Broken and cracked glass replacement
Smashed, cracked or chipped panes measured, cut and fitted. Standard sizes in plain glass are usually back in within 24 to 48 hours. Toughened and laminated are made to order.
24 hour emergency calloutSame day board upDunedin wide
Window and Glass Repair Dunedin: Repairs, Replacement & New Window Installation
Window and Glass Repair Dunedin handles window repair, window replacement and window installation right across the city, for homes, student flats, rentals and commercial buildings. We replace broken and cracked glass, swap failed sealed units, restore timber sash and leadlight windows, repair aluminium joinery and hardware, retrofit double glazing into existing frames, and install new joinery to the R0.50 minimum that Dunedin's climate zone demands. Emergency board ups run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Get your free quote
Four quick questions. Most quotes come back the same day.
- Broken glass measured and fitted in 24 to 48 hours for common sizes
- Fogged sealed units replaced without touching your frames
- Toughened and laminated safety glass to NZS 4223
- Free measure and a fixed written price before anything starts
Why Dunedin calls us
Why we are #1 for Window Repairs and Window Installation in Dunedin
Six things that decide whether a repair lasts twenty years or comes back next winter.
Joinery specified to the R0.50 minimum
Dunedin sits in H1 climate zone 5, which carries the highest window requirement in the country. Plain aluminium does not reach it. If a quote you have been given says otherwise, we will show you why.
Repair quoted against replacement, every time
Most windows we are called to do not need replacing. Stays, rollers, rubbers and drainage account for the majority of faults. You get both numbers on the same quote.
24 hour emergency board up
Break in, storm damage or a smashed shopfront, we clear the glass, secure the opening and measure for permanent glass on the same visit.
Marine grade hardware near the water
From St Clair round to Brighton and up the harbour to Port Chalmers we fit 316 stainless as standard, because ordinary stays and catches pit within a few years in salt air.
Heritage joinery restored, not ripped out
This city holds the largest collection of Victorian and Edwardian buildings in the country. Original sashes and leadlights get repaired, because what is there cannot be bought again.
Damp diagnosed before glass is sold
On the southern flat the moisture is often coming up from the ground rather than condensing out of the air. We check that before quoting glass that would not fix it.
What we get called out for
Our most common window and glass repairs in Dunedin
Most of what fails on a window is not the glass. These are the calls we take most often.
Emergency window repair and board ups
A 24 hour callout for break ins, storm damage and smashed shopfronts. We clear the glass, board or temporarily glaze the opening, and measure at the same visit.
Fogged and misted sealed units
A permanent haze between the panes means the edge seal has failed. The unit is replaced, usually within a week, and your frame and sash stay exactly where they are.
Window hardware, stays and locks
Friction stays, hinges, handles, catches and restrictors. A sash that will not stay open or no longer locks is almost always hardware rather than the window itself.
Timber sash and villa window repair
Snapped sash cords, painted shut sashes, rotten sills and perished putty on villa and cottage joinery. Repaired in place or on the bench, keeping the original glass.
Ranch slider and sliding window repair
Doors and sashes that stick, grind, jump the track or will not latch. Rollers, tracks, guides and locks, usually sorted in a single visit.
Large pane and picture window glass
Big fixed panes, slider panels and picture windows, handled with suction gear and specified for load rather than for the size of the opening alone.
Aluminium joinery repair
Re rubbering, corroded corner joints, chalking powder coat and blocked drainage slots on aluminium frames from the 1960s onward.
Window repair
Our Window Repair Services in Dunedin
Most of what fails on a window is not the glass. It is the hardware that moves, the rubber that perishes, the drainage that blocks and the timber that holds water. All four are cheaper to fix than to replace, and all four get misdiagnosed constantly.
Sashes that will not open, close or stay put
A window that will not hold open has a worn friction stay in nearly every case. The stay is the hinged steel arm that carries the sash and gives it enough friction to stay where you put it. Once the pivots corrode the arm twists instead of folding, and the sash drops, swings or fouls the frame.
A sash that catches at one corner has dropped rather than warped. New hardware and a rehang closes the gap, and it usually fixes the lock at the same time, because a latch that misses its keeper is almost always a sash height problem rather than a broken lock. Within reach of the water at St Clair, St Kilda, Port Chalmers and Brighton we fit 316 marine grade stainless, because ordinary stays pit within a few years in salt air.
