We'd rather fix it than sell you a windshield
A chip repair pays us a lot less than a new windshield. We still recommend it whenever it'll work, because the factory seal on your car is better than any replacement we could put in. If your chip can be repaired, we'll tell you so on the phone.
The part nobody sees
A windshield is held in by a bead of urethane about as wide as your finger. That bead has to stick to the glass and to the painted metal frame around the opening. If the frame is rusty, or the old glue got scraped down to bare metal and never primed, or the primer didn't get time to dry, the new windshield looks perfect the day you drive away and leaks into the headliner a couple of winters later.
So we don't rush that part. We trim the old glue down evenly instead of gouging it, treat rust instead of covering it up, and wait on the primer even on a cold morning when we'd rather keep moving. We'd rather do one fewer job a day than hurry the one in front of us.
A real time to wait before driving
Urethane sets up based on temperature and humidity. In January up in Woodland Park or Palmer Lake it takes a lot longer than it does in July in Fountain. We'll tell you the actual number for that day, even when it's inconvenient for both of us.
Your camera gets recalibrated, every time
If your car has a lane-assist camera, we recalibrate it as part of the job. We don't send you to the dealer afterward, and we don't skip it. A camera that's aimed a hair off can brake for something that isn't there, or miss something that is.
We know the weather here
Glass work at 6,000 feet isn't the same as glass work at sea level. Wind on the plains around Falcon and Calhan can make setting a windshield outside unsafe on the wrong day. The sand on the Monument Hill grade and up Ute Pass above Manitou means chip repair is just regular maintenance around here. All of that changes how we schedule a job and which urethane comes out of the van that morning.
Stuff we'll say no to
- Repairing a crack that runs to the edge of the glass. It'll keep going. That's a replacement.
- Repairing damage right in the driver's line of sight. The little mark a repair leaves isn't worth it.
- Setting glass outside in the rain or a hard crosswind. We'll find a garage or pick another day.
- Handing back a car with a camera without recalibrating it, no matter how big a hurry anyone's in.
Insurance and paperwork
Colorado doesn't license auto glass installers, so there's no license number to look up. What you should ask any glass shop about is insurance. We carry liability coverage and we'll show you the certificate before we start if you want to see it.
We can bill most insurance companies directly. And it's your call who works on your car, not your insurance company's. More on how glass claims work.