Door glass
New glass for an entry door, sidelight, transom or storm door
A crack across the front door glass, a foggy sidelight, a storm door pane that finally gave out. In many Hamilton houses, especially older Lower City homes with their original doors, the door's worth keeping and only the glass needs changing. We connect you with an independent local glass pro who fits the right safety glass in the door you've got.
- Keep the door, change the glass
- Safety glass made to size
- Heritage rules made practical
Front doors
Entry door glass: inserts, lites and decorative panels
Steel and fibreglass doors hold glass in an insert, a frame screwed through the door. Older wood doors have lites held by wood stops or putty. Door itself drafty or rotting? See entry doors.
Inserts
The pro replaces the sealed glass in the insert, or fits a new insert the same size.
Lites in wood doors
Safety glass is cut to fit and reglazed, and the door and hardware stay.
Decorative and privacy glass
Clear, frosted, grilles or blinds between the panes: the look can change while the door stays.
Beside and above
Sidelights and transoms
Sidelights are the narrow panels beside a front door; a transom sits above it. Many older houses below the escarpment still have both, in their original wood frames.
A cracked or foggy one can be replaced on its own: stops off, new glass or sealed unit in, sealed, and the door never leaves its hinges. Arched transoms are cut from a template.
If it's broken now
Front door glass after a break-in: board, then reglaze
Unsettling, but the order is simple. Our broken glass page covers the first hour.
Make it safe
Keep people and pets clear, and pick up large pieces with gloves on.
Photograph it
Wide shots and close-ups before cleanup, for your insurer.
Cover the opening
A board keeps the weather out until the glass is ready.
Reglaze
Safety glass is ordered to size and fitted in the same door. Mention any damage to the lock.
Storm doors
Storm door glass and interchangeable panels
Storm door glass must be safety glass, and many storm doors swap a glass panel for a screen in summer.
A broken pane
A tempered or laminated pane is made to size, and the door stays.
Lost or bent panels
A pro can often make a new panel to fit. Screen door repair covers the screen side.
Heritage
Heritage homes: change the glass, keep the door
Hamilton's heritage rules draw a useful line: on a designated property or in a heritage conservation district, replacing a door, even a removable storm door, needs a Heritage Permit. Repairing broken glass usually doesn't.
So if the old door is sound, new glass keeps the door, the look and the paperwork simple. Match what was there, and ask the City's heritage staff before changing the style. Our heritage districts guide explains how to check your address.
Before you ask
What goes into a door glass quote
Door glass is made to order, so the price follows what you've got:
- Size and shape, including arched transoms
- Tempered or laminated; clear, frosted, grilles or blinds
- A single pane, a sealed unit or a whole new insert
- How it's held: insert frame, wood stops or putty
- The wood around the glass on an older door
Measure the visible glass, then take one photo from the step and one up close at a corner.
The code
Where safety glass is required
Under the Ontario Building Code, glass in storm doors and sliding doors must be safety glass: tempered or laminated. So must a sidelight wide enough to pass for a door, and a large, low pane in an entry door. Tempered glass can't be cut once it's made, so door glass is usually measured on one visit and fitted on the next.
Questions
Door glass questions
Explore your options
Other door and glass jobs
Local glass pros replace door glass across the city, including Durand, Kirkendall and Locke Street, Crown Point, Dundas and Downtown Hamilton.
Measure the glass, then send us the door
The visible glass size and a couple of photos are enough to start. We'll pass them to a local glass pro who does door glass, and they'll reply with a quote.