Draughts, whistling and rattling
The glazing wedge holds the glass and the weather seal is what the sash compresses against when you close it. Rubber hardens, shrinks and takes a permanent set, and once that has happened there is a continuous air path around the sash even with the handle locked down. That is the whistle you hear.
Re rubbering pulls the old gasket out and rolls new in, usually without removing the glass. On timber double hung windows we rout a groove and fit brush pile seal to the meeting rail and stiles instead, which closes the gap without changing anything you can see and stops the rattle as well. With around 50 days of ground frost a year, about 15 of them in July, it is the cheapest thing on this website and the one people notice first.
Rot in sills, bottom rails and jamb ends
Timber joinery rots from the bottom up because the sill holds water while the head sheds it. Paint holds a shell over wood that has already gone soft, so the damage is usually twice the size it looks. We probe the whole sill before quoting so the price does not move once the window is open.
The repair is a scarf, not a filler. Soft timber is cut back to solid wood and a new piece is let in, glued, pinned, shaped to the original profile and primed. With the largest surviving collection of Victorian and Edwardian housing in New Zealand in this city, that matters: the timber in those sashes is denser than anything a yard sells today, and the rest of the frame usually has decades left.
Leaks, and finding them before sealing anything
A wet internal sill has four common causes and only one of them is the seal. Blocked drainage slots back water up over the frame. A failed head flashing lets water in above the window and it appears at the bottom. Perished wedge lets it past the glass. A racked sash leaves a gap at one corner.
We water test in stages from the sill upwards until the leak shows itself. Running silicone around the outside of a frame without knowing why it leaks is the most common bad repair we are called out to undo, because it seals the drainage path and traps the water inside the wall.
Glass repair
Our Glass Repair Services in Dunedin
Glass is not one product. Annealed, toughened, laminated and sealed double glazed units all behave differently, cost differently and take different lead times, and NZS 4223 decides which of them is legal in which position. Getting that right before anything is ordered is most of the job.
Broken and cracked panes
Common sizes in ordinary annealed glass are cut from stock, which is why they are usually measured and glazed inside 24 to 48 hours. A standard pane runs about $250 to $600 supplied and fitted and a large one $600 to $1,200.
Toughened and laminated glass is a different story. It is manufactured to the finished size and cannot be trimmed afterwards, so allow several days and expect us to measure carefully rather than quickly. Where the opening cannot be left to the weather we board it on the first visit and glaze once the glass arrives.
Fogged and misted sealed units
A permanent haze between two panes means the edge seal of that unit has failed and damp air is now inside the cavity. Both misted faces are sealed in where no cloth can reach them, which is why cleaning never works, and over time the trapped moisture etches white mineral streaking into the glass.
The sealed unit is replaced, generally $350 to $800 for a standard size, and your frame, sash and hardware all stay exactly where they are. We clear and test the drainage while we are there, because standing water in the rebate is the usual reason a unit failed early rather than at twenty years.
Safety glass where the standard requires it
NZS 4223 sets out the positions where Grade A safety glass has to be used: in doors and the panels beside them, in bathrooms and other wet areas, in low level glazing somebody could walk into, and in large panes. Overhead glazing and balustrades go further and need laminated rather than toughened.
A lot of older housing here predates those rules, so plain annealed glass sits in positions that would not be permitted today. Replacing a broken pane is the cheapest chance you will ever get to bring it up to standard, so we point it out rather than quietly putting the same thing back.
Shopfronts, splashbacks, showers and mirrors
Commercial frontages are a walk into position, so they go back toughened or laminated, and on a frontage that has been hit before laminated is worth the difference because it holds together instead of dropping out in one go.
Splashbacks and shower panels are toughened and made to order with every cut out done before treatment, which is why templating them properly matters more than anything else in the job. Mirrors get safety backing in bathrooms and gyms and mechanical fixings rather than adhesive alone once they pass a certain size.
Replacement and installation
Our Window Replacement and Installation Services in Dunedin
There are four ways to deal with a window that is past repairing, and they cost very different amounts. Which one suits you comes down to the condition of the frame rather than the age of the house, and our quote puts the options side by side so you can see the gap.
Glass only, insert, or full joinery
Glass only replacement keeps your frame and swaps the pane, starting around $250. Insert replacement drops a new unit into the existing frame or reveal, leaving the cladding and the flashings untouched. Full joinery replacement takes the whole thing out, disturbs the cladding and costs several times more.
