Foggy Window Repair Services
Glass that is cracked or broken belongs on the window glass replacement page. This page is about whole glass you can't see through, because the seal around the edge has let damp air in.
Insulated Glass Unit (IGU) Replacement
An insulated glass unit is two or three panes held apart by a spacer filled with desiccant, sealed at the edge. Once the seal breaks, damp outside air gets in. The desiccant soaks it up until it's saturated, then the moisture condenses on the inner glass faces as fog, haze or running beads. Water, ice and sunlight all wear that seal down over the years. Wiping won't help, because the moisture is inside the unit.
The repair is a new unit, measured and made to size, with the same thickness so it fits the sash pocket. HomeGuide puts a replacement unit at around $200 for a standard window. The installer pulls the glazing beads or stops, lifts out the old unit, sets the new one and rebeads it. You keep the frame, the interior trim and the paint.
Sash Replacement When the Glass Is Glazed In
On some windows the sash and the sealed glass inside it are made and replaced as one assembly, as HomeGuide's sash guide describes. Others are old or discontinued, and HomeGuide notes that compatible replacement glass may not be available for them. Either way, the practical fix is a new sash with new glass already in it. HomeGuide's seal-repair guide lists sash replacement at $150 to $400 or more per window. For tilt-in double-hungs, see window sash replacement, which also covers the balances.
Defogging Services and Their Limits
Defogging is cheaper on the day. HomeGuide describes it as drilling small holes in the glass, washing out the space between the panes, drying it, and sealing the holes, for $100 to $200 per window. That description covers cleaning and drying the space. It doesn't cover a new edge seal or fresh desiccant. Ask the company what it does about both, and whether the window's own warranty survives the drilling.
Our view: on a window you plan to keep for years, put the money into a new sealed unit. Defogging is fine for a cosmetic fix on a unit you'll replace soon anyway.
Seal-Failure Warranty Claims
Before paying for a repair, dig out the original paperwork and note any brand name or code printed on the spacer between the panes. HomeGuide's seal guide advises asking whether your windows' warranties cover the repair, and whether the repair tech warranties the labor. Hard water stains between the panes mean the unit has been fogged for months or years, according to a Construction Specifier analysis, which can matter if a claim depends on when the failure began.
Foggy Glass in Patio Doors
The fixed panel of a sliding patio door is one large insulated unit, and it fogs for the same reasons as a window. Glass in a door has to be safety glass under the residential code, so the replacement unit will usually be tempered. HomeGuide notes that large panes often need two or more technicians, and a custom unit can take weeks to fabricate. Rollers, tracks and locks are a different job; see patio door repair.
Why Troy homeowners call Troy Windows
- Free in-home measure of every opening
- Written, itemized quote before any work
- Frames and sills checked before a price
- One local window installer, not a call list
- No charge to homeowners for the referral
Foggy Window Repair Cost in Troy
Prices below are HomeGuide's national figures.
| Repair | National range |
|---|---|
| Window seal repair, per window | $75 to $150 |
| Full seal replacement, per window | $100 to $250 |
| Defogging, double or triple pane | $100 to $200 |
| Replacement insulated glass unit | around $200 |
| Sash replacement | $150 to $400+ |
| Seal repair, bay or bow window | $250 to $1,000 |
A low "seal repair" price may mean caulk or gasket work on the outside of the glass. HomeGuide describes it that way. Caulk around the glass won't take the moisture back out of a fogged unit. Compare it line by line against a new unit before you pick the cheaper quote.
When Foggy Windows Mean Replacing the Window
A single fogged unit in a sound frame is a glass job. Several fogged units at once, soft wood at the sill, or sashes that won't stay up suggest a window at the end of its life. HomeGuide's whole-window figures start at $450 per window nationally, about double a new glass unit.
Two Troy notes. About 73% of houses here went up between 1960 and 1999, so plenty of windows in town are old enough to have had seals fail. And if the job moves from glass to whole windows in a pre-1978 house, the lead rule comes in; see lead-safe window replacement. A glass-only swap doesn't have to meet the energy code's U-factor limit (the window glass replacement page explains the exemption), but it's still worth asking for low-e glass and argon in the new unit, since you only pay for the labor once.