Hail is hard on glass. A single storm can chip, crack or shatter a window, and the damage is not always obvious, a pane that still looks intact can have a cracked outer layer or a broken seal that will fog up and fail weeks later. Acting promptly keeps a manageable repair from turning into water damage, a failed sealed unit, or a security problem. Here is how to check what the hail actually did, make the opening safe in the meantime, and decide between repairing and replacing the glass.
First, assess the damage, including what you cannot see
Start with the obvious: cracks, chips, shattered panes, and any dents or splitting in the frame or sash. Then look for the quieter damage that hail causes. A sealed double-pane unit can take a strike that cracks only the outer pane or breaks the edge seal, and from across the room it can look fine. That unit will lose its insulating gas and start to fog between the panes later, the same failed-seal problem that shows up as a cloudy window. Check for fresh condensation between the panes and for water stains on the sill or wall, which point to a breached seal. Photograph everything, from a few angles and up close, before you touch anything.
Make the opening safe and weathertight
If glass is broken, safety comes first. Keep people and pets away from the area, wear gloves and sturdy shoes, and do not pull large shards out by hand. For a broken or missing pane, cover the opening with plywood or heavy plastic sheeting, secured firmly around the frame to keep out rain and intruders until it can be fixed. For a pane that is cracked but still in place, a layer of tape across the glass helps hold the pieces if it lets go. Treat all of this as temporary; it protects the building, but it is not a repair, and a covered opening should be dealt with quickly before wind and rain work at it.
Repair or replace the glass?
One point clears up a common assumption: a cracked flat window pane is not repaired the way a windshield chip is. A windshield is laminated glass, and a small chip can be filled with resin; a cracked residential window pane is replaced. What you can often keep is the frame. If the frame and sash are sound, the glass, or the sealed unit inside the frame, can be replaced on its own, which costs far less than a whole new window. A shattered pane, a broken seal, or a frame that is dented, split or knocked out of square points toward replacing the unit or the window. A glass technician can tell quickly which case you are in.
Choosing replacement glass, and a more hail-resistant option
When you do replace, the features that matter for performance are a Low-E coating, an argon fill and a warm-edge spacer in a double or triple-pane unit. Look for the ENERGY STAR rating, administered in Canada by Natural Resources Canada, and check that a lower U-factor and a higher Energy Rating mean better insulation for our winters. For glass that stands up better to the next storm, ask about laminated safety glass, which has a tough interlayer that holds the glass together when it breaks, much like a windshield, and about impact-rated glazing on the most exposed elevations. It is the part of residential window work worth getting right while the wall is already open.
A note on insurance
Hail damage is often an insurance matter, so a few practical steps help. Document the damage with dated photos, report the storm to your insurer promptly, and keep receipts for any temporary repairs, since some policies reimburse them. It is worth knowing whether your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value, and what your deductible is, before work begins. We are a glass company, not insurance advisors, so confirm the details of coverage with your insurer or broker; what we can do is provide the assessment, documentation and quote they will ask for.
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Windows hit by hail? Request a free quote for an inspection and the documentation your insurer will want. The team handles residential glass and window replacement across Alberta. Call 310-GLAS (4527), text 780-652-1296, or book online.