It’s not every day that your neighbor’s baseball or one of your kid’s flying plane crash your window panes. But, when it happens, you want to be ready to replace it yourself instead of paying a professional.

Remove The Old Pane

Safety Measures:  

To avoid a smear, place a drop cloth or sheet beneath the glass. To be cautious, place a drop cloth on the other side of the glass as well. Repairing a window pane may be a dirty task, with dust, putty, and glass flying everywhere. Set up a drop cloth before you begin working to catch all of this debris and protect your floors.

Before you begin, put on heavy gloves and eye protection. When dealing with glass, you run the danger of breaking a piece and injuring yourself. Wear thick gloves to protect your hands, as well as goggles or a face shield to protect your eyes. And, if you’re using goggles, make sure they wrap all the way around your eyes to protect them from all angles.

Get To Work:

Step 1: With a sharp putty knife, remove the glazing surrounding the pane. Window panes are kept in place by a putty called glazing, which must be removed in order to remove the pane. Use a putty knife, preferably one that is sharp. Insert the putty knife along the line that separates the glaze from the wood at any point. Then, pushing against the window, break the glazing off. Continue working your way around the pane, removing all of the glazings that is holding it in place.

Step 2: Scrape away any residual glazing or adhesive from the pane’s border. Even if you break off all of the large pieces of glazing, there may be some remains left over. Scrape your knife along the pane’s perimeter to remove any remnants that are keeping the glass together.

Step 3: Duct tape an X on both sides of the window. You’ll have to smash the pane to get it all out. Tape off the window first to keep glass from blowing everywhere. Make an X with duct tape on either side of the window to keep the glass together when you break it.

Step 4: Tap the pane with a hammer or similar object to break it. Tap the pane with a hammer or the handle of a screwdriver until it cracks. Tap in a few different places to break the window all over.

Step 5: Remove all of the glass by removing the old pane. When the pane is cracked, it should simply come out. Grab it in whichever place you can get a hold of it and pull it out. Then, before continuing on, inspect the sash for any remaining glass and pluck or scrape it out.

Step 6: Sand the sash’s border. Sand the whole rabbet, or the groove where the window rests, with coarse sandpaper. Everything should be smoothed down to the bare wood.

Install The New Glass

Step 1: Purchase a replacement glass pane that is the same size as the previous one. Replacement glass panes are available at any hardware shop. Measure the length and height of the gap, and then use those measurements to purchase a replacement pane that will fit into the sash.

Step 2: Apply caulk along the sash’s edge. Angle your caulk gun onto the notch part of the sash. Apply a bead of caulking to all four sides of the sash. This is essential for cushioning the glass and weather-sealing the window.

Step 3: Incorporate the new pane into the caulk. Hold the new pane firmly in place and align it with the sash. Slide it into the sash from the bottom and work your way up until the pane is entirely in place. Gently press down on the glass to ensure that it sticks to the caulk.

Step 4: To attach the glass, insert a glazer’s point in the center of each side. A glazer’s point is a small metal tab that aids in the retention of the glass. Each has a toothed end and a pointed end. Arrange each one so that the pointy side faces the wood. Then push it into the wood in the middle of the glass with your putty knife. Place one on either side of the glass.

Step 5: Putty a strip on either side of the pane. To create a tight seal, push the putty firmly down the side of the pane and into the wood. Do this on all four corners of the window to keep it in place.

Step 6: With your knife, smooth out the putty. Begin at one of the window pane’s corners. Tilt your putty knife to make a 45-degree angle with the glass and contact the wood on the window sash. Then, using your finger, press the blade down and drag the knife along that strip of putty to smooth it out. Remove any extra putty that has fallen off. Repeat on all four sides of the window.