The mistake people make is assuming a tired looking window needs the third option. If the extrusion is straight and the corner joints are tight, or the timber is sound above the sill, it does not.
New timber sashes in the frame you already have
The option almost nobody is offered sits between repair and replacement. When a sash is genuinely past saving but the box frame around it is sound, a new sash is made to the original profile and hung in the opening you already have. The frame, the architraves, the linings and the cladding are never touched.
It costs a fraction of new joinery, it can be built with a deeper rebate so it takes a sealed unit from the start, and nobody on the street can tell it happened.
What the code asks for on new joinery
Dunedin sits in H1 climate zone 5, which carries the highest window R value requirement in the country at R0.50. Plain aluminium cannot reach it no matter what glass goes in.
That applies to consented work rather than to repairs on an existing home, and knowing which side of the line your job sits on changes the quote considerably. Like for like replacement in an existing house is exempt under Schedule 1 of the Building Act, so no consent and no council fees.
The install, not just the window
Nearly every leaking window we get called to was fitted badly rather than made badly. Water enters at the head because the flashing was cut short or a bead of sealant was run where a hook and hem was needed. Air moves through because the perimeter gap was packed with offcuts and never sealed.
So we quote the flashing, the packers, the air seal, the fixing centres and the making good afterwards. Leaving those off a quote is how a number gets to look cheap, and it is why the cheapest install is so often the one we come back to.
Double glazing
Our Double Glazing Services in Dunedin
Retrofitting suits this city better than most, because so much of the housing stock is character timber nobody wants to lose. We machine the rebate in the sash you already have, drop in a sealed unit and rebead it, so the window looks unchanged from the footpath and the room stops being cold.
How a retrofit actually works
The sash comes out, the rebate is machined deeper or a new bead is made, a sealed unit goes in and the bead is refitted and painted. On a whole house we take the sashes back to the bench, do any timber repairs, glaze, repaint and refit, which gives a far better finish than working in place.
Weight is the part people forget. A double glazed sash is roughly twice the weight of the single glazed one it replaces, so cast iron weights get changed or added to and cords are upgraded. Skipping that is how a beautifully retrofitted window drops out of balance six months later.
What it costs here
Most whole house projects here land between $10,000 and $24,000, and retrofit models at roughly $450 to $800 per square metre of glass against $800 to $1,600 for full replacement.
Two things move the number more than the glass does. Access, because a house lot of sealed units carried up forty steps is real labour that a flat section does not involve. And whether the timber under the paint is sound, which we probe before quoting rather than discovering on the day.
Low E, argon and acoustic glass
A Low E coating is a microscopically thin metallic layer on an internal glass face that reflects heat back into the room instead of letting it radiate out. You cannot see it, it does not change the view, and it typically adds around a third to the glass price.
Argon fill improves it again. Laminated glass on the outer pane with unequal pane thicknesses is what actually cuts noise, and it is a different specification to a standard unit. The time to add any of these is while a unit is being made anyway, because then you only pay the difference.
What double glazing will not fix
It fixes water on the glass. It does not warm an aluminium frame, so plenty of people retrofit, solve the condensation on the pane and then find water forming on the frames instead. Only a thermally broken frame solves that half.
In the southern suburbs the groundwater sits as little as 30cm below the surface, so a lot of what looks like a window problem is moisture coming up out of the ground. We check for that at the measure and say so, because selling glass that cannot solve the problem in front of it is how a customer ends up disappointed with work that was done perfectly well.
Emergency work
Our Emergency Glass and Window Repair Services in Dunedin
Break in overnight, a southerly through a bedroom window, a shopfront put through on a Saturday. The first job is a building that is closed up and safe, not a perfect repair by Tuesday, and those are two different visits.
What happens on the first visit
We ask three things: where you are, what has broken, and whether anybody is at risk from the glass. Loose glass hanging in a frame above a footpath or a doorway gets dealt with before anything else.
Then we clear the broken glass, cut back whatever is still held in the rebate, and either board the opening with plywood or fit temporary glazing where the look matters. We measure at the same visit so the permanent glass is ordered straight away rather than waiting on a second trip.
Break ins and what to put back
Plywood screwed over an opening is faster and stronger than waiting on glass, and for a retail frontage temporary glazing means the shop can trade the next morning instead of looking closed.
