I always just buy a new unit. Last time I paid £85 including delivery and VAT for 450 x 1100 and £160 for 500 x 1800. It took about 30 mins to fit each. Unless someone values their time at next to nothing, or is very hard up or mean, it just doesn’t make sense to spend hours and hours on trying to refurb the unit. It’s never going to be up to factory standards and there’s a lot that can go wrong, including that it doesn’t work. And all the time you’re working on the window, you’ve got a big hole in the wall !

I've got two small windows to repair, i thought I'd have to buy new. Terrific video repairing mine in the next couple of days.

Fascinating, thanks! Really interesting to see how DG units are assembled. However, this definitely convinces me to always get a new replacement unit, this would finish me! Great job though, you've done. 🙂

Matey youve given a lot of people an option they didnt have before.....all these nay sayers should jog on....I recon the whole sealed unit industry is all smoke and mirrors....sealed, gas filled, argon this argon that, cut your hands, slice your fingers off etc etc ..ffs what a load of tosh....its 2 bits of glass stuck together with silicone....pure protectionisum of the industry....well done I say, Im going to do it as a seriously good diy-er, semi pro handyman etc util I saw this I thought it was beyond me because of vacum talk, fancy gas talk but going by the veiw out the window, this fix will be more than good enough for me...well done again

Kudos for doing this mate. I’m not sure if id have the time to do this, but a good option for those who do. I tend to just replace the whole pane, but there really should be a better/easier way.

Having made DG units myself on a DIY basis in the past I can say that by far the hardest job is cleaning the glass in the viewing area!!! Mortifying to notice smears, bits of debris and other imperfections on the inside surfaces while installing the finished unit into the frame.!!!

Absolutely brilliant better and cheaper than employing window people thank you looking forward to more quick cheap fix.

Thanks for this. Glaziers should offer a refurb service themselves but I guess selling a new window is more profitable. Capitalism rewards consumption and penalises conservation. Throwing away perfectly good glass just because the seal has gone is nuts.

Better quality windows wouldnt have bent spacers. They would instead have all cut spacers, all filled with desiccant and conected at each corner with those corner connectors. All in all very well done. Saved yourself alot of money. Here, near Tacoma Washington, a new twin glazed unit that size would be around $500.

Very interesting video.

Nice job man! Suggestions: use a single edge razor blade to clean the initial sealant residue off the glass. Seal the window as you showed; you can use the side of a spoon to get it even. A concave finish is ok and tends to work better. Let the sealant skim, and if you can wait, firm up. Then clean the excess off the glass with the razor. Then put your gaffers tape on after wiping the glass down with denatured alcohol or acetone. Again nice job getting it done!

Inject acitone between the silicone & metal frame. You will find the silicone just peels away. Agree you require to make edges & inside panes spotlessly clean. I also used white vinigar and baking soda, also glass cleaner. I clamped the pains together while filling outer edge with silicone. Moving one clamp where necessary to inject silicone. Note: do not over tighten clamp. Requires just enough to fix internal frame in position and hold glass faces in close contact while injecting silicone. Use old credit card or similar to smooth and spread silicone. Use good quality thick gaffa tape around edge to keep silicone in place.

I can appreciate what you took on as a challenge. But it does take a lot of time and patience and even luck to accomplish that task. Seems most windows these days come with life time warranties. So for older windows that don't have such a warranty, it could work out. But each person has to review the risk and possible problems when doing it. Could even go a step further and pull a low vacuum on the finished window before reinstalling in the opening, and than fill the inside with nitrogen to stop future moisture infiltrating again. Thumbs Up!

Thanks for the video. I've replaced numerous blown units over the years because they were relatively cheap (if you went to the right place) but now like everything prices have increased. Door units have to be toughened which doubles the price so I'm definitely going to give this a go on my french doors 👍 Any info on the longevity of this type of repair?

A replacement unit would cost about £32 and comes with a ten year guarantee, taking in two tubes of sealant you can save £27 doing this yourself if you have a whole day to spare. Cutting the glass open is extremely dangerous often leading to slashing your opposite arm holding the glass which is why glass companies not longer offer this service.

Hi, i wonder if you could help pls? I took this small first unit out of oir conservatory. Stripped it down, cleaned glass throughly and used clear mastic to seal before gaffa taping all around. I struggled to get all the beading back in, but it misted up AGAIN within hours! Where did i go wrong pls? Tks v much. John

Great video. I have to do about 80% of the windows in my house. I will probably buy new spacer bars and Desiccant as there is green fungus stuff coming from the existing. Can you recommend a supplier?

Uhm... i'm just wondering. Normal double glazing is filled with a gas and does not contain any normal air inside (this keeps it from fogging up or have water in it as air contains water particles and by removing the air and inserting a gas this is not possible). How to get this gas back in? Fogging up usually means the gas has escaped. Also having 2 panes of glass with air instead of a special gas between them does not make them isolate the cold from outside... as normal air just heats up and passes the cold to the inside panel. It's not as if you have 2 panels of glass it will isolate.

Just have a new panel made and save your whole day. This is way too much work to save a few quid

dont even tried this, way tooo much work ,time waste.Tried myself and failed. lucky me as found small glass company in Kent which supplied me with ready made glass unit, gave them measurement . .140cm x 90cm just for £70. Fitted myself in old aluminum frame. Other window people wanted £220 +vat for replacement, by them.

That’s not a considerable amount of moisture, I had a blown window that had 6 inches of water between the panes, it was the clearest part of the window😂

Please nobody try this. If you are competent enough to remove the beads, just measure for a new unit. The removal of the unit and checking the drain holes were good bits of advice 👍🏻 Everything else in the middle, dont bother, too much can go wrong like cracking the glass, bending the spacer bar or serious cuts.

Jesus just buy another unit

Please, don't even try this,this blokes nuts..

Takes 10 minutes to replace the unit with a new one, this messing around with an old unit isn't cost effective, it will be the same in a few months, I have replaced thousands of units, why bother with this