Replacing the Glass in an Existing Door — Inside & Out
Is your door sound but its glass broken, misted or simply dated? There is no reason at all to replace the whole door. Vitralux takes the old glass out and fits new glass, made to measure, into the existing frame — external entrance doors and internal doors alike, anywhere in Luxembourg.
Keep the door, change the glass
Replacing the glass in an existing door is one of the most common jobs our workshop takes on. In the vast majority of cases what is damaged or out of date is not the door but only its glass: the frame, the hinges and the lock are perfectly good for years to come.
We take the exact size of the rebate, make the glass in our Howald workshop, then fit it with new beads and new seals. The door gets its weathertightness, its performance and its original look back — or a completely new look, if you take the chance to change the type of glass.
The job applies to external entrance doors and internal doors alike, on frames in timber, aluminium, PVC or steel, and on all-glass doors as well.
Two settings, two sets of demands on the glass
A front door out in the weather and a corridor door do not call for the same glass. Here is what actually changes.
Outside — the entrance door
A house front door, a block entrance door, a shop door or a service door: external glazing has to be replaced with glass of the same thermal performance and the same safety class as the original.
- Double or triple insulating unit remade to the exact size of the frame
- Laminated safety glass for doors reachable from the street
- New seals and beads — water and air tightness restored
- Immediate temporary boarding-up if the glass has been broken
Inside — a room door
A corridor, office, bathroom or kitchen door: this is also the moment to change the type of glass — from dated patterned glass to a contemporary Satinato, or from single glass to laminated safety glass.
- Clear glass, sandblasted Satinato, patterned, Parsol tinted or decorative laminated
- Old patterned glass matched where the design is still made
- Laminated glass recommended for children's bedroom doors
- Done on site in a single visit in most cases
When does the glass in a door need replacing?
Broken glass
A pane broken by an impact, an attempted break-in or a gust of wind. We make the opening safe straight away, then replace the glass like for like.
Misted double glazing
Condensation shows permanently between the two panes: the perimeter seal of the unit has failed. Only replacing the insulating unit solves it — the frame is kept.
Dated glass
Patterned glass from the seventies, wired glass or opaque glazing you can no longer live with: the frame stays, the glass changes. It is the cheapest way to bring a door up to date.
Making the door safer
Going from single glass to laminated or toughened glass, for a child's door, a public building or a door at the top of a stairway.
From measuring up to fitting, in three steps
Measuring up
Our technicians take the exact size of the rebate on site, along with the thickness of the existing glass and the way it is held in (beads, putty, seals). Where the door can be taken off, it can also be brought straight to our Howald workshop.
Made in the workshop
The new glass is cut, worked and — where needed — toughened, laminated or made up into an insulating unit in our Luxembourg workshop. Any holes for a handle or a lock are drilled before toughening.
Fitting and finishing
The broken or unwanted glass comes out, the rebate is cleaned, and the new glass goes in on setting blocks with new beads and seals. The door is put back into service and its adjustment checked before we leave.
Door glass broken? The opening is made safe first
When glass is broken, the first priority is to close the opening again. Our teams attend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to board the door up, and we then schedule the permanent glass replacement.
Door glass replacement — specifications
| Principle | The frame, the hinges and the lock are kept — only the glass is replaced |
|---|---|
| Settings | External entrance door · Block entrance door · Internal door · Shop door |
| Frame materials | Timber · Aluminium · PVC · Steel · All-glass door |
| Glass available | Clear · Sandblasted Satinato · Patterned · Parsol tinted · Laminated safety glass · Double and triple insulating units |
| Safety | Toughened or laminated glass depending on the use and how reachable the door is |
| Measuring up | On site by our technicians, or the door brought off its hinges to the Howald workshop |
| Manufacture | Vitralux workshop in Howald — cutting, edge working, toughening, laminating, insulating units |
| Emergencies | Temporary boarding-up 24 hours a day, then permanent replacement — (+352) 621 817 650 |
| Area covered | The whole of Luxembourg |
Your questions about door glass replacement
Yes, and it is almost always the cheaper answer. As long as the frame, the hinges and the lock are in good order, there is no reason to replace the whole door: only the glass comes out and goes back in. Vitralux works on doors in timber, aluminium, PVC and steel, as well as on all-glass doors.
Once we have measured up, allow anything from a few days to two weeks depending on the glass: clear glass or a standard Satinato is quick, while an insulating unit or a made-to-measure laminate takes longer to produce. The fitting itself usually takes less than an hour. If the glass has been broken, the opening is boarded up on our first visit, so you are never left with an open door.
No. Permanent condensation between the two panes means the perimeter seal of the insulating unit has failed — the door frame is not at fault. We make a new insulating unit to the exact size and fit it into the existing door, with new beads and seals.
Often, yes. Many classic patterned glasses are still made and we can order them. For older designs no longer in production, we offer the closest equivalent among the patterned and sandblasted glasses available, with samples to compare in our Howald showroom.
For doors, common sense — and professional practice — says use safety glass: toughened or laminated. Laminated glass is particularly recommended on entrance doors (it stays in place after an impact, which slows a break-in down) and on internal doors children can reach. We advise on the right specification for each situation when we measure up.
The glass in your door, remade to measure in Luxembourg
Send us a photograph of the door and its glass, or ask for a free survey: we will tell you straight away what can be kept and what has to be replaced.
Also worth a look: Glass repair · Emergency call-outs · Stained glass restoration