What We Fix
What is the process to repair a windshield?
Glad you asked! When you get hit by a rock and it creates damage to your windshield and this damage is not just on the surface (superficial) but it has depth to it, rather microscopic depth. We’re talking as small as thousandths of millimeters. In this depth there are many tiny fishers and these fractures in the the newly created void of the glass appear black, mirror like or rainbow in color.
This is where things get interesting, this air in the void is the culprit for the propagating of the crack, because air expands and contracts with hot and cold temperature changes as well as torque torsion vibration of the vehicle driving down the street, even with the slamming of doors, pressure in the cabin of your vehicle will cause the damage to your windshield to crack further.
When a windshield repairmen is well trained and thorough they will find every break in your windshield , they will also ensure that every fissure and fracture of the break that they’ve repaired has been injected into, this mitigating the possibility of further cracking. Once the injection has taken place to repair resin is cured by ultraviolet light for a solid secure bond.
But only the excellent can do this while providing you with a clear view when the repair is completed.
Do you have one of these…
Snowflakes! Yeah snowflakes. Just as no snowflake is the same stonebreaks are similar but never the same. They vary in size, shape, depth, and complexity.
However we have been able to categorize them for your understanding.
There’s the “SURFACE CHIP”; it has no potential of cracking but is a blight that can be cleared up.
There’s the “BULLSEYE”; this is always circular in pattern sometimes 1/4, 1/2 or Full.
Then there’s the “STAR”; this has as little as 1 to 2 fingers protruding from the impact to hundred of fishers with a circumference of a silver dollar.
There’s the merger of both of these to make a “COMBINATION BREAK.”
And finally the “CRACK” which can be repairable up to 18 inches long but we’ll talk about that later on.
Have a chip? We’ll fill you in!
Show me the Money!
How to measure your chip, crack, or break for accurate repair estimates
Step 1: Find some money
Check your couch, pockets, or spouse’s wallet for some change or greenbacks
Step 2: set the money next to the damage
Pick the currency that’s closest to the size of the chip, crack or break, and keep an eye out for any additional chips you hadn’t noticed, you may want to include those too!
Step 3: Text those photos!
Take a picture of the money with the damage and text it directly to our schedulers at 303-229-7442. Let us know your year, make, model and color, and when in the next couple of days you’d like us to come. We’ll text you back ASAP!
Cracks up to 18″
You might be wondering why we fix a crack 18 inches long but not 36 inches long. The simple answer is we have to stop somewhere (ha ha)! The long answer is time is of the essence; an 18 inch crack gives us a timeline and will let us know that the crack is not much older than a few months – that is important because the longer a crack is in the windshield the more potential it has to fill in with dirt/contamination and moisture, windshield washer fluid, rain X, soap from the car wash… all of these contaminate the crack and impede our ability to do the best repair possible not only for strength and integrity but also for clarity to give you a Clearview repair. We need it fresh and new, for that and 18 inch crack will do.
We’ll crack you up!
Breaks
Typical breaks you’ll see:
What is stone break? And by any other name will it crack as much? The answer is yes – it would crack clear across your Windshield if you don’t fix it. There are a few kinds of breaks…and we fix each and every one of them
- Bullseyes (circular in nature) can be called full moon, half moon, dinger, wanger, bullet hole, etc… Stars (single or multiple angular fracture)
- Can also be called chip, nick, crack, ding, break, half star, full star, spider, etc…
- Combination (a combination of the two)
There are thousands of reasons we repair but don’t replace….
First and foremost the thousands of reasons that we repair for you because we can save you thousands of dollars in replacements over the years. Heck even some windshields cost thousands to be replaced only once, and that’s why we call it an unnecessary cost to replace unless your windshield is too sandblasted, too pitted, two cracked or two leaky all of these equate to a necessary replacement. So let Clearview keep your ship intact!
The other thousands I’m talking about are the thousands of hours we save our clientele from waiting. Either waiting for your glass to arrive or waiting for the polyurethane to dry on that new replacement.
And finally the thousands if not hundreds of thousands of windshields that are thrown into landfills like this every day, from an environmental standpoint throwing away a windshield is among the worst of our problems because a windshield will take thousands of years to degrade. The time and money it takes to recycle them is not yet advantageous enough for businesses to remedy this problem. So the next time you replace your windshield make sure it’s a NECESSARY replacement and together we can change the world.