Pittsburgh Board Up Guys provides emergency board up services across the greater Pittsburgh area for homes, businesses and property managers. We secure broken windows, skylights, doors and fire-damaged openings after break-ins, vehicle impacts, accidents or vandalism. From a single cracked pane to a full storefront, we cover every opening to keep out weather, intruders and further damage. Contact us for a free quote today.
How Do You Know a Damaged Opening Actually Needs an Emergency Board Up?
If an opening in the building envelope can't keep out weather, animals, or an intruder tonight, it needs a board up, even if the damage looks minor from the street. What matters isn't how bad it looks. It's whether you can secure the opening without plywood before the next rain, gust of wind, or nightfall. Five patterns show up on calls again and again, and each one fails for a different reason.
- Cracked window glass that flexes or ticks in the wind
- Door frame splintered at the strike plate after a forced entry
- Sliding glass door shattered into small tempered pebbles
- Hole punched through an exterior wall by a vehicle or tree
- Heat-crazed or smoke-blackened windows left standing after a fire
Why Does Cracked Window Glass That Flexes in the Wind Need Boarding Right Away?
Flexing means the pane can no longer carry wind load as a single rigid sheet, so every gust works the crack a little further until a section breaks free. Annealed glass, the standard type in older single-pane and many double-pane units, breaks into long, sharp shards instead of small pieces, and those shards can fall inward or outward without warning. Boarding it up means screwing half-inch or thicker plywood into the frame or surrounding trim and covering the entire sash, which holds the cracked pane in place and shields it from pressure changes. If you hear ticking overnight, that's the crack running, and the pane likely has hours left, not days.
Can a Door Frame Splintered at the Strike Plate Just Be Relocked Until Repairs?
No. Relocking won't hold, even if the deadbolt still turns and seats normally. A locked door gets its strength from the strike plate screws biting into the jamb and the stud behind it. Once that wood splits, the bolt is anchored to nothing but loose splinters, and a second shoulder push will open the door as easily as the first. The standard fix is plywood screwed across the exterior face into the framing on both sides, with the door secured shut from inside, so the opening stays closed until a carpenter can replace the jamb or install a reinforcement kit. Check the hinge side too, since forced entries often crack that jamb at the same time.
Does a Sliding Glass Door Shattered Into Tempered Pebbles Mean It's Safe to Leave Open?
The rounded pebbles are less likely to cut you, but the real problem is that the opening is now wide open. Tempered glass is designed to break completely once its surface tension is released, so no partial pane is left holding anything back, just an empty frame six to eight feet wide. Rain blows straight onto the flooring, and anyone can walk right in. Boarding a slider takes larger sheets, or two panels joined over a backing strip, screwed into the frame rather than the aluminum track, after the leftover glass is swept out of the track. Pebbles also tend to stay lodged in carpet and the door sill for weeks, so vacuum thoroughly before anyone walks barefoot nearby.
How Is a Hole Through an Exterior Wall From a Vehicle or Tree Boarded Up?
A wall hole is a structural problem first and a covering problem second. When a car or falling trunk breaks through, it often snaps studs or a header, so the crew may install temporary shoring, such as adjustable steel posts or doubled two-by lumber, before any plywood goes up. Once the load is supported, sheathing is screwed to the solid framing around the hole and wrapped with house wrap or poly sheeting to shed water. A structural engineer or building inspector usually needs to see it within a few days, and after a tree impact, the roofline above the hole should also be checked for cracked rafters.
Are Smoke-Blackened Windows After a Fire Fine to Leave if the Glass Didn't Fall Out?
Usually not, because glass that survived the heat has often been weakened by it. Fire heats the center of a pane faster than the edges held in the frame, and that uneven expansion leaves a fine web of cracks, called crazing, that can give way days later. Seals in insulated units typically fail as well, and the surrounding vinyl or wood frame may be softened or charred. Fire crews also break or remove windows to vent smoke, so a house often ends up with a mix of open and weakened openings. Boarding all of them keeps out rain that would drive soot deeper into the drywall, and it keeps out people looking for copper or tools.
How Much Does Emergency Board Up Cost in East Liverpool, OH?
Emergency board-up in East Liverpool, OH typically costs between $276 and $2,279, and most single-window or single-door calls land near the low end. The final price depends on how many openings need covering and how large they are. A shattered sliding door or a hole in an exterior wall may call for oversized sheets or temporary shoring, which adds labor and material. Timing matters too. A crew dispatched at 2 a.m. during a storm will charge more than one scheduled the next morning for a cracked pane that can safely hold overnight.