Glass Repair in Wellington

Glass is not one product and treating it as one is how people end up with the wrong pane in the wrong place. Annealed, toughened, laminated, obscure, Low E and acoustic all behave differently and NZS 4223 dictates which of them is legal in which position. Part of what you are paying for is somebody knowing which is which before it is ordered.

The glass types, and where each one belongs

Four types cover almost everything in a house. Getting the choice right matters for safety, for compliance and for what happens the day something hits it.

Annealed glass

Ordinary float glass. It can be cut to size on site, which makes it the fastest and cheapest option, and it is fine in most standard window openings. It breaks into long sharp shards, which is exactly why the standard bans it from doors, wet areas and low level positions.

Toughened glass

Heat treated so it is several times stronger, and when it does break it crumbles into small blunt granules. It cannot be cut after treatment, so every pane is made to the finished size and takes a few days. It is the usual choice for doors, sliders and shower screens.

Laminated glass

Two panes bonded either side of a plastic interlayer. When it breaks the fragments stay stuck to the interlayer, so the pane cracks but the opening stays closed. That makes it the right glass after a break in, overhead, in balustrades and wherever noise matters, and it blocks most ultraviolet light as well.

Sealed double glazed units

Two panes bonded to a spacer bar with a desiccant keeping the cavity dry. They are made to order and they cannot be repaired once the edge seal fails, which is what the permanent haze between the panes means. The unit is replaced and your frame stays put.

Where safety glass is not optional

NZS 4223 is the New Zealand standard for glazing in buildings, and it is not advisory. It sets out the positions where Grade A safety glass has to be used regardless of what was there before.

Doors and the panels beside them

Any glazing in a door, and any pane close enough to a door that somebody could walk into it, has to be toughened or laminated. This catches a lot of older homes, where sidelights and back door panels are still plain annealed glass because they predate the rule.

Bathrooms and wet areas

Wet areas are a safety position because floors are slippery and people are unsteady. That includes the obscure glass in a bathroom window, which surprises people when a simple pattern match turns into a toughened order.

Low level and large panes

Glazing with its bottom edge close to the floor, and panes over a certain area, both need safety glass. Balustrades and anything overhead go further again and need laminated rather than toughened, because failure means glass falling on somebody.

How fast glass moves in Wellington

Turnaround is the question we get asked first, and the honest answer depends entirely on the type.

Common sizes in annealed glass are usually measured and glazed within 24 to 48 hours, because it is cut from stock. Toughened, laminated and sealed units are manufactured to the finished size, so allow several days to a week. Where the opening cannot be left, and in the central city and the hill suburbs that is most of the after hours work, we board or temporarily glaze on the first visit and measure at the same time so nothing waits on a second trip.

Glass Repair at a glance

Standard single pane

About $250 to $600 supplied and installed

Large single pane

About $600 to $1,200

Failed sealed unit

About $350 to $800, up to $1,200 oversized

Glass types

Annealed, toughened, laminated, obscure, low iron, Low E, acoustic

Standard

NZS 4223 Grade A safety glazing where required

Turnaround

24 to 48 hours for common annealed sizes, several days made to order

Emergency

Boarded or temporarily glazed same day