Metro Vancouver
How foggy windows actually fail, when to keep the frame, where BC wants safety glass, and what to do when a pane goes at night. Written for homes, shops, and strata — not a brochure.
01
Moisture you cannot wipe is a failed sealed unit, not dirty glass. In Metro Vancouver the usual fix is a matching IGU in the frame you already have.
02
Keep the frame when it is sound. Replace the whole window when the sash, sill, or hardware is finished. Here is how to tell which job you have.
03
Doors, showers, guards, and glass near floors and stairs are not picture glass. Tempered or laminated — confirmed against the current BC Building Code.
04
Survey, phase to the budget, notice, glass, records. One contact. Paper that survives an AGM — not a stack of invoices after the fact.
05
Keep people back, do not pull glass, photograph it, call if it is a break-in, then board-up. Permanent glass comes when it is made.
06
Templated after the tile. 10 mm or 12 mm tempered. Hardware decides whether water stays in. Frameless is not always the better enclosure.
07
Most foggy-window IGU swaps do not count as a “window replacement” rebate. Programs change. Check Better Homes BC and the City before you assume.
08
Width, height, and thickness of the unit — not just the visible glass. A photo of the spacer and a tape on the pane is enough to start a quote.
Most glass repair jobs — foggy sealed units, broken windows, shower glass, storefronts — can be quoted from a photograph and two measurements. Same-day pricing across Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.