Window problems in Las Vegas homes

Fog or a milky film between the panes

What you can check

Wipe the room-side surface, then the outside if you can reach it safely from the ground. If the haze stays in the gap, it is not dirt on a surface you can clean.

What it often means

An insulated window is two panes with a spacer and a seal. When that seal opens, moist air gets in. The drying material in the spacer can only hold so much, so the pane looks cloudy, streaked, or beaded.

What does not fix it

Glass cleaner, vinegar, or a razor. Those never reach the gap. Drilling the pane to “vent” it is a hack that leaves a failed unit in the frame.

What people ask a company to do

Replace the insulated glass unit in the existing frame when the frame is square and the sash still moves and locks. If the frame is bent, soft, or the sash is falling, glass-only replacement may be the wrong job. More on insulated units.

Cracked or shattered glass

Safety first

Keep people and pets out of the area and wear shoes. Do not handle large pieces with bare hands. Do not stand under a pane and push the rest of it out. If someone is seriously hurt, contact emergency services. This site cannot send a repair crew.

What the break looks like

A single line is often ordinary annealed glass. A pane that drops into small cubes is often tempered safety glass. A small etched mark in a corner is the usual label for safety glass. If you see that mark, the replacement needs to be safety glass too. A company can confirm it. This page cannot.

What to leave alone

Do not tape a missing pane and treat a door or a low opening as secure. Do not climb a ladder against a sun-hot frame in the middle of a summer afternoon.

A sash that sticks, sags, or will not lock

Sliding windows

Dust in the track is common. With the window closed, you can brush loose grit out of the track you can already reach. If it still will not slide, stop. Forcing a sash can crack the glass or rack the frame. Rollers and a bent track are a repair, not a harder shove.

Hung windows

A sash that drops when you let go often has a failed balance, the spring or spiral that carries the weight. That is a hardware job. It is not solved by new glass.

The lock

If the latch does not meet the keeper, the window may not be closed against the weatherstrip. Note whether the sash sits crooked. Hardware work covers balances, rollers, and locks.

Drafts at the sash

A draft at the meeting rail or along the sash is often worn weatherstrip or a lock that does not pull the sash in. Close the window on a strip of paper and tug. If the paper pulls free with no drag, the contact is weak. That check is a clue, not a measurement a bid can rest on.

A draft between the frame and the wall is a different gap. Caulk on the indoor trim does not rebuild the joint behind the frame. Say which gap you feel when you talk to a company.

Water at the sill

Water on the inside during rain can be the window, the head flashing, or the wall above it. A window company may not be the right trade if the first drip comes from above the frame.

On many vinyl and aluminum sliders, small weep slots sit at the outside bottom of the track. Packed dust can leave water sitting in the track until it spills inward. You can look for those slots and brush dust out. Do not drill new holes. If you do not see slots, do not make any.

Write down where the water appears first: in the track, under the sill, or from the top of the opening.

Torn or loose screens

A screen keeps insects out. It does not seal the house, and it is not a barrier for a child or a pet. A tear is usually a rescreen. A frame that falls out is often a loose spline or a bent screen frame. Screen work is separate from glass repair.

Frames that are chalking, bent, or soft

What to look at

Vinyl can crack or chalk. Aluminum can pit. Wood that gives under a fingernail at the sill is soft. Paint over soft wood does not put the strength back.

Why it matters

New glass has to sit in a frame that is still square and solid. If the frame is the failed part, replacing only the glass leaves the same opening. Frame work is the matching section.