When I noticed a few chips in the windows of my home, I didn't worry too much about how it would affect anything. Instead, I mainly focused on how it made my home look, and I secretly cursed the unsightly damage. However, those small chips began to grow until there were large cracks. After having that experience, I decided to dedicate myself to spreading the word about the problems associated damaged glass. Read this blog to find out how damaged glass could affect you and your family members.
Understanding The Dangers of Damaged Glass
Three Mistakes To Avoid When Repairing Windshield Chips
Maëlyne Fleury
Dealing with unexpected glass damage is no fun, but don't allow the frustration to cause you to lose your cool. Hasty action can result in making an error in judgment that will cause worse damage in the future that's even more of a headache to repair. Dealing with a small chip incorrectly, in fact, can even result in needing to replace your entire windshield. Assess any new windshield damage rationally so you can avoid these three windshield chip repair mistakes.
1. Relying on someone inexperienced
This can be a problem if you try to get your chip repaired at a place you've never heard of before just because it's nearby. However, it can also happen if you decide that it's not worth the cost of a professional repair because you've seen those do-it-yourself repair kits and they're much cheaper. Even if you're great with DIY, the repair kits you're likely to find won't make up for your lack of glass repair expertise. And having a friend who's good with cars do the repair for you isn't a good idea either. Unless your friend has specific experience with repairing auto glass (which is a completely different sector of the industry from mechanical repair and requires different skills), his or her experience with cars isn't likely to furnish the necessary expertise.
2. Using cheap tools
Those cheap DIY kits mentioned above are a prime source for cheap-o tools. The disposable nature of the kit means that the tools in question are likely to be flimsy, limited, and nowhere near the professional quality of the tools used at an auto glass repair shop. Although the resinous compound provided may be able to seal your windshield chip if applied expertly, the tools at hand aren't likely to allow a good application job, whether or not you have a good understanding of what you're doing. And if it's done wrong, the damage can increase over time rather than halting.
3. Delaying repairs indefinitely
This is the best way to make sure you'll eventually need to replace your windshield altogether. Ignoring the damage and continuing to use the car as normal allows vibrations to help the chip along until it develops cracks and sends them out across your windshield. After a period of months or years, this will mean that your windshield is no longer able to provide the visibility you need to drive safely, and you'll have to get the entire thing replaced. This is much more expensive than just repairing a few chips, besides meaning that you'll have an unsightly windshield for several months.
These three missteps can cost you more money and difficulty than they're worth. Instead of showing the poor judgment displayed in these examples, just take your car to a professional auto glass repair in your area whenever it needs a chip repaired.
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