Window Repair and Replacement
Reglazing timber and aluminium windows, plus custom awning, double-hung, sliding and louvre units.
Learn more →What counts as an emergency
Broken glass becomes urgent when it stops being a repair and starts being a hazard. That is a street-facing window someone can climb through, a shopfront with the glass out of it, a shattered shower screen with toughened fragments across a bathroom floor, a glass door in a hallway that people have to walk past, or a first-floor window that will let weather straight into the house. Those are all same-night jobs.
The three things that generate most of Melbourne's after-hours glass calls are break-ins, storms and accidents. Break-ins concentrate in rear windows, side doors and shop entries. Storms take out windows two ways — direct hail damage, and wind lifting debris and branches into the glass — and a single line of storms can put a hundred jobs into the queue across the north and west at the same time. Accidents are the rest: furniture moves, ladders slip, kids and balls, an oven door that cracks when it cools.
The order the work happens in
Make safe, then secure, then replace. The glazier removes loose and broken glass from the frame and the immediate area so nobody gets cut, then either fits replacement glass or boards the opening.
Boarding up is not a failure to do the job. Cut-to-size glass takes time to produce, and the safety glass required for doors and bathrooms under AS 1288 cannot be cut on site at all — toughened glass is made to size in a factory and cannot be trimmed afterwards. A board-up buys the days that takes while keeping the property secure and dry. Expect a second, booked visit to fit the pane.
What can go back in the same night
Plain annealed float in standard thicknesses and common toughened stock sizes are carried on vehicles and often go straight back in. Anything else — obscure patterns for bathrooms, laminated for doors and shopfronts, tinted, low-E, or double-glazed units — is ordered. So is anything in a leadlight or a heritage timber sash, which usually wants a careful job in daylight rather than a rushed one at midnight.
Insurance after a break-in
Photograph the damage before the glass is cleared, get a police report number, and keep the invoice. Glass is one of the most commonly claimed items on home and business policies and most insurers process it quickly. Some deal directly with the glazier, others pay you back after you settle the invoice — ask which applies to your policy before the work starts.
If the break-in got in through old, thin glass, this is the moment to ask about upgrading. Laminated glass holds together when it is hit because of the interlayer, which is why it is used in shopfronts and why it is worth considering on a rear door that has already been targeted once.
Where and when
Emergency work covers greater Melbourne, including the inner suburbs, the north, the west and the south-east. Response times stretch during storm events, and that is worth knowing rather than being promised otherwise. For work you can book, start at the services list or the window repair page; for what it is likely to cost, see the cost guide.
More services
Explore our other services
Shopfront Glass
Laminated shopfront panels, entry doors and after-hours board-ups so the shop still opens in the morning.
Learn more →Shower Screens
Framed, semi-frameless and frameless screens in toughened safety glass, made to the opening you actually have.
Learn more →Glass Splashbacks
Toughened 6mm splashbacks for kitchens, laundries and bathrooms, colour-matched and templated on site.
Learn more →Double Glazing
Insulated glass units for Melbourne's cold snaps and hot northerlies. Retrofit or full window replacement.
Learn more →Mirrors
Cut-to-size bathroom, wardrobe, gym and studio mirrors with polished or bevelled edges.
Learn more →Glass Balustrades
Frameless and semi-framed balustrades for stairs, balconies and decks, built to the fall height rules.
Learn more →Glass Roofs and Skylights
Overhead glazing, awnings and skylights in laminated glass, because overhead glass has its own rules.
Learn more →Pool Fencing
Frameless and semi-frameless glass pool fences built to the Victorian barrier rules.
Learn more →Glass Doors
Hinged, sliding, stacker and bi-fold glazed doors, plus reglazing the door you already have.
Learn more →Fly Screens
Pleated, sliding and fixed insect screens in extruded aluminium with PVC-coated mesh.
Learn more →Smart Glass
Switchable privacy glass that goes from clear to opaque, for partitions, consult rooms and bathrooms.
Learn more →Table Tops and Furniture Glass
Cut-to-size table tops, shelving and cabinet glass with polished, bevelled or pencil edges.
Learn more →Scratch and Graffiti Removal
Polishing scratched and acid-tagged glass instead of replacing it, where the glass can take it.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What happens on an emergency call-out?
The glazier clears broken glass out of the frame and off the floor, checks the opening for hazards, and makes it safe. If the replacement glass is not available that night, the opening is boarded with ply or sheeted so the property is secure and weatherproof, and a return visit is booked once the pane is cut. You get a price for both parts before anything is done.
Can you replace the glass on the spot instead of boarding it up?
Sometimes. Common clear float thicknesses and stock toughened sizes are carried on emergency vehicles and can go straight back in. Obscure patterned glass, laminated, tinted, double-glazed units and anything oversized has to be cut or ordered, and those are board-up jobs first. The glazier will tell you which yours is when they see it.
Do I need a police report before the glass is repaired?
Ring the police and get a report number first if it was a break-in, because your insurer will want it, but you do not have to wait for anyone to attend before making the property safe. Take photos of the damage before the glass is cleared, which takes thirty seconds and saves arguments with the insurer later.
Is an after-hours call-out more expensive?
Yes. Emergency work carries a call-out fee that reflects the hour, and overnight and public holiday rates are higher than a booked weekday job. If the broken glass is internal, already secure and not a safety risk, waiting until the morning is genuinely cheaper. If it is a street-facing window or a shopfront, it is not worth waiting.
Will a board-up damage my window frame?
It should not. A board-up is normally fixed to the frame with screws into existing rebates or clamped, and any holes are in timber or sash areas that get made good when the glass goes in. Say so upfront if the frame is heritage, leadlight or powder-coated aluminium you care about, so the glazier fixes off it rather than through it.
Free, no-obligation