A brick through the front window at midnight. A football through the patio door on a Sunday morning. A shop door put through in the small hours. Glass never breaks at a convenient time, and when it goes you need three answers fast. Who do you call? How quickly will they come? And what's it going to cost?
We answer that phone 24/7, 365 days a year, so here's how emergency glazing across Greater Manchester really works.
First, make the area safe
- Keep children and pets well back. Glass fragments travel further than you'd think.
- Leave loose shards in the frame alone; they're often under tension and can drop without warning.
- If a crime caused the damage, call the police for a crime reference number before anything gets moved. Your insurer will want it.
- Photograph everything from several angles before any clean-up: the damage, the room, whatever came through the window.
- Put shoes on, and only sweep what's clearly loose on the floor.
What an emergency glazier does on the night
The night-time job usually runs in two stages. Stage one is the make-safe. Dangerous glass comes out, the opening gets boarded or temporarily glazed, and the property is secured so you can sleep. Stage two is the permanent reglaze, fitting the new glass or sealed unit, which for made-to-measure double glazing typically follows within a few days once the unit has been manufactured.
Single glazing and standard toughened panes can often go in on the first visit. Double-glazed sealed units have to be made to size, and because we manufacture units in our own Trafford Park factory, our turnaround on permanent replacements is usually days rather than the weeks you'll wait when firms order glass from third parties.
Response times across Greater Manchester
From our Trafford Park base we typically reach anywhere in Greater Manchester. Manchester, Salford, Trafford, Stockport, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Wigan, within 30 to 60 minutes, day or night. You get a confirmed ETA when you call and a price before dispatch, so there are no 3am surprises. Cheshire and the wider North West are covered on confirmation. See all areas we cover.
What emergency glazing costs
| Job | Typical cost range (2026) |
|---|---|
| Emergency call-out + boarding up (make-safe) | £120-£250 |
| Single-glazed pane replacement | £100-£220 |
| Double-glazed sealed unit replacement | £150-£400 |
| Toughened safety glass (doors, low panels) | £180-£450 |
| Shopfront glass (toughened/laminated) | £400-£1,500+ |
Prices move with glass size, type and access, and night or holiday call-outs sit at the upper end. When you're comparing, watch out for two extremes. Rock-bottom quotes that balloon on arrival, and national call-centre firms who subcontract the job locally and add a mark-up. A local firm quoting a fixed price from a photo is the reliable middle ground.
Will insurance cover it?
Usually, yes. Glass broken in break-ins, vandalism, storms and accidents is covered by most buildings policies, and by commercial policies for shopfronts. We work with insurance claims all the time, so you get itemised invoices, photographic evidence, and boarding-up documented as emergency mitigation, which insurers expect you to arrange. If a burglary is involved, our boarding-up and emergency locksmith teams sort the door locks and the opening in one visit.
Business premises: minimise the lost trade
For shops, cafés and offices, the real cost of broken glass is the hours you can't trade and the stock sitting on display. That changes the priorities. Rapid boarding that still lets you open, laminated or toughened replacements that satisfy the insurer, and permanent glazing scheduled outside trading hours. We go deeper in our guide for business owners, and our commercial glazing team handles shopfronts, curtain walling and communal doors.
Choosing an emergency glazier at 2am, in 60 seconds
Broken glass puts you in a poor negotiating position, and a minority of operators trade on exactly that. Before you say yes on the phone, check five things.
- A fixed or clearly capped price quoted before dispatch, from a photo if possible. 'We'll price it when we get there' is how £150 jobs become £600 ones.
- A real local address and a landline, not just a mobile and a first name. National '24/7' call centres often pass the job to whoever answers, with a mark-up on top.
- Whether the same firm does the permanent reglaze, or just boards up and disappears. One accountable company beats two.
- Insurance-ready paperwork: itemised invoice, photos, and familiarity with claims where a crime is involved.
- A written guarantee on the permanent glass. Ours runs 10 years, because we made the unit ourselves.
One more tip from us. Save a local emergency glazier's number in your phone now, while nothing is broken. The 2am version of you will make a far better decision with a vetted number than with a search engine and a torch.
After the glass: stopping it happening again
Once the panic has passed, give prevention ten minutes. If the breakage was crime, consider laminated glass for the replacement, since it holds together under impact and defeats the smash-and-reach attack, and have the door cylinders upgraded to anti-snap on the same visit. If it was accidental, a mower stone or a slammed door, toughened safety glass in the vulnerable spot is cheap insurance. And if the window that broke was old and brittle anyway, treat the emergency as the survey you never booked. Reglazing a failing frame twice costs more than replacing it once.
Frequently asked questions
How fast can an emergency glazier get to me in Manchester?
From our Trafford Park base, typically 30-60 minutes anywhere in Greater Manchester, 24/7 including holidays. You'll have a confirmed ETA and a price before we set off.
How much does an emergency glazier cost in the UK?
Expect £120-£250 for a call-out with boarding up, and £100-£400+ for glass replacement depending on size and type. Get the price confirmed before dispatch. Reputable firms will quote from a photo.
Do I board up or replace the glass straight away?
At night, boarding is usually the sensible first step, because made-to-measure double glazing can't be manufactured at 2am. Single panes and stock sizes can often be glazed on the first visit.
Does home insurance cover a smashed window?
Most buildings policies cover glass broken by crime, storms or accident. Photograph the damage, get a crime reference if one applies, and keep the glazier's invoice. Boarding up counts as the 'reasonable steps' insurers require of you.
Can you replace just the glass in a double-glazed window?
Yes. If the frame is undamaged we replace only the sealed unit, manufactured at our own factory. Faster and far cheaper than a new window.
Can glass actually be replaced at night, or only boarded?
Both happen. Single glazing and common toughened sizes we carry can often be glazed on the night visit. Made-to-measure sealed units and specialist glass physically have to be manufactured first, so those openings get a secure board or temporary glazing straight away and the permanent glass within days. We book the return visit before we leave.
Broken glass right now?
Call our 24/7 line and we'll be with you within 30-60 minutes anywhere in Greater Manchester. Price agreed before we set off, with boarding and the permanent reglaze handled by one local team.
Call 07533 830717, WhatsApp us a photo for a fast quote, or request a free quote online.