Emergency Board-Up After Break-In

The Problem

At 12:47 a.m., a property manager received an alarm notification for a commercial suite in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. A smash-and-grab break-in had shattered the front entry door glass and one adjacent sidelight panel — approximately 60 square feet of glass total. The police had cleared the scene but the property was wide open. The business inside could not operate with an open entry. The property manager needed the opening secured immediately and the glass replaced before the tenant's 9 a.m. opening.

The Solution

Our emergency line connected within three rings. A two-person crew was on-site by 2:15 a.m. with plywood board-up materials. The entry was secured with a reinforced plywood panel anchored to the existing aluminum frame — no drilling into the facade required. All glass debris was cleared from both inside and outside the entry. By 6:00 a.m. the property manager had confirmed the suite was secure. At 7:00 a.m. a second crew arrived with replacement tempered glass cut to the original door and sidelight specifications. The door glass and sidelight were reinstalled, the hardware was reattached, and the door was operational by 8:45 a.m.

The Result

The tenant opened on time. Total time from first call to completed glass replacement: approximately eight hours. The property manager noted that a previous emergency glass call with a different company had taken 18 hours just for the board-up. They added American Glass Experts to their preferred vendor list for the building portfolio. The installed glass meets California safety glazing requirements for entry door applications.

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