Evaluate Damage to Decide if Your Windshield Should be Repaired or Replaced

There are specific criteria you can use in order to inspect rock chips in order to determine if you need to seek a windshield repair service in Fort Collins, CO, or get your entire windshield replaced. The difference between the two alternatives is a few hundred dollars. While a chip fill is relatively temporary, it can last quite a long time before you need to seek a more permanent solution. Replacing the windshield of course is a permanent solution, though it costs a bit more than a simple fill repair.

If a large rock connects with the center of your windshield and crushed the glass, you will likely not be able to get it repaired. Crushed glass cannot be filled or sealed, and the location of the damage likely affects the structural integrity of the entire windshield. If you are unsure, it doesn’t hurt to ask a windshield repair technician if a specific crack or chip can be repaired, and seek his recommendation. He will likely be able to give you a good idea just by looking at it visually for a moment.

Another alternative is to test the chip in the glass yourself. You can do this by lightly rubbing a rock chip to see if it disappears. If it disappears, you are either magic and should be worth millions of dollars, or what you thought was a chip in the glass was something else entirely, such as dirt. This really happens. People come into windshield repair shops in Fort Collins, CO with dirty windshields, and ask for them to be repaired. Trustworthy technicians, of course, merely clean the windshield and disabuse them of their illusions with no charge. In short, it is really a good idea to make sure the glass really is chipped or damaged to save yourself embarrassment later on.

If you do have a chip or crack, evaluate its size in terms of pocket change. If the entire dent, including any tributary cracks are the size of a quarter or less, then chances are that a windshield repair technician in Fort Collins, CO can repair is fairly easily. If it is larger than a half dollar coin, it probably cannot be repaired. If the glass in the center is actually crushed rather than dented, that definitely cannot be repaired.

Resin repairs are ultimately temporary and at some point you will need to replace the windshield. If the repair of a small crack is successful, however, you may still get many months or even years out of the windshield before it will need to be replaced.