Doors and Windows - Broken Glass in Front Door Side Light

I was driving in a long screw while mounting a strike plate on the front door frame of my home in the process of replacing all the front door hardware this weekend. When the screw was 1/2 to 3/4 of the way in, the adjacent glass side light windows broke. (I think it's actually 1 piece of glass, though it's separated into 4 smaller windows. The glass pieces are still being held in the side light frame. I guess it's some sort of safety glass.

Can anyone tell me how to replace this properly without having glass shards go everywhere?

Will this require a whole new door & sidelight frame?

Would it be better to have a contractor do this?

Thanks in advance

Sounds like the long screw hit the glass. Bummer. If the glass has a plastic frame around it that looks like a picture frame, it will have "plugs" on the interior side of the frame that can be removed by driving a sharp screw into the center of the plug. Once the plugs are all removed, you will unscrew the screws and then the interior side of the plastic frame will come off. The exterior plastic frame is glued to the glass and to the door and will also need to be completely removed.

You will need to order a completely new piece of glass, along with the plastic trim around it. Usually these are standard sizes and any big box store or glass house can order these for you if you provide them with either: the size of the old frame, the size of the rough opening in the door, or the glass size (as measured by how much glass is visible inside the plastic frame. If there is any doubt, take them all 3 measurements so they can figure it out.

Thanks for the info. Would you recommend hiring someone to undertake this type of project or is it something a DIYer could handle? Also, what happens if there are none of these 'plugs' present? Thanks again for your help!

If no plugs are present, then it isn't the type of door glass that I'm familiar with. The plugs are usually about as big around as a pencil eraser. You drive a screw into the center of them and it will hit the screw behind the plug and drive the plug out. (of course it ruins the plugs, but you should get new ones with the new pane of glass and surrounding frame.)

It's probably a DIY job, not too difficult. Usually you will silicone the exterior of the frame onto the exterior of the door, then the interior frame just fits on the interior side and screws on. IMO, the plugs are optional.

But if it's not that type of door and has no plugs, maybe give us a description of what it's like or post a digital pic to yahoo or photobucket and post a link here. Someone here should be able to recognize it.