It was a great day to swap out some failed glass in this Kalispell sliding door for a recent Precision Glass customer! The sun was shining & the temps not too hot. It’s shaping up to be a beautiful Flathead Valley spring :-)!

 

Scroll down to see the before!

 

the before photo of a sliding door with a failed glass seal in Kalispell Montana 59901 that Precision Glass helped with!

So what cause glass seal failure? Read on to learn more…

 

Glass seal failure reasons

  1. Age: windows and glass like most things in life break easier as they age.
  2. Temperature fluctuations: window glass temperature fluctuations especially in older windows causes stress on the glass which can lead to a “stress fracture”. The larger the temperature gap between one portion of the window glass and another, the more likely it is to crack. Think throwing boiling water on very cold glass for an extreme example of this phenomenon.
  3. Poor installation: when window glass is poorly installed in the window factory, for example too loosely, too tight to one side, or at an angle, it can cause stress on the glass and eventual glass breakage.
  4. Low-quality materials: And sometimes, thankfully quite rarely, the glass is defective from the glass float factory.

Ways to fix failed glass seals

  1. Replace the insulated glass unit (IGU): The most common way to fix failed glass seals is to replace the dual pane glass portion of the window. This is the most cost effective method and takes the least amount of time.
  2. Replace the complete window: Another solution to a failed glass seal is to replace the whole window. Being that there’s more labor, window cost, and typically window trimming costs involved, this route is much more expensive that replacing the insulated glass unit.
  3. Take out, repair, & reinstall: The least common method of getting the failed glass seals fixed is to essentially reuse the old insulated glass unit. This might sound like a great option but it’s not cost effective mainly due to time. You have to take apart the two glued together pieces of glass, clean the old glass, potentially cut new glass, install new spacer bar, glue it back together, and then add argon gas and hope that nothing breaks during that process.

If you’re looking to be able to see through your windows again or replace them completely with energy efficient & modern windows, give us a call or contact us to schedule an onsite consultation!