Storefront Glass Replacement

When storefront glass breaks or cracks, we secure the opening the same day, measure and order the right replacement glass, and install it so the storefront is whole again.

Why storefront glass breaks

Most broken storefront glass comes from impact: break-ins, vandalism, vehicles, carts, storm debris or a door swung into a sidelite. But a lot of cracks have no impact point at all. Thermal stress cracks start at the edge of the glass and run inward, caused by the sun heating the center of the lite while the edges stay cool in the frame. Other cracks come from a frame that has shifted, a setting block that has moved, or glass that was installed tight against the metal.

Knowing why a lite broke tells us what to replace it with. A stress-cracked lite replaced with the same annealed glass is likely to crack again; a lite broken by a shifted frame needs the frame fixed first.

Replacing the glass the right way

Secure the opening. Board-up or temporary glazing the same day.
Identify the glass. Thickness, type (annealed, heat-strengthened, tempered, laminated or insulated), tint and coating.
Check the code. Glass in doors, sidelites and near walking surfaces must be safety glazing. Hurricane regions require impact-rated glass in approved systems.
Measure and order. Tempered and insulated glass cannot be cut on site, so it is fabricated to exact size.
Install. Remove the old glass and stops, clean the glazing pocket, set the new glass on setting blocks with the right edge clearance, and seal or gasket it.

Safety glazing requirements

Building codes require safety glazing, meaning tempered or laminated glass, in hazardous locations: in and next to doors, in large lites close to the floor, and in other places people could fall or walk into the glass. Many older storefronts have annealed glass in places where it would not be allowed today. When we replace a lite in a hazardous location, it is replaced with safety glass.

Matching the existing glass

Tints and coatings vary between manufacturers and over time, so a new lite can look slightly different from its neighbors. We identify the existing glass and order the closest match, and we tell you before ordering if an exact match is not available.