Door & window repair, statewide
Glass Door Repair
When the problem is the glass, not the door
Cracked lites, fogged panels, failed glazing and loose beads. A glass door with a broken pane almost never needs replacing — the glass comes out and new glass goes in, in the door you already own.
The glass is a component, and components are replaceable
People treat a glazed door as a single object, so when a pane cracks the assumption is that the whole door is finished. It is not. Glass sits in a door the way glass sits in a window: held by beads, putty or a stop, and designed to be taken out and renewed.
That is true of a modern full-lite entry door, a French door with fifteen individual lites, a storm door insert, and a hundred-year-old glazed door with original putty. The method differs; the principle does not.
Connecticut's older housing makes one distinction worth drawing. Antique glass with visible waviness and imperfections is worth preserving where it is intact, and we will say so rather than quietly replacing it with modern float glass.
Glass in a door is a component. Components come out and get renewed.
Every glazed door in a Connecticut home
Exterior and interior, historic and modern, single lite and true divided.
Glass in and beside a door is a code location for safety glazing. Where the original was tempered, tempered is what goes back in — we will not fit annealed glass into a door opening.
Glass door work we do
Reglazing, rehanging and everything that holds the glass in place.
Cracked and broken lites
Individual panes replaced in French and divided-lite doors without disturbing the rest of the door.
Fogged sealed units
Failed insulated units in glazed doors replaced inside the existing sash or slab.
Tempered and safety glazing
Correct safety glass supplied for door openings, sidelites and transoms.
Glazing beads and putty
Loose beads refitted and failed putty raked out and reglazed, including on historic doors.
Sagging glazed doors
Heavy glass doors that have dropped, with hinges reinforced so the door closes and latches again.
Frames, stops and rails
Damaged stops, split rails and loose joints repaired around the glazing.
What Connecticut does to glazed doors
Old glazing, big humidity swings and coastal storms.
Historic putty glazing
A great deal of Connecticut housing predates modern glazing systems. Linseed putty hardens, cracks and falls out over decades, and once it does the glass rattles and water gets into the rails. Reglazing is straightforward; leaving it is what destroys the door.
Humid summers, dry heated winters
Wooden glazed doors swell in August and shrink through a heated January. That annual movement loosens beads, opens joints and works glass loose in its rebate.
Nor'easters and flying debris
Coastal and inland storms alike put branches and debris through door glass. Sidelites and full-lite entry doors take the worst of it because of where they sit.
Why call a specialist for glass doors
Reglazing a door properly is a different skill to replacing one.
We reglaze rather than replace
A cracked lite in a French door is one pane, not a new door, and we treat it that way.
Correct safety glass
Doors and sidelites are regulated locations. We supply the right glass rather than the quickest.
Historic work handled properly
Putty glazing, divided lites and original glass treated with the care they need.
Free estimates
No charge to look, and a firm price before any work starts.
Three steps, no runaround
Send a photo
A shot of the door and the damaged lite tells us the glazing method and the glass type.
We measure and quote
Glass is cut to the opening, so we measure on the first visit.
We reglaze it
Fitted on a return visit once the glass is ready, usually quickly.
We are a mobile service covering the whole state. Pick your city below, or call and we will come to you.
Glass Door Repair Across Connecticut
Glass door questions
One pane in my French door is cracked. Do I need a new door?
No. Individual lites are replaced without touching the rest of the door. That is exactly what divided-lite doors are designed to allow.
The glass in my entry door has fogged up.
The sealed unit inside the door has failed. It is replaced inside the existing slab, so the door, hardware and finish all stay.
My old door has crumbling putty around the glass.
That is normal for putty glazing reaching the end of its life. The old putty is raked out and the glass is rebedded and reglazed, which is a routine job on historic doors.
Does door glass have to be tempered?
Glass in and immediately beside a door is a safety glazing location. Where the original was tempered, tempered is what we fit.
Can you save the old wavy glass in my antique door?
Where it is intact, yes, and we would encourage it. Original glass is part of what makes the door worth keeping.
Other repairs we handle
Doors and windows are all we do, so whatever has failed, it is probably on this list.
Get the glass in your door sorted
Free estimates anywhere in Connecticut, on modern and historic doors alike.
(203) 902-3899