Short answer
Broken glass in a solid frame is a glass job, not a new window. Check the frame before you price anything. If the vinyl or wood is still square with no cracks, the glass comes out and new glass goes in, and the frame stays. What goes in depends on what broke. A single sheet of glass is cut and glazed on site, and a sealed double-pane unit is measured, ordered and dropped in as one piece, even when only the outer sheet is cracked.
Tell a single pane from a sealed double-pane unit
- Tape the break. Run packing tape across the cracked glass on both faces. It holds the pieces while you look and while you wait for a glazier.
- Look at the broken edge from the side. One sheet of glass in the frame is a single pane.
- Look for a spacer. Two sheets with a thin metal or plastic strip and an air gap between them is a sealed insulated unit.
- Note which sheet broke: the outer one, the inner one, or both.
- Check for fog or grit between the sheets. Moisture in the gap means the seal has failed as well.
- Press the frame corners and run your thumb along the tracks. Sound vinyl or wood is firm with no splits or open corners.
- Work the sash. A window that still slides and locks tells you the frame is square.
If the frame is firm and the sash still closes, you need glass only, and the price turns on which kind. If the frame is cracked, rotted or twisted, or the sash no longer latches, the unit gets replaced.
Repair or replace
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Single pane broken, frame sound | Repair. A glazier cuts glass to size and glazes it in one visit. |
| One sheet of a sealed double-pane unit broken | Repair. The insulated unit is swapped as one piece, and the sash and frame stay. |
| Glass fogged between the panes, no crack | Repair. That is a failed seal, so the insulated unit is replaced, not the window. |
| Frame cracked, warped or rotten as well as the glass | Replace the window. New glass in a frame that has moved breaks again. |
| Sash will not close or lock after the break | Replace the sash. Something racked in the break, and glass alone does not fix it. |
| Glass in a door, a low window or a shower wall | Repair with tempered glass only. It is ordered to size, so allow a week. |
What it costs
Runhome contractor estimates for this job, including the trip and assessment.
| Option | Range |
|---|---|
| Repair, new insulated glass unit in the existing frame | $340 to $780 |
Can I do it myself?
Usually no. A putty-glazed single pane in a wood sash you can lift out and carry to a glass shop is the one job worth trying. Everything else goes to a glazier. A sealed double-pane unit has to be measured to the millimetre and ordered to match the old thickness and spacer, so a wrong measurement costs you the whole part. Broken edges slice through gloves, and tempered glass breaks into thousands of pieces the moment an edge is nicked. Hire for this when the window is above the ground floor, because the work happens from a ladder with glass in both hands.
What a contractor will ask you
Have these ready and you skip the back-and-forth.
- Single pane or sealed unit. Look at the broken edge for two sheets, a spacer strip and an air gap.
- Which sheet is broken. Outer, inner, or both.
- How the window works. Slides up and down, slides sideways, or fixed and does not open.
- Age of the window. "I don't know" is a fine answer, and 5 to 15 years old is close enough.
- Frame condition. Whether the vinyl parts and tracks are still solid with no cracks or warping.
- Height off the ground. Measure to the bottom of the window from outside.
- What you want. Glass only, or the whole window unit.
- A photo of the whole window and the wall around it, taken a few steps back.
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