The post Very Nasty Windshield Damage Repaired. appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>Prevent from spreading across windshield
Save money by not having to replace windshield
Make the chip less visible and restore structural integrity
Give us a call today to have your windshield fixed! 334-478-0407
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]]>The post Repair Before The Rock Chip Spreads appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>This particular type of windshield rock chip is very prone to spreading across the windshield. The crack radiating out from the rock chip has already started to spread and over time, will spread even further. With the cold weather here, if this customer had turned on their window defroster there would have been a very high chance of the crack spreading right then and there.
The repair on this windshield came out nicely. Unfortunately, this chip had a rather large impact point which is why the repair spot is bigger than usual. The reason the pit is more noticeable after a repair is because we use a harder resin to seal up the pit to prevent anything from getting in there and to smooth out the repair.
Make the chip less visible and restore structural integrity
Give us a call today to have your windshield fixed! 334-478-0407
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]]>The post Why Does A Vehicles Headlights Turn Foggy Or Yellow appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>Traditionally, automobile headlights worked without much issue. In the past, automotive headlights were glass and either worked or didn’t. Today, automotive headlights are made of polycarbonate and can turn yellow or foggy without you noticing it.
When automotive headlights turn yellow or fog up, they pose a threat to other cars, pedestrians, as well as to your family and yourself. In many states, severely yellowed or impaired headlights may lead to a ticket and even license suspension. Car headlights are a serious business and involve real safety issues in the maintenance of your car. Yellowed or foggy lenses reduce visibility for many of the cars on the road today.
There are multiple reasons why this can happen.
Fortunately, there are ways to prevent headlight problems. Be careful not to polish the headlights too much because it can wear down the clear coat. The polish should have no grit in it and a soft polish medium can remove early yellowing signs. The car should either be parked in a garage or its headlights should face away from the sun. By doing so, ultraviolet light cannot damage the headlight.
If you want to clean your headlights, it is recommended to wash the headlights every three months with an automotive soap. This has the advantage of preventing acids and dirt from building up that cause yellowing. If it appears the yellowing has progressed too far, sandpaper or abrasive cleaner will have to be used to remove the old clear coat and a new protective film will have to be applied.
You should have a professional do the sanding for you. Although a kit can be purchased at a retail store, amateurs might make mistakes sanding the very sensitive polycarbonate surface on automotive headlights. Consequently, they will incur additional costs. Furthermore, the professional can suggest the proper type of clear coat for optimal results. Here in Wetumpka, Alabama, that professional is GlassVet.
The tops of the headlights turning yellow is not as serious an emergency as worn brake pads or pistons malfunctioning. In fact, you may drive for weeks without realizing there is a problem. However, caring for your automotive headlights is something you shouldn’t put off indefinitely.
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]]>The post What Is The Importance of Headlight Restoration appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>The physical appearance and safety of your vehicle can be significantly improved by restoring your headlights. The professional headlight restoration we offer can be completed today, so you can start driving your car with new looking headlights again. The service we offer is not just a simple headlight cleaning; it’s a complete and long-lasting restoration of your headlights.
It is not just the way your headlights look but also the way they function that will be degraded by the sun’s harmful UV rays, halogen bulb heating, road debris, and weather over time. The effects of these factors can lead to headlights that are not attractive and lose their main feature; illumination. We have the system to repair your headlights so that they are as good as new, but at a fraction of the price of a replacement. By using our restoration service, you can save up to 85% off the cost of replacement headlights that can range from $400 to $1,500.
In modern vehicles, the polycarbonate headlights have a tendency of aging or yellowing rapidly. Yellowed or cloudy headlights is one of the most noticeable things on a vehicle that makes it appear older or not well maintained. GlassVet headlight restoration can drastically improve the resale value of your vehicle. A proper restoration can take years off the look of your vehicle and make it appear more clean.
Our headlight restoration service resurfaces the polycarbonate lenses. This is done by wet-sanding the lenses to remove all of the oxidation, polishing the lens and then finishing the lenses off with a fresh protective coating that is long lasting. The end product is a lens restored close to its original factory condition for years.
Headlight restoration will most certainly improve your car’s overall appearance but more importantly, it improves you and your passengers safety. A restored headlight’s ability to project light is greatly improved. Its performance can be improved up to 3.4 times more light on the road and up to 140% further down the road visibility. When you go with Fix A Chip to restore your yellowed headlights, they will again allow the light to properly go through the lenses as they should.
Your headlights wont tell you they need help but now you will know when they do and what you should do. Don’t take your headlights for granted, call us today!
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]]>The post The Benefits of Windshield Repair appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>It’s not a question of if you will have to deal with a chipped windshield, but when will you have to deal with one. Unfortunately, for car owners, windshield chips and dings are just a fact a life, especially if you drive periodically on unimproved roads.
Windshield chip repair is a cost effective, fast & easy repair that many drivers put off until that little chip turns into a large crack stretching across the entire glass requiring replacement. Windshield replacement takes more time, effort and costs a whole lot more. Especially, if you have a new vehicle with ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System), which could cost you over a thousand dollars to replace the windshield.
