Albuquerque Board Up Crew provides emergency board up services to homes, businesses and property managers throughout Albuquerque and the surrounding communities. We secure broken windows, garage door openings and fire-damaged walls after vandalism, storms, accidents or vehicle impacts. Whether it's a single window or a full storefront, our crew covers each opening with sturdy plywood to keep out weather, intruders and further damage. Contact us for a free quote today.
How Do You Know a Damaged Opening Needs an Emergency Board-Up Tonight?
If an opening can't be closed, locked, or sealed against weather before dark, board it now. Don't wait days for a glazier, door installer, or roofer to fit you into their schedule. An open hole invites rain, animals, and anyone walking past, and the damage behind it compounds every hour it stays exposed. Most emergency calls fall into a handful of situations, and each one gets secured a little differently once the crew sees it up close.
- Cracked or shattered window glass still hanging in the frame
- Exterior door that won't latch after a forced entry
- Roof hole punched through by a fallen tree limb
- Wall breach from a vehicle hitting the house
- Window openings broken out by firefighters for ventilation
How Do You Board Up a Window When Cracked Glass Is Still Hanging in the Frame?
The loose glass comes out first. Shards left in the sash can drop when the plywood is screwed tight against the frame or when wind flexes the panel. Wearing heavy gloves, the crew tapes or pulls the hanging pieces, then cuts exterior plywood, half-inch or thicker, to overlap the opening by a couple of inches on every side. The panel is screwed into the framing or trim from outside, or braced from inside with two-by-fours and carriage bolts if the owner doesn't want holes in the siding. The glazier will need that same frame later, so a good board-up never pries or splits the sash just to make the plywood sit flat.
If the Door Won't Latch After a Break-In, Will Just Swapping the Lock Fix It?
Usually not. When a door is kicked hard enough to open, the lock itself is rarely what failed. The force tends to split the jamb along the strike plate, crack the wood around the deadbolt bore, or bend the hinges so the door no longer lines up with its frame. A new cylinder in a split jamb holds about as well as the old one did, which means it gives out on the next shove. For the night, the opening gets covered with plywood screwed into the rough framing, or the door is screwed shut and one secure entry is kept elsewhere in the house. The permanent fix is a jamb repair or a new prehung unit, and that work goes faster when nobody has to guess whether the frame is square.
Is a Blue Tarp Enough for a Roof Hole Left by a Fallen Tree Limb?
Not on its own, especially if the limb went all the way through the decking. A tarp laid over a hole sags into it and pools rainwater, and the first strong gust works it loose unless it's battened down with furring strips screwed through to the rafters. The right sequence: get the limb off the roof, cut the broken decking back to solid rafters, screw a plywood patch over the gap, then tarp over the patch to keep the wood dry. Check the attic afterward for wet insulation and soaked drywall. Water that got in before the patch went on can keep dripping for a day or two and stain or even bring down the ceilings below.
What Has to Happen Before Boarding a Wall Breach From a Vehicle Hitting the House?
Shoring comes before any plywood. A car through a wall often knocks out studs, cracks the header over a window or door, or shifts the load the wall was carrying from the floor or roof above. The crew sets temporary posts or builds a short braced stud wall inside to take that weight off the damaged section. Once the structure is supported, the opening is framed out with two-by-fours and sheathed with plywood, with house wrap stapled over it if rain is on the way. Gas lines, electrical runs, and water pipes inside that wall get checked too, since an impact can crack a fitting that won't start leaking until hours later.
Why Do Window Openings Broken Out by Firefighters for Ventilation Need Boarding So Fast?
Those windows were broken on purpose to vent heat and smoke, so the openings are usually larger and messier than a storm break, often with the glass and sash gone entirely. Hose streams also leave the house wet, and every open window lets more weather in on surfaces already soaked and coated in soot. Boarding those openings within hours keeps rain off charred framing, stops scavengers from walking in, and lets the restoration crew control airflow once the drying equipment starts running. Get sign-off from the fire marshal or adjuster before anyone enters, then have the board-up crew photograph every opening before the panels go up so the damage is documented for the claim.
How Much Does Emergency Board Up Cost?
Emergency board-up typically runs between $285 and $2,650 for a single callout, and most residential jobs land toward the lower end. The biggest variable is how many openings need covering and how large they are. A single kicked-in door takes far less plywood and labor than a vehicle breach, which often needs temporary shoring before we can board anything. Middle-of-the-night arrivals, roof work that requires cutting back broken decking, and clearing shards from frames that are still holding glass all push the total higher.
Service Locations
We provide services nationwide, including in the following cities:
New Mexico
- Agua Fria, NM
- Alamo, NM
- Albuquerque, NM
- Algodones, NM
- Barton, NM
- Belen, NM
- Bernalillo, NM
- Bosque Farms, NM
- Chimayo, NM
- Corrales, NM
- Dixon, NM
- Edgewood, NM
- El Cerro, NM
- El Cerro Mission, NM
- El Rancho, NM
- El Valle de Arroyo Seco, NM
- Eldorado at Santa Fe, NM
- Española, NM
- Estancia, NM
- Grants, NM
- Jarales, NM
- Jemez Pueblo, NM
- La Cienega, NM
- La Mesilla, NM
- La Villita, NM
- Las Campanas, NM
- Las Maravillas, NM
- Las Vegas, NM
- Los Alamos, NM
- Los Chaves, NM
- Los Lunas, NM
- Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM
- McIntosh, NM
- Meadow Lake, NM
- Milan, NM
- Moriarty, NM
- Nambe, NM
- North Valley, NM
- Ohkay Owingeh, NM
- Paradise Hills, NM
- Paraje, NM
- Pecos, NM
- Peralta, NM
- Placitas, NM
- Pojoaque, NM
- Ponderosa Pine, NM
- Rio Communities, NM
- Rio Rancho, NM
- Rio Rancho Estates, NM
- San Felipe Pueblo, NM
- Sandia Heights, NM
- Sandia Knolls, NM
- Santa Ana Pueblo, NM
- Santa Clara Pueblo, NM
- Santa Fe, NM
- Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM
- Socorro, NM
- South Valley, NM
- Tano Road, NM
- Tesuque, NM
- Thoreau, NM
- Thunder Mountain, NM
- Tome, NM
- Tres Arroyos, NM
- Valencia, NM
- White Rock, NM