Nothing listed right now
What shows up in insulating glass units
- Double-pane units with a soft-coat (sputtered) or hard-coat low-E on one surface
- Triple-pane units from high-performance and passive-house work
- Argon and krypton-filled units with warm-edge or aluminum spacers
- Units with tempered, laminated, or mixed makeups for safety and acoustic locations
- Obsolete-size units from window replacement projects that got re-measured
Before you buy
Surplus is only a bargain if it fits and it's documented. These are the questions worth asking on this category specifically.
- An IGU cannot be cut down — the sealed edge is the unit. Dimensions must match your opening, not approximately match it
- Confirm overall thickness as well as width and height; a 1" unit will not glaze into a pocket built for 5/8"
- Ask which surface carries the low-E coating — solar-control coatings normally sit on surface #2, high-gain coatings on surface #3, and getting it backwards inverts the performance
- Get the fabrication date. Sealed units have a finite seal life, and a unit that's been sitting outdoors unshaded has aged faster than the date suggests
- Look for haze, fogging, or visible desiccant dust between the lites — that's seal failure and it's not repairable
- Ask whether the original IGU warranty transfers; most are tied to the original purchaser and project
- Units stored flat and unsupported can take a permanent bow — ask how they were racked
Common questions
Can insulated glass units be cut down to a smaller size?
No. An IGU is a sealed assembly with a perimeter spacer, desiccant, and primary and secondary seals. Cutting it breaks the seal and destroys the unit. Surplus IGUs are only useful if the existing dimensions match your opening.
How can I tell if a used IGU still has its argon fill?
You can't tell visually, and field measurement requires a spark-emission or tunable-diode gas analyzer. Sealed units lose roughly one percent of fill per year under normal conditions, so treat fill as a bonus rather than something to price on unless the seller can show a measurement.
Does a fogged IGU mean the glass is bad?
The glass itself is usually fine, but the unit has failed. Fogging means the seal has let moisture into the cavity and the desiccant is saturated. It can't be reversed in the field, and the unit will keep getting worse, so it should be priced as scrap glass rather than a working IGU.