Has anyone replaced their home window glass themselves?

[haknslash]

So after doing a little bit of research for this white cloudy look in our homes windows it seems this is known as a seal failure. Has anyone repacked the glass themselves or is this for sure a complete window replacement? We aren’t trying to live in this garden home forever and I’m trying to keep repairs to a minimum (financially). Is there some sort of window repair kit you buy and get glass from a local glass company or what? If I do have to have completely new windows installed what is an average cost for that? I know the size of glass would play a role but just looking for ballpark figures or if this is somehow a DIY project I could tackle.

Example of one of our windows in my bedroom. This season it seems half of our windows around our house had this form on them. Home is 19 years old.

 

[Gunner]

Good question I'm starting to have same issue, but small mold spots between the panes. Selling the house in 2 years and not replacing windows. Awaiting for the collective wisdom of the group to kick in. Of course the biggest window in the house has them and right at eye level.

 

[jdkaeser]

My uncle did this for a while as a side business while he was retired. I believe he said most of them have a barcode sticker on the frame of the window sashes. I've seen them on mine. Usually has manufacturer and part number on it. He would just copy that stuff down and call them. They would just make up new ones based off the info and ship them to him and he would pop them in. All manufacturers are different but most use that kind of system to track parts going through the manufacturing process for quality and cost control. A lot easier than replacing the whole window unit unless your upgrading all of the windows in the entire house. That being a bottom sash it would be super easy to swap with a replacement sash.

 

[haknslash]

Yea it’s quite the eye sore. I really wished we could just sell this home and move to a lake home but school districts suck in those rural areas. We have been doing upgrades pretty much since we have been here to repair all of the shorty work that comes with a cookie cutter garden home neighborhood. So far I have entirely remodeled one of the bathrooms, replaced the roof last year, updates the kitchen appliances this year and we are goin got paint and replace carpet prior to listing the home. I just know these cloudy windows will not help on the sale and must be corrected. I don’t know a thing about windows but I also didn’t know how to remodel a bathroom either lol. Maybe it’s too big of a job to do myself without experience but would love to hear from others.

Some additional pics ...

 

[jdkaeser]

my sticker is located on the side of the sash.

 

[haknslash]

I just removed one of mine and no sticker . Hopefully it is on it's twin next to it.

 

[IHawks]

I used to work for a large window manufacturer for a long time. What you are seeing is condensation in between your glass. It happens when the seal holding the two pieces of glass together fails and allows moisture to infiltrate. Depending on your geography some glass is filled with argon gas that serves as an additional insulator between the two panes. Judging by your pictures you live in the south, so I am guessing you don’t have argon filled windows. Must window manufacturers warranty is 10 years on glass failure. You need to find out the manufacturer of your windows and call them. They will be able to provide a window repair company that can fix it. This is not a DIY project and in some cases it will be cheaper to replace the entire window-meaning the frame and sash. At almost 20 years old I would replace the entire window. Windows, like most things are, you get what you pay for.

 

[Julian]

We had exactly the same issue in our last house. Did just was @IHawks said and contacted the manufacturer and discovered the windows were still under warranty. They shipped new glass and I replaced a few this way until the warranty expired. Then I discovered that ordering replacement glass wasn't cheap, so we put in new drop in vinyl replacement windows, which were better insulated and tilted in easily and looked way better.

 

[scokill]

We had a couple replaced under warranty. They replaced the glass with another double pane assembly. The guy used a torch around the edge to loosen/melt the adhesive, cleaned it up, and the put new adhesive and then placed the glass. Of course he made it look easy.

 

[haknslash]

How do I remove the upper windows? I don't see a release latch like on the lower window that slides open?

 

[IHawks]

It looks like you have single hung windows. Meaning only the bottom of the window operates up and down. In order to remove the upper pain you need to remove part of the frame either on the interior or exterior of the window to gain access to the parts holding it in place. It’s actually hard for me to say for sure not knowing the window manufacturer.

 

[Bluewater272]

Definitely a seal failure. We had this issue at the condo we rent out, and I'm really not inclined to replace the windows in it - called a local glass guy and he was able to change out the glass and replace the seals for about $150/window.

 

[Dixie Highway]

Unfortunately we have 2 windows doing this, one is the dumb patio sliding door that’s a fortune to replace.