Broken window at night: what to do

Whether it was a football, a storm, a break-in or a slammed door, a broken window at night puts you in the same position. There is glass where people walk, an opening in the house, and no glazier open until the morning. Except that we are. This is how we suggest you handle the first hour.

Keep people and pets away from the glass

Broken window glass is sharper than it looks, and the pieces still in the frame are the dangerous ones. Keep children and pets out of the room and close the door. Put shoes on before you go anywhere near it. Do not try to pull remaining shards out of the frame; they come away unpredictably and can cut deeply.

If anyone has been cut and the bleeding does not stop with pressure, treat that as the priority and call 999 or go to A&E. The window can wait.

Clear the floor, not the frame

Sweep or vacuum the loose glass on the floor, working from the outside of the spread inwards, and wrap it in newspaper before it goes in the bin. Check soft furnishings, as small fragments travel further than you expect. Leave the glass that is still in the frame for us; removing it safely needs gloves, eye protection and the right technique.

Make the opening safe for the night

If the window is at ground level or otherwise reachable from outside, the opening is now a security issue. Taping cardboard or a bin bag across it keeps the weather out but stops nobody. For a small opening, closing the internal door and locking it, if it locks, buys some peace of mind. For a larger one, or any window where a person could climb through, we would board it.

We offer emergency boarding up at any hour. A board fitted properly from the outside, screwed to the frame, makes the house secure until the glass can be replaced. If the glass can be replaced on the first visit, we do that instead.

Take photographs before anything is cleared

If you will be claiming on insurance, or if the police are involved, photograph the window from inside and outside before you sweep up, and again once it is boarded. Note the time. Insurers rarely dispute a boarding-up invoice, but they do like to see what it was for.

If the window was broken during a break-in, call the police on 101, or 999 if you think anyone is still nearby. Our guide to what to do after a break-in covers the security side, and Tom, our locksmith, can attend at the same time as the glazier.

What we do when we arrive

We remove the remaining glass from the frame safely and clear the immediate area. Then we assess the opening. Single-glazed windows in older sashes and doors can usually be reglazed on the spot; we carry standard float, toughened and laminated glass on the van. Double-glazed units have to be made to size, so the first visit is normally a board or a temporary single pane, with the new unit fitted a few days later.

We check the frame for damage while we are there. A window that was forced will often have bent hinges or a broken lock, and it is better to know that night than to discover it when the new glass arrives.

When you call the emergency line, tell us the size of the opening, whether it is single or double glazed, and whether it is reachable from the street.

Afterwards

Once the new glass is in, it is worth looking at why the window broke. A door that slams in a draught, a sash that drops, an old single pane in a busy hallway: these are all things we can put right so it does not happen again. Toughened or laminated glass in doors and low windows is a small cost that makes the next accident a chip rather than a shatter.