Boarding up a fire-broken window yourself: a safe stopgap

After a house fire, broken windows are common. Glass cracks from heat, and firefighters break windows on purpose to vent smoke and heat. Once the trucks leave, that opening lets in rain, wind and anyone who wants to walk in. A restoration crew normally boards up the same night (see emergency board-up). If you are waiting for one, or the only damage is a single window, you can often cover a ground-floor opening yourself. This guide covers when that is reasonable and how to do it properly.

First: is this a job you should do at all?

Do not touch anything until the fire department has released the house. Ask the officer in charge whether the structure is safe to approach, whether the power and gas are off, and whether anyone needs to inspect it before you go near it.

A DIY board-up is reasonable only when all of these are true:

• The window is on the ground floor and you can reach the whole frame standing on the ground or on a short, stable step stool.
• The wall around it is sound: no charring, bowing, sagging header or soft siding.
• No power lines, service drops or meters are near the opening.
• The window is a normal size. Sliding glass doors, picture windows and large bays need two people and a crew.
• You have the tools and are comfortable using a drill and a circular saw.

If any of those is not true, stop here and call a crew. Upper-floor windows, roof holes and doors that will not latch are not DIY jobs after a fire.

Materials and tools

• Exterior-grade plywood, 1/2 inch or thicker; 5/8 inch is stiffer and better on a windy side of the house. One 4-by-8 sheet usually covers one standard window.
• Exterior screws, 2-1/2 to 3 inches long, coated or stainless. Screws hold far better than nails and come out without wrecking the trim.
• A cordless drill/driver, a circular saw, a tape measure and a pencil.
• Heavy plastic sheeting (6 mil) and a staple gun or painter's tape, for an extra rain layer.
• Safety gear: cut-resistant gloves, safety glasses, an N95 respirator and boots. Fire debris and broken glass are sharp, and the frame and sill may be covered in soot.
• A phone camera for documenting before, during and after.

Step by step

1. Photograph the window first, inside and out, from close up and from across the yard. The broken glass, the frame and the wall are part of the claim; your insurer and the contractor will both want to see them as they were.
2. Clear loose glass carefully. Wearing gloves and glasses, pull out shards that are loose in the frame and drop them into a sturdy box, not a plastic bag. Leave glass that is firmly seated; prying it out risks cuts and frame damage. Sweep the ground below so nobody walks through it.
3. Measure the outside of the frame, not the glass. Add about 2 inches on every side so the plywood laps over the trim or siding onto solid framing.
4. Cut the plywood on a flat surface away from the debris. If you are covering several windows, label each sheet with its location.
5. Staple or tape a sheet of plastic over the opening if rain is coming. It keeps water off the sill while you work and adds a second layer behind the plywood.
6. Hold the panel in place and drive screws every 6 to 12 inches around the edge, about an inch in from the edge of the plywood, into the framing behind the trim. On vinyl windows, fasten through the trim or siding into the wall framing, not into the vinyl frame itself, which will crack and not hold.
7. Check it from inside with a flashlight: the panel should be tight, with no daylight around the edges. If wind could catch a gap, add screws.
8. Photograph the finished board-up and write down the date, time and what you bought. Keep every receipt.
9. Tell your insurer and the contractor what you covered, so the work is not duplicated and the claim shows you protected the property.

Puget Sound winters bring long rain and periodic windstorms. After the first big blow, walk around the house and check every panel. A plywood sheet that has started to flex or lift lets water run down inside the wall, which turns a smoke-and-glass repair into a framing and drying repair.

What it costs

These are typical Puget Sound ranges, not quotes, and they vary with lumber prices and the house:

• Exterior plywood: roughly $30 to $80 a sheet depending on thickness and grade; lumber prices change, so check the store.
• Exterior screws, plastic sheeting and tape: usually $20 to $50 for a small job.
• Safety gear if you do not already have it: usually $30 to $60.
• A professional board-up: commonly from a few hundred dollars for one or two openings to well over a thousand for a whole house with several windows, a door and a roof tarp, with after-hours calls costing more.

Board-up after a fire is usually treated as part of the covered loss when the fire itself is covered; ask your adjuster. If a restoration contractor does it on a covered claim, it is $0 upfront on covered claims - insurer billed directly - deductible applies.

When to call a professional

Call a crew instead of, or right after, doing it yourself when:

• The window is above the ground floor, or reaching it means a ladder against a fire-damaged wall.
• The wall, header or sill is charred, soft or out of square. That is structural damage, and the fire damage assessment has to look at it before anything is fastened to it.
• The roof has a hole or the fire vented through it. Roof tarping on a fire-damaged structure is dangerous.
• Doors cannot be locked or the house will be empty for weeks. A crew will secure every opening and may fence the site.
• Electrical service is damaged near the opening, or you are not sure the power is off.
• The house was built before 1978 and you would have to cut, sand or scrape painted trim or siding, which may contain lead, or disturb older siding or materials that may contain asbestos.
• Someone approaches you at the scene offering to board up the house if you sign today. Read what you are signing; the emergency board-up page explains what to watch for.

A DIY panel is a stopgap. The permanent fix comes later, as part of the repair and reconstruction scope your adjuster approves; working with your adjuster on a rebuild explains that part. Dispatch covers King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties any hour at (844) 543-5757.