Winter storms can bring down branches, send garden furniture flying and catch open windows and doors. When glass breaks, the priority is keeping everyone safe and keeping the weather out until a proper repair can be made.
Stay safe first
- Keep children and pets out of the room until the broken glass has been dealt with.
- Do not stand under a cracked overhead pane, such as a conservatory roof panel or a glazed porch.
- Do not try to climb up to reach damage while the wind is still strong.
- If a tree or branch has damaged power lines, stay well away. Call 105 to report it to your local electricity network, or 999 if there is an immediate danger.
Wear thick gloves and sturdy shoes if you do need to move glass, and never try to pull loose shards out of a frame by hand.
Take photos for your insurer
Before anything is cleared or covered, take photos of the damage from inside and out, plus anything that caused it, such as a fallen branch. Insurers will want to see what happened. Keep a note of the date and time.
Check your policy or call your insurer to ask what they cover and how they want the claim handled. Many policies cover emergency work to make the property secure, but it is worth confirming, and keeping receipts.
Keep the weather out
A broken pane lets in wind and rain and can leave the house insecure overnight. A temporary sheet of plastic taped over the gap may get you through a few hours, but it will not hold in strong wind and does nothing for security.
Proper boarding up is the safer option. The broken glass is cleared, the opening is covered with a board fixed securely to the frame, and the house is weather-tight and secure until the replacement glass is ready.
Cracked but not broken
A pane that is cracked but still in one piece should not be ignored. Cracks can spread, especially as the frame moves with changing temperatures, and a cracked sealed unit will soon let moisture in between the panes. Get it measured for a replacement sooner rather than later.
Conservatories and roof panels
Conservatories take a lot of punishment in high winds, from flying debris and from branches overhead. Roof panels can crack, slip or lift. If a roof panel is damaged, keep out of the conservatory until it has been checked, and close the door between the conservatory and the house.
Doors that will not close after a storm
A door caught by the wind can be wrenched past its normal opening, bending hinges and pulling the door out of line. If a door will not close or lock afterwards, do not force it. The hinges and keeps can usually be adjusted or replaced, and the door brought back into line.
A door that has been caught like this can show the same symptoms as one that has dropped over time, as explained in our guide to UPVC doors that are hard to lock.
The permanent repair
Most storm-damaged glass can be replaced in the existing frame. The opening is measured, a new sealed unit is made to size and fitted, and the board comes off. Where glass is in a door or near the floor, the replacement should be safety glass.
If a break-in follows storm damage or happens in the same week, our checklist on what to do after a break-in covers the next steps.
Storm damage in north Herefordshire?
Steve provides 24 hour boarding up, then returns to fit replacement glass and repair conservatory glass and roofs. He covers Kington, Bromyard, Leominster and the surrounding villages.
Call 07948 117374, day or night.