How To: Replace glass due to bad insulation

Tim Carter demonstrates how to remove insulated glass panels from either side of a front door. Replacing the sidelights on the front door is possible. Just follow these steps for glass replacement.

If the insulated sidelight glass panel on your front door goes bad, it can be replaced without replacing the entire front door. Using a flexible putty knife and a light weight hammer, start by removing the stop molding holding the window in place. Because this molding is very thin, use care when driving the putty knife down the length of the molding. This is cut through the putty and sealant behind the molding strip.

Once the wood molding is out of the way, the other thing holding the window is place is usually some small nails or staples. Use a needle nose pliers to carefully remove the staples. With all the wood molding out of the way, measure the window and order the replacement glass. Leave the old sidelight in place until the new window arrives.

With the new window in hand, replace the old sidelight and reverse all the above steps for installing the new sidelight window.