Emergency Board-Up in Columbus, Ohio

A broken window, a kicked-in door, or a tree that punched a hole through a wall leaves your home open to weather, animals, and anyone walking by. Transit & Flow Group’s Emergency Board-Up service secures broken windows, damaged doors, and other wall or opening breaches so the property is weathertight and secure again, whatever the cause. Describe the opening in the Estimate Builder for a preliminary online estimate, or call now if it’s happening today.

Is this what you’re seeing?

• A broken or shattered window, whether from a break-in, storm debris, or an accident
• A door that’s been kicked in, forced, or otherwise no longer closes and locks securely
• A hole in an exterior wall, from a vehicle, falling debris, or a tree limb
• A garage door or opening that won’t close, leaving the interior exposed
• An open breach after a break-in, where police or your insurer needs the property secured before you can fully assess what’s missing or damaged
• A window or door frame damaged badly enough that boarding is safer than trying to force it shut

Board-up versus roof tarping

Emergency Board-Up is not the same service as our Emergency Tarping page, and it’s worth knowing the difference so you call for the right one. Emergency Tarping is specifically for the roof: covering an opening in the roof deck or roofing material to stop water coming in from above after storm, tree, or fire damage. Emergency Board-Up covers everything at the walls and openings level, broken windows, damaged doors, and holes punched through siding or framing, so the structure is secure and weathertight at ground level and above. The two are sometimes needed on the same call, most commonly when a tree hits a house hard enough to damage both the roof and a window or wall below it, and when that happens we schedule both as part of the same visit rather than making you coordinate two separate appointments.

Honest response time expectations. Board-up calls are genuinely urgent, and we treat them that way, but we don’t promise a guaranteed arrival window. How quickly we can get to you depends on your location, which technicians are available, weather and traffic conditions, and what else is on the schedule. Active break-ins, storm damage during severe weather, and situations where the property can’t be secured by the homeowner in the meantime are prioritized ahead of calls that can reasonably wait a few hours.

How pricing works

Emergency Board-Up is priced as a range, since the scope depends on how many openings need securing and how they’re accessed.

• Single-opening board-ups, one window or one door, are priced toward the lower end of the range, based on size and material.
• Multiple openings, common after a break-in with several windows forced or a storm that damaged more than one point, are priced by scope, with each opening as its own line.
• What changes the price: how many openings, their size and height, whether custom cutting is needed for an odd-shaped breach, and whether the work happens after hours or in severe weather.
• This is temporary security, not a permanent repair. Board-up stops the immediate exposure. Replacing the window, door, or wall section permanently is scoped and priced separately once things have calmed down.

As general market context, not a Transit & Flow quote, Angi’s 2025 data on emergency board-up services puts typical costs in the $200 to $500 per opening range for straightforward window or door boarding, with larger or multiple-opening jobs running higher. Enter your project details and photos in the Estimate Builder for a preliminary online estimate. Final scope and price subject to verification on site.

What’s included

• On-site assessment of every damaged opening, not just the one you noticed first
• Secure boarding of broken windows, damaged doors, and wall breaches using weather-resistant material
• Basic clearing of broken glass or debris immediately around the opening for safety
• Photo documentation you can use for a police report or insurance claim
• Coordination with our roofing team the same visit if a tree or storm also damaged the roof

What’s not included

• Permanent window, door, or wall repair and replacement, which is scoped and quoted as its own project once the property is secure
• Roof tarping, which is covered by our separate Emergency Tarping service when the roof itself is breached
• Full interior cleanup or contents restoration after a break-in or storm event
• Insurance claim filing, negotiation, or adjuster representation. Transit & Flow Group is not a public adjuster and does not negotiate your claim on your behalf
• Mold remediation or asbestos and lead paint testing or abatement. Boarding up an older opening can expose aging materials, and if we see anything that raises those concerns, we’ll tell you plainly and refer you to a separately qualified specialist rather than handling it ourselves

Why Central Ohio homes need fast board-up

Central Ohio’s storm season brings straight-line winds and hail capable of shattering windows or driving debris through siding, and the mature tree canopy across neighborhoods like Clintonville, Bexley, and Upper Arlington means a falling limb through a window is a recurring call after a wind event. Break-ins happen year-round and need the same fast response, both to secure the home and because insurers and sometimes police want the property documented and secured promptly. Older housing stock in areas like the Hilltop and Whitehall often has original window and door framing that splinters more easily when forced, meaning a break-in there can leave a larger opening than in a newer build. Whatever the cause, boarding up quickly matters most before the next rain or overnight temperature drop, since a breach left open even a few hours can add interior water or freeze damage on top of the original break.

Our process

1. Call (614) 382-0000 or describe it online. Tell us how many openings are affected and whether anyone needs to stay on-site for safety.
2. On-site assessment. We check every damaged opening, including ones you may not have noticed, and check whether the roof was also hit.
3. Boarding. Each opening is secured with weather-resistant material, fitted and fastened for that specific opening.
4. Documentation. You get photos for your own records, a police report, or an insurance claim.
5. Next steps. We give you a written scope for the permanent repair, with final scope and price subject to verification, whether that’s window and door replacement or coordinated roof repair.

Services completed by appropriately qualified professionals where required.