When it comes to having a chip fixed, there is no good reason to delay. Unrepaired chips are not going to get any better, it’s almost guaranteed that they will get worse. The windshield on your vehicle, undamaged, is very strong for a reason and that is your safety. However, when you get a chip in your car windshield it weakens the structural integrity of the windshield. Once the chip cracks and that cracks begins to grow, it lowers the integrity even further. Driving your vehicle with a cracked windshield is not just annoying, it is also dangerous.
The post The Benefits of Windshield Repair appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>The post Repair or Replace Your Windshield? appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>Replacing your vehicles windshield can be very costly, especially with newer vehicles. Insurance companies prefer to pay to have the windshield repaired instead of replacing it. So much so, that most insurance companies will not charge you a deductible to have it repaired and it will also not affect your monthly bill. Even if you don’t have insurance, repair is a much cheaper option.
Newer vehicles are equipped with ADAS, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, and when you need to replace the windshield the entire system has to be recalibrated. Because of this, the cost to replace a windshield on a new vehicle can be over a thousand dollars.
To sum it up, if your windshield is able to be repaired, we recommend going that route because it could save you hundreds of dollars. Also it is worth noting that our windshield repair puts the structural integrity back into the glass without compromising it’s safety.
For you and your passengers safety we will only repair chips or cracks according to the characteristics listed below.
If the damage is not deeper than the exterior windshield glass layer
If the chip or crack is not directly in the driver’s line of sight
If the chip is located further than 1 inch away from the edge of the windshield
If the crack doesn’t not extend past 14 inches in length
There is an exception to the above list, and that is if the damage is directly in the line of sight of the driver. A break in this area of the windshield, Based on the drivers line of sight over the steering wheel, even if the damage is properly repaired can be very distracting for the driver.
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]]>The post Types Of Windshield Rock Chips appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>Windshield rock chip breaks where traditionally placed in one of four categories; Bullseye, Halfmoon, Star & Combination. Nowadays, we have an additional four categories to place them in; Surface Chip, Angel Wings, Star Burst and Straight-line Break.
Generally, each of these eight break types are repairable depending on the size of the damage and its location on the windshield. We must take special care when doing repairs where the damage is at the edge of the windshield because the design stresses are higher in this area. We need to be able to fully access the rock chip break to properly restore it.
The Bullseye break is one of the most common rock chip damages to windshields. This break looks like the bullseye on a dartboard, a cone shaped break on the outer layer of glass.
The combo break is a mix of the Star break and the Bullseye break chip types. This break will be cone shaped with a star break present inside of it.
The Half Moon break, also referred to as a partial bullseye, looks similar to a bullseye except it has a half circle in the middle of it. When the rock or other debris impacted the windshield, it did so at an odd angle. This type of break is more difficult to repair so that the break doesn’t crack in the future.
The Star Break has cracks, which we refer to as legs, radiating from the center of the damage making it resemble a star. If the legs on the break extend too far, we may have to do a crack repair to prevent it from spreading further.
The Star Burst break resembles a combination break but with a large number of cracks (legs) protruding from the impact point.
A surface chip is damage to the outer layer of the windshield glass but didn’t impact into the inner layer which is poly-vinyl butyral.
An Angel Wing break is a combination break that has distinct cracks that extend left and right of the impact damage and look like wings.
A Straight Line break has a fracture splitting the glass across the impact point left to right.
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]]>The post Why a Windshield Rock Chip Is Still Visible After The Repair appeared first on Glassvet.
]]>When we go out to repair a windshield chip, we always strive for a result of 100% structural integrity and a 70% – 90% clarity. Understandably, some customers might expect an unblemished, perfect windshield as a result of getting their glass repaired. Unfortunately, no repair can bring back your windshield glass to a factory installed condition. Going over the process of repairing a rock chip damage might help you better understand why and what you can realistically expect.
To repair the rock chip damage, we fill the damaged area with a resin that is made to harden and bond with the glass. Once the risen hardens, it will be close to the same durability as the glass. The resin does not blend invisibly with the glass, it comes pretty close depending on the type and severity of the damage though. Our resin comes in different tints for varying breaks and situations that help with concealing the damage.
After the repair, what you have left is the impact point or pit as we refer to it which is quite small and dull in color. Also, at certain angles you will still be able to see the cracks but they too will be dull. The damage will be more noticeable from inside the car looking out because you’re looking through a light source. The light source illuminates the fine fractures in the windshield glass causing it to be more visible.
The larger the chip damage, the more visible it will be.
Call us as soon as possible after a rock chip occurs to help ensure that we achieve the best looking outcome for your repair. Also, as soon as you get a chip in your windshield, cover the damage with a piece of tape and call us. The tape will help keep foreign debris & water out of the break which can cause it to be more noticeable.
The post Why a Windshield Rock Chip Is Still Visible After The Repair appeared first on Glassvet.
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