If entry came through a single glazed pane in a vulnerable position, laminated glass on the replacement is worth considering. It cracks but holds together, so getting through it is slow and loud rather than a single quiet hit.
Rentals, property managers and insurers
A broken window in a rental is a maintenance obligation with a clock on it. We can deal directly with a property manager, arrange access, board up without anybody being home and invoice against the property rather than chasing a tenant.
Every window we touch is listed by address and room on the invoice, and we photograph the damage and record the glass type and thickness. That is exactly what an insurer asks for, and providing it up front is what stops a claim stalling.
Commercial and heritage frontages
In the student quarter and the heritage frontages in the central city a lot of the frontage sits in older buildings with glazing set into original openings. Boarding those takes more care than a modern aluminium shopfront, because nothing should end up fixed into the stonework or the decorative surround.
We board back to the timber or steel behind the opening, pack rather than drill, and work early, late or at weekends where a business cannot afford to close during trading hours.
Pricing
How much does window repair cost in Dunedin?
Real 2026 ranges, GST inclusive. Every quote we write is fixed after the measure, not an estimate that moves later.
| Job | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single pane glass replacement, standard size | $250 to $600 | Measured and fitted, common sizes in 24 to 48 hours |
| Single pane glass replacement, large pane | $600 to $1,200 | Two person lift and suction handling |
| Failed sealed double glazed unit | $350 to $800 | Up to about $1,200 for oversized panels |
| Retrofit double glazing | $450 to $800 per m2 of glass | Existing frames retained |
| Full joinery replacement | $800 to $1,600 per m2 of glass | Thermally broken sits at the top of the range |
| Whole house retrofit | $10,000 to $24,000 | Where most Dunedin projects land |
| Low E glass upgrade | About a third more on the glass | Pays back faster here than anywhere in the country |
| Hardware repairs: stays, handles, rollers | From well under $200 | Usually the same visit |
Three things move a Dunedin price more than anything else. Access, because a house lot of sealed units carried up forty steps in Mornington is real labour that a flat Mosgiel section does not involve. Glass spec, because Low E is the sensible default in climate zone 5 and it adds roughly a third to the glass. And whether the frame is sound, because glass only work starts around $250 while full joinery replacement runs many times that.
Local knowledge
What Dunedin weather does to your windows
Four things wreck windows in this city. Which one is happening to your house decides what we fit.
The code asks more of a window here than anywhere else
Dunedin sits in H1 climate zone 5. Zones 5 and 6 need a minimum window R value of R0.50, against R0.46 for the North Island and the top of the South. R0.50 cannot be reached with plain double glazing in a standard aluminium frame. It needs Low E glass in a thermally broken, uPVC or timber frame. That applies to consented work rather than to repairs, but it tells you something useful either way: the country's own building rules treat this as the hardest climate in New Zealand to keep a house warm in.
Cold glass, and about fifty frosts a year
NIWA's 1991 to 2020 averages give the city roughly 50 days of ground frost annually, with about 15 in July alone. On a still clear night the outside face of a single glazed pane sits near freezing while the room behind it is at eighteen degrees. Every bit of moisture in that air condenses onto the glass and runs to the sill. That is why so many Dunedin windows stream in winter and why retrofitting makes a more visible difference here than it does further north.
In the southern suburbs the water comes from below
South Dunedin was built on reclaimed swamp from the 1870s, filled only slightly above the water table. The council's own science programme puts the groundwater as little as 30cm below the surface in places. Moisture rises into the subfloor, evaporates into the house and condenses on the coldest surface it can find. Glazing that goes in before the ventilation and ground moisture are dealt with simply moves the condensation onto the frames and the corners.
A century of joinery worth more than its replacement
The gold rush from 1861 built Dunedin fast and then growth slowed, which left the city with the largest surviving collection of Victorian and Edwardian buildings in the country. Villas through Roslyn, Maori Hill and Mornington, cottages in Caversham and Port Chalmers, and leadlight in more front doors than anywhere else in New Zealand. All of it built from old growth rimu, matai and kauri you cannot buy today. Rot concentrates in the sill while everything above stays sound, so scarfing new timber in costs a fraction of new joinery and keeps the window.
Areas we cover
Dunedin suburbs and towns we cover
All of Dunedin city, plus Mosgiel and the Taieri, Port Chalmers and the coastal settlements south to Brighton. Pick your suburb below for what is different about the housing stock there.
