Most window faults are small
A window that will not close properly is usually let down by one part: a handle, a stay, a hinge or a seal. The frame around it is often fine. Repairing that one part costs far less than a new window, disturbs less of the house and leaves your walls and finishes untouched. This page covers the faults we see most often in homes, what causes them and what putting them right involves.
Cracked and broken panes
A crack that runs in from the edge of a pane often comes from the frame moving or a knock against the corner. A star-shaped break in the middle is almost always an impact. Either way the pane has to come out. We remove the broken glass and whatever holds it, beads, gaskets or putty, clean the rebate and fit a new pane cut to size. Until then, tape over a crack on both sides and keep curtains, pets and children away from it. For glass in doors, shopfronts and every kind of frame, see window glass replacement.
Handles, stays and hinges
Handles break at the spindle or work loose from their screws until they spin. Stays, the arms that hold a top-hung or casement window open, bend or snap when an open window is caught by the wind. Friction hinges lose their grip, so the window swings shut on its own or will not stay where you leave it. All of these are replaced as parts, matched to the window as closely as possible, without taking the frame out of the wall.
Worn seals and draughts
Rubber seals flatten, shrink and crack with sun and age. You notice it as a draught across the room, a whistle on windy nights, a line of dust on the sill or water on the inside of the frame during a storm. New seals are pressed or slid into the channels in the frame, and the difference is usually noticeable straight away.
Windows that will not close or lock
When a window has to be forced shut, or the handle turns but the window does not lock, the cause is usually one of these:
- the sash has dropped on its hinges and no longer lines up with the keep
- a stay or hinge is bent, so the window closes crooked
- the lock or latch itself is worn or broken
- paint or swollen timber is binding a wooden sash
We find which one it is, then adjust the sash, replace the part or free the timber. A window that cannot lock is a security problem as much as a nuisance, so it is worth dealing with sooner rather than later.
Steel, aluminium and wooden frames
Homes in Gauteng have all three, often in the same house, and each has its own weak points.
- Steel frames are strong but rust where the paint has failed, especially along the bottom rail. The glass is usually held with putty, and handles and stays are made for that frame.
- Aluminium frames do not rust, so most faults are hardware, seals, or runners on sliding windows. Our page on aluminium window repairs goes into those in detail.
- Wooden frames swell, stick and rot if water gets in, and the putty around the glass dries out and falls away. See wooden window repairs for how timber windows are handled.
Choosing glass for a replacement pane
When a pane is replaced, you can match what was there or improve on it.
- 4mm float glass is the standard clear glass in most house windows. It suits ordinary panes that are not at risk of being fallen or pushed against.
- 6.38mm laminated safety glass has a plastic interlayer bonded between two sheets. If it breaks, the pieces stay stuck to the layer instead of falling out, so the window stays closed. It is the better choice for low windows, panes beside doors, bathrooms and any window a child could reach.
If you are not sure which you have or which you need, tell us where the window is when you ask for a quote and we will advise.
Repair or replace?
Repair is the right call when the frame is sound and the fault is in the glass, the hardware or the seals, which covers most of what we see. Replacing the whole window makes more sense when:
- a steel frame is rusted through, not just marked on the surface
- a wooden frame has rot that has spread beyond a small section
- an aluminium frame is bent out of square
- you want a different type of window, or more light
We will tell you which applies from your photos or at the free call-out, and where a repair will do the job, that is what we quote for.