Glass can be changed on pretty much all sash windows. It can be difficult on some sash but can be done. Did you call a Kolbe dealer or a distributor? A local dealer would be the better choice. The cost of having the glass replaced may even be close to the cost to order a new sash. If the window is a double hung they are fairly easy to replace the sash on.

Several years ago, my aunt and uncle had a partridge fly through their new bay window. (Partridge ended up dead on the floor), and they couldnt get just the glass replaced either, they had to have the entire window replaced. Window was only about a yr old.

Usually the sash (the unit that holds the glass) is replaced on wood windows and doors. Once you take into account the time to replace the glass versus the cost of a new sash, it is a wash and that assumes all goes well with the re-glazing (that is often not the case).

If you must re-glaze, order new wood stops and glass in case the stops break in the process of removal.

Thanks, this is helpful. It never occurred to me that just the sash, upper part of the window could be replaced. I was thinking either just glass or the whole window. I'll have my handyman look into that option (he replaced all the windows originally for me). Thanks again!

You can order a new insulated glass unit and new wood 'glass bead' from Kolbe. It should come cut to length & already mitered and ready to be installed...but ask, to be sure. Or you can order a new unit and purchase 'glass bead' from a big box or local lumber yard and make the cuts yourself.

The problem is that windows are the biggest killers of birds. Design protection into the window systems.

I don’t think a bird flew through the window. At first I thought that until 3 more exterior glass shattered. Have you had other breakage?

It began with one and over 3-4 years more have shattered.

Yikes! No other problems. It is the smallest window in the house, a double hung. The majority are picture or casement, although I have 3 other double hung in a larger size in 2 bedrooms. I didn't take a picture of it but the way it was broken looked like something hit it, as it radiated out from a circle hole. Most of the glass stayed in place. Did only the outer panes in yours break? Mine have been installed for at least 20 years - I can't recall exactly when I had them redone. How long have yours been in? Are they from new construction or replacement windows? Mine were replacements for aluminum original windows.
eta: Oh, and I finally, just this year, had a glass company come and replace the broken glass. It cost over $600 for an 18" x 14" replacement pane!

christinecj,

Your first and last pictures have all the characteristics of an impact break, but can't really see much on the middle one because the foliage is in the way.

Did you ever get any sort of resolution on those?

Looks, but isn’t. Confirmed problem by Kolbe distributor. We were within one month of prorated warranty. Replacement process is hard because all the windows molding parts have to come down just to measure even with printed window numbers stamped on each. Owner bears burden and expense on lifetime windows.

Well, hopefully, people who are researching windows to install will find this thread and it will steer them away from Kolbe windows.

We have had two panes of glass shatter in the same way. They look like impact breakage. They are double glazed argon filled windows and only one of the panes breaks. The first window that had breakage had the pane break from the interior. We couldn’t figure out what happened. We thought (however unlikely) that our dog somehow hit it. The second window had breakage on the exterior.

I read that argon filled windows will sometimes implode. Green Building Advisor had an article about it in November 2018.

In our case we had to replace four FAULTY Kolbe windows - or rather the glass. STORY - for a brief time around 2000 Kolbe made, sold, and came to realize that six months of windows were DEFECTIVE. Rather than work to find homeowners who had bought these “high end” windows Kolbe buried the facts and fought a class action suit of homeowners who charged that their windows were faulty.

AND YOU CAN’T REPLACE THEM because the problem was incorrect sizing and the corrections don’t fit - believe me. The bast bet and lease expensive is to locate your local glass supplier, have them measure the glass, and replace it.

The window, pictured above, appears to be from impact based on the origination of the breakage. @oberon476 can probably comment here. Doesn't appear to be a negative pressurization break to me, but he knows far better than I.

I agree that the window pictured appears to have an impact break, but unfortunately there's no way to even give a good guess on a picture like that...just not clear enough to get a really good look.

That's why I asked what the window company gave for a reason for the breakage.

I am also curious about the article on glass breakage at GBA. I am curious who wrote it and what they had to say. Also curious if I read it in the past and commented....

I found the GBA article and while it was really interesting (I read it a couple times), it was not exactly a primer on why IGU's can potentially implode. Also the units referenced in the specific situation presented in the GBA article were quad pane heat mirror IGU's with krypton fill, so not exactly applicable to dual pane argon filled units, but very interesting read nonetheless.

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/curious-case-imploding-windows

While I definitely would have commented about the article and the comments had I seen it when it was new (I had to force myself to leave it alone!), I would suggest that the THS thread I posted below, although crazy long, is a much better primer on the potential for IGU's collapsing and/or imploding than was the GBA article.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2629481/andersen-glass-failure-due-to-negative-pressure#n=129

Although this sounds deceptively obvious, glass breaks for a reason and sometimes the reason is clear (baseball or rock, and yes pun intended, sorry) and sometimes less so (pressure changes, thermal), but in all cases the glass is going to tell you why it broke if you listen to what it's saying.

I’ve had the same issue happen twice now, with the second one just a couple of days ago. In both cases it was the outer pane and the glass seemed to have exploded out with no indication of having been struck as nothing was on the patio below. Fortunately I had a replacement sash for the first one, but no such luck for the current one. Trying to figure out how to handle it.

It should be an easy fix by swapping out the IG unit, but have you contacted the window company and asked for an explanation?

Any pictures?

I had Kolbe windows installed in 2009, including a number of small fixed panes (approx 15"x20" glass). No problems until last year when one of the fixed panes broke, now three more in the last three months. They all break the same - outside panes shattered. The broken windows are on different levels and different sides of my house, and too high to be rocks, baseballs or trees. Also hard to believe it's birds since I didn't have a single problem for 12 years, now four in one year. My builder has been able to remove the trim and molding and replace the glass but this is getting ridiculous. And Kolbe Customer Service doesn't exist. I've tried to reach them on other questions over the past ten years - they NEVER respond to calls or email inquiries.

I agree about customer service. I was finally able to get a glass company to replace the pane, but your story makes me nervous about the 32 other windows in my house.