Woops! What do you do when one of the neighborhood kids hits a baseball through your window? You can both get angry and confiscate the bat and ball, or you can follow these few tips and how to remove the old glass and replace it with new. Window glass repair in Colorado Springs is not that difficult.
Preparing for the new glass installation:
Although the removal and replacement of a broken window is not necessarily difficult, it does take a certain amount of skill. It is not just sticking a pane of glass in a bit of putty.
Taking the broken glass out is not hard, but make sure you wear a pair of work gloves. Just pull the broken glass out one piece at a time. If the glass is not broken but only cracked you may have to remove the putty first, for this job you can use a putty knife, chisel or pocket knife. Take your time, take out a small segment of putty at a time and try not to break the wood. As the putty is removed it will expose glazier’s points, these are to be removed.
If the putty has been in the window for many years, it will be quite hard. If you apply heat, even from a hand-held hair dryer, the putty will soften and be easier to remove.
Once the old putty is completely removed along with the glazier’s points, smooth the wood out with a chisel. If the window is old, it is helpful to coat the exposed surface with a coat of linseed oil. The oil stops the putty from hardening; it remains pliable for much longer.
Once the linseed oil has been applied, apply a very thin coating of putty around the frame where the replacement glass will sit. This layer should not be thick, just a slight seal is all that is required.
Installing the new glass:
Now that the old glass and putty have been removed, the next phase of window glass repair in Colorado Springs is the actual glass replacement.
The new pane of glass should be about 1/8” smaller in both directions than the size of the opening in the frame. If it does not fit it can be trimmed with a high-quality glass cutter and a pair of pliers.
Insert the new glass into the frame and press it into the putty base. Hold the glass with one hand and place glazier’s points about every six inches around the perimeter. The points will go into the wood with minimum pressure. Using a glazier’s tool, lightly tap the points into the wooden frame.
The putty that you use will feel like dry thick dough. Kneed the putty until it is free of any lumps and then roll it into a strip about the diameter of a pencil. Put the putty in place and with a putty knife held at a 45-degree angle, smooth it out, removing all the excess.
After two or three days the putty will be firm enough to paint over.
If you would prefer to have your window glass repair in Colorado Springs done by a professional, contact the craftsmen at Business Name.
