Emergency Glass Repair in Perth: What to Do When Glass Breaks

A smashed window always seems to happen at the worst time. It might be a break-in at 2am, a branch through the lounge room in a winter storm, or a shopfront that cops a brick on a Saturday night.

The first hour comes down to three jobs. Make it safe, get a glazier on the way, then decide between a board-up tonight and new glass straight away.

First Things First: Make the Area Safe

Keep everyone away from the broken glass before you do anything else. Small slivers can land well away from the window and are easy to miss on the floor.

• Keep kids and pets out of the room, and shut the door if you can.
• Put on solid shoes before you walk anywhere near it.
• Leave large shards in the frame, because pulling them out by hand is an easy way to get a bad cut.
• If a pane is cracked but still in place, keep clear of it in case it drops.
• If the glass broke near a power point, a light or an appliance, keep well away from it.

Once everyone is clear, take photos of the damage from a few angles. Your insurer will usually want them, and it is much easier before anything is moved.

24 Hour Glass Repair in Perth: What Happens When You Call

We run 24/7 emergency glass repair across Perth, so a real glazier picks up the phone, day or night. You tell us what broke, roughly how big it is, and whether it is a door, a window or a shopfront.

That quick chat tells us what to bring. We reach most of the metro within the hour, and we will tell you honestly when we can be there on the night.

1. 1

   Make It Safe

   Clear the loose glass and make the opening safe to be near.

2. 2

   Check the Frame

   A forced door or a storm hit can bend the frame, so we check it before measuring.

3. 3

   Measure Up

   We measure the opening for the replacement glass.

4. 4

   Re-Glaze or Board Up

   We either re-glaze on the spot or board it up until the glass is ready.

Board-Up Tonight or Re-Glaze Straight Away?

This is the main decision on most emergency call-outs, and the answer comes down to the glass you need.

We carry stock for the common sizes, so plenty of emergency jobs are fully re-glazed on the spot. When the glass is a standard size and a standard type, you go to bed with a proper window back in.

Some glass has to be made to order, though. Toughened glass cannot be cut once it has been toughened, so if we do not carry your size, the factory makes it to the exact size. Oversized and specialty glass, double-glazed units and big shopfront panes are ordered in as well.

In those cases we do a make-safe board-up. That is a clean sheet of plywood fixed over the opening so the place is secure and weatherproof until we come back to fit the new glass.

Why the Replacement Glass Has to Meet AS 1288

AS 1288 is the Australian Standard that sets which glass is allowed where in a building. It is easy to forget in an emergency, but in some spots plain glass is not allowed, even as a quick fix.

Glass in and beside doors, low windows close to the floor, bathrooms and anywhere a person could fall against it all call for safety glass. That means toughened glass, which breaks into small blunt pieces, or laminated glass, which holds together when it breaks.

If the pane that broke was plain glass in one of those spots, we will tell you, because matching it would only put the same risk back in. You can see the glass types we use on our window and glass replacement page.

Emergency Glass Repairs After a Break-In

After a break-in, the aim is to get the house or business secure so you can lock up and deal with insurance in the morning.

We make the forced window or door safe, then board it or re-glaze it. A forced door often damages more than the glass, so we also check the frame, the lock and the rollers on a sliding door.

Where the frame or hardware has taken a hit, our aluminium window and door repairs cover rollers, tracks, locks and corroded frames. If a frame has been bent out of square, we will tell you on site whether it is worth repairing or better replaced. That way the door closes and locks properly again once the new glass is in.

Storm Damage and Smashed Shopfronts

Storm damage is usually the same job as a break-in: clear it, make it safe, then re-glaze. Rain can get in while the opening is exposed, so we seal it against the weather first.

For a business, a smashed shopfront means the shop cannot be locked up, and it can cost you a day's trade. We board up large plate-glass shopfronts after hours so the shop stays secure, then re-glaze them. Shopfront and office work is covered on our commercial glazing and shopfronts page.

Emergency Glass Repair in Mandurah, Joondalup and Rockingham

We cover the northern suburbs around Joondalup and down the coast to Rockingham and Mandurah.

Travel times grow the further out you are, so ring and ask for a straight answer on timing. We would rather tell you the real time than make a promise we cannot keep. You can see every suburb on our Perth service areas page.

What to Have Ready When You Ring

When you ring, it helps us bring the right glass if you can tell us:

• Where the glass is: a window, a sliding door, a front door or a shopfront.
• A rough size, even a guess like "about as tall as the door".
• Whether it was clear, frosted, tinted or double glazed.
• How it broke: a break-in, a storm or an accident.
• Whether you can lock up, or whether the opening leaves the place exposed.

Send a couple of photos as well if you can, so we can see the damage before we arrive.

Get Your Glass Sorted Properly

We make it safe, secure the opening, then replace the glass to AS 1288.

If glass has just broken at your place, call us now and a qualified glazier will talk you through it. For anything that can wait until business hours, book a free glass repair quote and we will come out to measure.