How to remove the glass from the frame

Sometimes there are situations in life when you are faced with a very very unusual problem, for example, how to remove a glass unit from a frame. And unfortunately, you will not have any special tools at hand, so you will have to use the available tools to cope with the task.

But first, you need to understand how the glass pack is held in the window frame. As when fixing the glass in the old wooden frames, the glass packet is held with the help of beadings. They are also made of PVC and beadings are inserted into the frame in the plane of the glass, and not perpendicular to it, as it may seem at first glance. Pay attention to this point, because otherwise when you remove them you will damage the window and have to be changed.

Extract the glass unit

Extract the glass unit with an ax

1. First find at home an ordinary ax. It should not be too sharp, but at the same time you could insert it into a small slot. The cutting edge of the ax should be as flat as possible (not semicircular).
2. Put an ax handle to the vertical seam between the frame and the glazing bead holding the glazing unit. Take care not to damage the frame and leave unnecessary scratches on it with an ax. Try to press immediately on the whole point of the ax so that, once in the right place, it can move the glazing bead from the frame by at least 1 millimeter.
3. Gently turning the handle of the ax, click the bead off the frame. This action is repeated throughout the length of the bead.
4. Then, with your hands, remove the bead from the frame, pulling it out not towards yourself, but moving in the plane of the glass.
5. Then repeat the whole procedure with the lower horizontal bead. Remember that all beadings snap into place very tightly, so act with an ax very carefully. Calculate your efforts applied to the ax, so as not to damage the glazing and bead.
6. Next, remove the vertical bead and then the top horizontal. It is not recommended to change the sequence of extraction of beadings, as the glass unit can simply fall out ahead of time. When removing the top bead, be sure to hold the glass with your hand.
7. Pick up the upper edge of the glass unit with your fingers and tilt it slightly onto yourself.
8. Move your hands so that you take the glass packet by its side vertical sides, and gently pull it out of the frame. Since it is already easy to remove the glass unit from the frame, be careful and always support it with your hand, otherwise it will fall out and break itself.

Removing with improvised tools

If the glass unit has a large area, remove it should only be done with a partner whose task will be to insure the glass unit from falling while you remove the beadings.

Similar tool

Removing the bead with a spatula

You can remove the glass unit using another similar tool - a wide durable spatula or a chisel with a rubber hammer. However, if your frames are made of hard plastic, only the special tool “window workers” or the ax can cope with the task (we spoke about it earlier).

Why remove double-glazed window

Why remove double-glazed window

The most common reason for removing a double-glazed window it becomes damaged. And although at first glance it seems that such double glass is very durable, in fact, the glass unit is quite fragile. In addition to external damage to the glass (that is, when it is broken by an object, throwing it into it), there may also be internal damage, when it ceases to be airtight, freezes or fogs up.

The second reason for removing a glass unit is that it simply cannot cope with its function of keeping cold (or hot) air, as well as street noise outside the room.

If one glass is damaged in a glass unit, then the entire glass unit is usually replaced. The only exceptions are situations when the whole glass in a glass unit is unique, for example, it has a stained-glass painting that you would not like to lose. In this case, the extracted glass unit should be taken to the appropriate workshop, where only damaged glass will be replaced.

Wooden window

Replacing the glazing in a wooden window

If the glazing to be removed located in a wooden window, then you need to know that under the beadings it is additionally retained with the help of silicone. Therefore, removing the beadings, silicone, you have to carefully cut off, holding the glass from falling (for this, it is better to bring an assistant to work).

Beadings in this case will also be made of wood, like the main frame of the window, so you should remove them carefully, taking care not to damage them. They are attached to the frame with special pins, which are quite difficult to remove without special tools.

So if you have the opportunity to entrust the work of extracting the glass from the wooden window to the professionals, it is better to do it and do not risk damaging your window.

Video

How to remove a glass unit with an ax, see below: