If you live next door to a schoolyard, you can often find your backyard becomes the resting place for an assortment of balls and other sporting equipment. Unfortunately that can also mean that your side or back windows often experience the sad effects of a cricket ball, and you'll be used to coming home to shattered glass. Here are some ways to minimise the pain of regular glass repairs.

Speak to the school

If this is a regular occurrence, it's worth speaking to the school about how often it's happening and seeing whether they can alter the play patterns. Often they can move cricket practise to another end of the yard, or ban balls in certain areas so that the little kids can play in that area which may be less likely to result in balls falling into your yard.

You can also mention to the school that you'll be seeking recompense for glass repairs, which might trigger some more preventative measures on their end! You may also be able to get a higher fence between you and the school installed, making it harder for the balls to make it into your property in the first place.

Install safety glass

One of the frustrating aspects of regular breakages is finding shards of glass around the flooring, which can be extremely painful if accidentally stepped on. Next time you get your glass repaired, ask the repairer if they can replace your panels with safety glass. Safety glass breaks into small cubes with rounded edges rather than shattering making more pleasant to clean and less painful your feet (or your pet's paws) if accidentally stood on. In some cases your window may not be suitable, especially if it has a delicate pattern such as lead lighting.

Install grilles

If you have glass that cannot be easily repaired and still seem to be getting broken windows regularly after speaking to the school, it can be worth installing safety screens over the vulnerable windows. They will protect the glass from breaking and many modern designs of window grilles have a streamlined and modern appearance, which still allows light through and doesn't look like a set of bars across the window.

Of course if worst comes to worst, it's time to call specialists for glass repairs. You can talk to these companies about other options to keep your glass intact and keep good relations with the nearby school.