If you're mowing the grass and hear the blades hit a rock and send it flying, you may experience a sinking feeling. If the rock hits one of the windows in your house, the glass could chip or crack. A chipped window is an eyesore, and it might even be a safety hazard, so you'll want to have the glass repaired or replaced as soon as you can. Here's a look at how a glass repair professional might deal with a rock chip.
Get Mobile Service From a Glass Repair Company
You don't have to remove the window to have it repaired. In fact, bothering the window before the chip repair is done could cause damage to spread. Instead, a glass repair company comes to your home. A rock probably won't cause extensive damage, but if it does, you might find a company that can come after hours to secure the broken glass until it can be repaired or replaced.
Verify Chip Repairs Are Possible
The most important thing is safety. The glass repair person will determine if the chip can be repaired or if the stability of the glass might be affected, and in that case, the glass needs to be replaced. A rock chip is usually a small bit of damage, unlike damage caused by a hit baseball or flying tree branch in a storm. There's a good chance a chip from a small rock in the yard can be repaired. An experienced professional can make this determination for you.
Patch the Chip With Clear Resin
Rock chip repair involves filling the hole with a clear resin that seals the hole and bonds the edges so cracks won't spread. The area has to be prepped first to get rid of sharp areas and dirt so the resin bonds well. The resin is then injected into the chip and allowed to cure. The surface of the glass might be polished afterward to make it level and smooth. Rock chip repairs are nearly invisible when completed. The resin is clear, so it's hard to see. However, there might be a barely detectable imperfection in the glass.
If you want the glass to be crystal clear, then replacing the glass might be necessary. If this is important to you, be sure to talk to the glass repair person about how the repaired area will look. You may decide on glass replacement, and that can also be done on the spot.
The main purpose of a rock chip repair is to stabilize the glass so the risk of cracks spreading from the chip is reduced. If you can't get repair service right away, you might want to cover the window with a piece of plywood to protect it until the chip is fixed. Someone bumping the window or flying debris hitting it again might cause the damage to get worse to the point where repairs might not be possible due to the spread of damage.
Did you know that until the 1500s, most glass that was made had a cloudy look? Clear, colorless glass wasn't invented until the 1500s, and it didn't become popular until the 1700s when people started using it for windows. Clear glass is very common today, but not all of our glass is clear. We also use a good amount of colored glass and clouded glass as a population. And glass has a wider array of uses than ever before. There are entire buildings made from glass, marbles and other toys made from glass, and even fake eyeballs made from this hard material. Learn more about glass as you peruse this website, which we hope serves as an excellent resource.