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FAQ
HOW DOES A WINDSHIELD REPAIR WORK, AND WHY WOULD I NEED IT?
Windshields are laminated pieces of glass, which means they are two pieces of glass sandwiched together with a thick piece of polyvinyl butryal in the middle. This is what allows windshields to get chips, and cracks instead of shattering when impacted. Whenever you get these chips, or cracks, the outer layer glass is now technically being separated in to two different pieces. As the glass undergoes thermal expansion and compression / stress from potholes, train tracks, etc. by having that outer layer separated, the two pieces can move in sperate directions causing it to expand the damage more. By getting your windshield professionally filled in, and with high quality resins, this will bond that outer layer glass back into one solid piece dramatically reducing the chances of it expanding any more. Getting your windshield repaired is important because not only can having a damaged windshield not look the best, but it can obstruct your view, can be illegal if its in the drivers point of view, and it even weakens the structural integrity of your vehicle which is possibly a risk during car accidents. Repairing your windshield instead of replacing it is also wallet and eco friendly as our repairs can cost a fraction of your average replacement, comes with a lifetime warranty, and it keeps unnecessary waste out of our landfills!
IS THERE ANYTHING I NEED TO DO TO PREPARE BEFORE GETTING A REPAIR, OR ANYTHING TO DO AFTER A REPAIR?
Before getting a repair, you want to make sure all of your chips & cracks are dry. A simple effective way to do this is by covering the damages area with tape. This will prevent any water from getting in them, as this can mess with our repair process. If it has already gotten wet make sure to let it air our for at least an hour before covering it with tape, if not you'll just trap all the moisture inside. If your windshield got wet before you could get it covered in tape, and is within 1 hour before the repair, please notify the technician as we do offer the option to air it out. Please keep in mind if you go this route there is a small risk involved that the chip / crack can worsen during this. Refer to our policies, warranties, and disclaimers page for more information.
After you get a repair done here by us, no matter how small or big it was we always recommend to leave it outside, in the sun as much as you can for 24 hours, and to avoid high pressure water for 24 hours. Other than that just make sure to hold on to your square receipt, or profile information to maintain that life time warranty!
HOW EFFECTIVE ARE WINDSHIELD REPAIRS?
This will vary from shop to shop. Here at Street Smarts we give our work a Life Time Warranty, so we assume if any of our customers had any issues they would have came back. We have extensively kept record of any redos, or refunds on our repairs, and are proud to say as of January 2025 we have a 97% success rate!
WHY DO SOME REPAIRS LOOK DIFFERENT THAN OTHERS, AND HOW DO I ENSURE I GET THE BEST LOOKING REPAIR POSSIBLE?
So this is a very important question, and one every customer should understand while going to get a repair.
An important thing to understand with windshield repair is surface layer damage, Inner layer damage, and contamination.
- Surface layer damage:
Surface layer damage is identified as any damage that can be felt on the outside of the windshield by gently rubbing your nail over it. An example of this is what we call in the industry, a "Pit." Whenever a rock hits your windshield the rock is literally removing a section of glass upon impact. Sometimes it can be small, sometimes it can be big, and is noticeable as being the white dot in the center of the chip that can have glass flake from it if scratched with a tool.
Another example is with running cracks, due to the length of the crack it is common these cracks run all the way up to the surface. In all surface layer damage situations it will be the most noticeable part of the repair as you will see the resin that is sealing, and bonding the glass back together. The best analogy I give for this is that it's like wielding in the sense that you will always see the bead that binds the metal together.
- Inner Layer Damage:
After the rock makes impact, you will notice either a bubble surrounding the pit, cracks radiating from the pit, or a combination of the both. This is Inner layer damage. This is the actual "Chip" or "Crack" inside the glass that can continue to expand if left untreated. The inner layer damage is usually the least noticeable part of the repair, HOWEVER depending on the size it can still be quite noticeable, leaving a silhouette of where the empty space used to be.
- Contamination:
Remember that windshields are laminated. This means that there is a plastic in-between the two layers of glass, and due to this, if any contamination such as dirt, bug guts, car soap, car wax, etc. gets inside of the damaged area, it has a high likely hood of contaminating this plastic. Once this happens, any dirt or debris will leave the repair looking black after being repaired. If the laminate gets contaminated with car soap, or car wax, it may even be unable to receive our lifetime warranty as these products can contain hydrophobic properties, making our resin unable to properly fill in the damaged area as it will be rejected. A great practice to avoid contamination, is whenever your windshield gets damaged, refrain from using any wiper fluid, or taking it to a car wash. Instead pull over as soon as possible, rub it down with a dry microfiber towel, and cover it with scotch tape nice and flush with something firm (Like a credit card) making sure you leave no air bubbles left behind. This ensures even it rains, gets washes, etc. that damaged area well remain dry and contaminate free by the tape.
WHAT TYPES OF GLASS / VEHICLES QUALIFY FOR A REPAIR?
Any vehicle that has laminated glass is repairable! The only exception is Jeep "Gorilla Glass" windshields, as we have had issues with this brand in the past. We also have disclaimers on the risks of working on chips/cracks near the edges of the windshield, and any cracks that have broken the outside and inside of the windshield, you can read more details about this on our "Policies, Warranty Information, and Disclaimers" page!
IF MY REPAIR STILL CONTINUED TO EXPAND WHAT DO I DO?
As long as you have your receipt and it was under warranty just come on back and we can fix it again for free, or if it's too big and you're no longer happy you can instead get a full refund instead! Make sure you bring in the windshield that had the failed repair to receive the refund, if you replace it before we get to see it this will void the warranty.
HOW MUCH DOES YOUR SERVICES COST, AND WHAT FORMS OF PAYMENT DO YOU TAKE?
For our Windshield Repair Service you can view our prices
Here.
For our Headlight Restoration Service you can view our prices
Here.
For the forms of payment we take the following:
Cash +tax
Cashapp +tax and cash app fee (2.75%)
Card (swipe, chip, and tap to pay) +tax and card fee (2.6%+¢10)
AfterPay
WHAT OTHER SERVICES DO YOU OFFER?
At the moment the only other services we offer is headlight restoration and polish.
We are also hopefully going to be offering here soon, PPF for headlights, and also CLearPlex installations (basically a screen protector, but for a windshield)