the window is timber or PVC.
- Access to the window from inside.
How to book
Describe what happened in the app, say whether the window is covered up, and add the photos. Tradespeople send offers with their own price and timing. Pick one by rating and reviews, and only then do you swap phone numbers and address. The unit is charged separately from the labour; you pay the tradesperson directly and they issue the invoice.
Order in the app
Describe the job, add photos and the address. Tradespeople send their own prices and dates, and you pick one of the offers.
Open the appThe tradesperson who fitted the unit answers for that work and will put it right. Frame damage they didn’t repair isn’t on them.
