A cracked or broken window can pose a serious threat to your home. A broken window is not only dangerous for you or your family. It can leave your home or business vulnerable to burglars. But in the “age of DIY” there is a lot of dangerous advice out there. This advice could not only leave you with a far larger issue, at best. At worst, you could be injured – or leave a loved one injured. The team at Big Kev’s Glass discuss the biggest myths of home glass repair and why you need a professional!
1: Nail Polish Window Glass Repair
Yes, we think this sounds crazy, too! But there are actual advice columns suggesting you can fix holes in your window with nail polish! Advice columns generally suggest that you dab layers of mail polish on until you fill up the hole. While this might make the hole invisible, cosmetically, it is not an appropriate structural fix for your glass. Nail polish is not as structurally powerful as resin, which is used in window repair. As a result, this little hole could very likely crack and cause a far bigger issue – including damaging the pane so much that the entire window needs replacing.
2: Removing Broken Glass – The Towel Method
There is a lot of advice out there on how to remove broken glass from a window – and some people even remember to recommend you make sure you wear protective eye wear when doing it! However, most of the methods suggested are extremely risky when not undertaken by a professional. One method is placing a towel over the remains of a broken window and using a hammer to break these pieces off.
While this is meant to stop the glass shattering but it can still leave behind little splinters of glass. This can be difficult to remove from your towel and could end up mingling with other items of clothing – or other towels – causing issues for your health. No one wants to end up with a splinter of glass in their eye after a shower!
3: “Repairing” Wooden frames with Caulk or Epoxy
Sometimes the issue you are experiencing is not necessarily the glass but the window frame itself. In many cases, our home windows are framed in wood. When exposed to the elements, wood can expand, splinter and rot – especially if it is not well maintained. Many DIY articles suggest that it’s easy to fix these problems at home, citing that wooden frames an be repaired with a little epoxy or caulk. It is apparently the “smarter and less expensive” way of dealing with broken windows. They suggest filling gaps caused by breaks, splinters or rot with caulk or epoxy. Unfortunately, this isn’t a great solution if the wood is too splintered or rotten. It can result in fixing the cosmetic look of the window while the rot continues. In unskilled hands, epoxy and caulk may repair a splinter in the wood but will leave you with an unsightly cosmetic look.
Epoxy Health Risks
Further, epoxy is known to give off toxic fumes. These fumes can overcome you quite quickly while applying the epoxy or waiting for it to dry. If you inhale epoxy fumes, even for a short amount of time, they can be dangerous. Early signs of epoxy fume poisoning can be drowsiness, nausea, and vomiting. Longer exposure can result in asthmatic attacks, and inflammation in the lungs – both of which can lead to death. While DIY articles say that repairing your wooden window frames saves you from getting cheap replacements that won’t match your home – or last as long – hiring a professional means that they will replace your window so does last longer and fits with your home. Risking your life over the chance of the “wrong wood” for a window is frankly silly.
4: Glass Repair Kits
Many DIY stores and articles recommend glass repair kits. These kits supposedly give you all the tools you need to repair chips and cracks without the help of a licensed professional. However, in inexperienced hands, these kits can lead to worsened cracks or broken glass and, at worst, injury to you. The bridges required to help you fix the glass need a large amount of force to properly set them in place. Not knowing how to apply this force correctly can lead to glass breaking and injury.
Cleaning Broken Glass is Dangerous
Further, cleaning the broken or cracked area that needs repairing requires thick gloves and cleaning cloths that many of us don’t have at home. Without them, you can also injure yourself. Finally, after applying the resin and allowing it to set, these kits require you to today up the resin yourself, which often requires a razor blade – or similar – to tidy up excess resin. There is always an inherent health and safety danger when it comes to sharp cutting implements.
Contact Professional Glass Repairers Today!
Glass repair and replacement is always better left to experts. These skilled technicians are trained and licensed to replace and repair glass safely to ensure the safety of you and your family. Contact the team at Big Kev’s Glass if you need your glass repaired or replaced, today! We are available 14/7 for all your emergency needs!