Fixing Chips: The Business Of Windshield Repair

Nov. 23--Though gravel is getting sprayed on roads to combat the slick ice, windshield repair worker Geoff Lane said business is actually slowing down this time of year.

Lane, owner and technician at Helena's Novus Glass franchise, said business is down in the winter because people aren't out traveling as much.

Lane said he can continue to work through the cold to repair chips but doesn't fix cracks when the mercury ducks under 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

"As long as I can keep my ballast warm and my lights bright, I can work on (chips)," said Lane, whose business is entirely mobile.

Lane and his dad took over the business in Helena five years ago from a family friend who owned it for 25 years.

To repair a chip, Lane sets up a time and place to find the car, often outside a customer's work. He uses a grinder to clean out the broken glass, injects a resin and then uses concentrated UV light to harden the resin. It's similar, he said, to what a dentist does when repairing a chipped tooth -- only the dentists are binding enamel while Lane is binding glass.

The process takes about one-third longer in winter because the cold slows everything down. But the biggest challenges actually come with moisture, not temperature.

"The season that's hardest on us is June, just because it's the wettest month of the year," he said.

If there's water in a chip, it can't be worked on, Lane said.

Lane said it's beneficial for car-owners to keep up on windshield maintenance because the factory seal done when installing a windshield is better than most replacements can replicate.

He recommended getting a chip fixed when it's within three inches of an edge because those are most vulnerable to crack. In winter, he also suggested addressing chips on the bottom-third of a windshield, because hot air from the defroster will create a rapid temperature change and threaten a crack.

Once he fixes a chip, Lane calls the vehicle's owner to come sign an invoice, and owners rarely have to front the cost.

Most insurance companies will typically waive the deductible and cover the cost windshield repair as long as the driver has more than basic liability coverage.

Ken Dalton, owner of Clear Choice Auto Glass, has been in the business for over 30 years. In the last decade, he said, technology to fix windshields has come a long way. Before that progress, the only option was to get a windshield replaced.

Dalton offers mobile chip replacement but said he prefers to work in the shop where it's easier to maintain a controlled environment. Plus, in his shop he has an air compressor to blow broken glass out of a side or back window if someone needs those replaced.

Dalton said windshields are the only part of a car with laminated glass, meaning it has a plastic sheet in the middle, whereas other windows are tempered glass. And when tempered glass is impacted hard enough, it shatters instead of chipping.

But Dalton works on windshields much more often than other windows, and said his busy time of year is also in the spring.

When replacing a windshield, Dalton said he uses factory-grade adhesive that allows for a better bond between the windshield and the car. And he does it mainly for safety reasons.

"A lot of people aren't aware that windshield glass is part of the structure of the body," Dalton said.

Though windshields are weak from direct impact, Dalton said they are very strong when compressed vertically. So in the event of a rollover, windshield strength is an essential safety feature.

Dalton said when windshields were replaced they used to finely ground and used in asphalt. Now, because of the laminate in the glass, those windshields often end up in landfills.

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