- St Clair
- St Kilda
- South Dunedin
- North Dunedin
- Dunedin Central
- Mornington
- Roslyn
- Maori Hill
- North East Valley
- Opoho
- Caversham
- Musselburgh
- Andersons Bay
- Green Island
- Wakari
- Mosgiel
- Port Chalmers
- Brighton
Dunedin customers
Reviews from around the city
★★★★★
Rang first thing with a smashed bedroom window. Boarded within the hour, new glass in two days. No fuss and no waiting around for a callback.
★★★★★
Windows ran with water every single morning through winter. Retrofitted the whole house and the sills have been dry since. Should have done it five years ago.
★★★★★
Our fanlight had been bowing for years and two people had told us it was past saving. It came out, went flat again and every original piece of glass went back in. It looks like it did in 1908.
★★★★★
Salt had wrecked the stays on the seaward side. Swapped for marine grade, and while he was here he showed me how to wash the frames so it does not happen again. Small job, treated like a big one.
Window repair in Dunedin: your questions answered
How much does window repair cost in Dunedin?
A standard single pane runs about $250 to $600 supplied and fitted, and a large pane $600 to $1,200. A failed sealed unit is generally $350 to $800. Hardware repairs like stays, handles and rollers cost far less again. Retrofit double glazing models at around $450 to $800 per square metre of glass.
How fast can you replace a broken window?
Common sizes in standard glass are usually measured and glazed within 24 to 48 hours. Toughened, laminated and sealed units are made to order, so allow several days to a week. If the opening cannot be left we board it the same day.
Do you do emergency callouts?
Yes, 24 hours a day across Dunedin, Mosgiel, Port Chalmers and the coastal settlements. We clear the glass, board or temporarily glaze the opening, and measure for the permanent glass on the same visit.
Why is my double glazing foggy, and can it be cleaned?
The seal around the edge of the unit has failed and moisture is now inside the cavity. Both misted surfaces are sealed in, so cleaning cannot reach them. The unit is replaced and your frame and sash stay exactly as they are.
What R value do windows need in Dunedin?
R0.50. Dunedin is in H1 climate zone 5, and zones 5 and 6 carry the highest window requirement in the country. Reaching it needs Low E glass in a thermally broken, uPVC or timber frame. It applies to consented work rather than to repairs on an existing home.
How much does retrofit double glazing cost in Dunedin?
Most whole house projects here land between $10,000 and $24,000, with the wider range running from about $4,000 on a small job to well over $50,000 on a large character home. Per square metre of glass, retrofit models at roughly $450 to $800 against $800 to $1,600 for full replacement.
Can you double glaze the original windows in a villa?
Yes. The rebate in the existing sash is machined deeper and a bead matched to the original profile is fitted, so the window looks unchanged from the street. We check the timber and repair any soft sills before glazing.
Why do my windows stream with water every winter morning?
Warm moist room air is meeting a cold surface. With around 50 ground frost days a year the glass gets very cold here. If the water is on the glass, double glazing fixes most of it. If the aluminium frame is wet as well, only a thermally broken frame solves that. If every window in the house is wet, the moisture load is the real problem.
My house in the southern suburbs is damp. Will new windows fix it?
Probably not on their own. South Dunedin and the surrounding flat sit barely above a water table that can be within 30cm of the surface, so moisture rises into the house from below. Ventilation and ground vapour come first, glass second.
What does my rental need to meet the Healthy Homes ventilation standard?
Each habitable room needs openable windows, doors or skylights totalling at least 5 percent of the floor area, and each must open to the outside and be able to be fixed open. Kitchens and bathrooms also need extractor fans ducted outside. All private rentals have had to comply since 1 July 2025.
Do you work on student flats?
Constantly. We can deal directly with a property manager, arrange access, board up without anyone on site and invoice against the property. We also do the Healthy Homes window work and hand over a room by room record.
Which areas around Dunedin do you cover?
All of Dunedin city from North East Valley and Opoho through the central suburbs to St Clair, St Kilda and Andersons Bay, plus Mosgiel and the Taieri, Port Chalmers, Green Island and Brighton.
Free measure and quote
Get a fixed price on your window, usually the same day
Tell us what has happened and we will give you a real number. Free measure, no obligation, and an honest answer about whether it needs repairing or replacing.
Start your quote
Four questions and you are done.