Do You Need Windshield Replacement or Repair?

Road debris, stray gravel on the highway, or a collision may have damaged your windshield, affecting your view and making your car less aesthetically pleasing. Windshield replacement or repair could be in the cards for your vehicle, but which decision is right for you?

Luckily, Caliber Auto Glass does both — repairing or replacing chipped, cracked, and otherwise damaged windshields in an instant. Which type you’ll need — replacement or repair — depends on several factors. We’ll share a rundown to help reduce the confusion on whether to repair or replace your auto glass and explain the difference between chips and cracks and their impacts to restoring your auto glass back to original equipment manufacturer guidelines.

What’s the Difference Between a Chipped and Cracked Windshield?

Although the ways you can damage your windshield vary widely, the damage inflicted on one of your vehicle’s most important safety features generally results in a chip or a crack.

There’s a reason that windshield auto glass is referred to as safety glass. It consists of two pieces of glass and features a laminated layer of plastic between those layers. This is why when something impacts your windshield, the glass shatters instead of breaking, which makes a broken windshield much less dangerous to the occupants of the vehicle.

Windshield chips occur when something strikes the windshield and causes a part of the outside safety glass to chip off. Some chips are repairable, depending on the depth of the chip. However, particularly deep chips involving the inner laminated layer of plastic inside your windshield may be beyond repair and necessitate a replacement of the entire windshield.

It’s important to remember that even small chips in your windshield require attention. These chips are called “seeds” because, over time, they can grow into cracks, jeopardizing the safety that your windshield provides you and your occupants.

Windshield cracks are more serious than chips. A crack forms a discernible line where the glass layer on the outside or inside of the windshield has begun to separate. Cracks usually start small (sometimes they are even hard to see) but almost always grow and spread, becoming larger, more dangerous, and more cosmetically noticeable. Temperature changes such as driving in cold air or exposure to sun and heat can cause cracks to get larger. Additionally, small pieces of dirt can penetrate the smallest cracks, causing them to eventually grow larger.

The everyday operation of your vehicle can also cause a crack to worsen. Stressors on the road — such as, driving over potholes or hitting a rough patch of pavement — can send vibrations throughout the vehicle. These stressors can result in the crack growing larger.

When To Repair a Cracked or Chipped Windshield

While repairing a windshield is the more affordable option, not all chips can be repaired. Auto glass technicians are limited in their ability to repair chips in the windshield by not just the type of chip or the size of the chip but also by its location — proximity to the perimeter of the windshield. Other factors include the depth, and whether there is more than one chip.

• The damage is deep. If the chip or the crack in your windshield involves both layers of the windshield, replacement is necessary. Penetration of the outer layer can result in the exposure of the plastic layer sandwiched between the two layers, causing discoloration that impedes the clarity of the windshield and can affect the driver's view of the road.
• The crack or chip is big. The glass is generally repairable if the crack is less than 3-inches long. Technicians might attempt to repair it if it's slightly longer and doesn’t interfere with the driver’s line of sight and ADAS is not a factor. Depending on the size of the crack, glass repairs are not always successful and it’s important customers have realistic expectations to the degree of success. If the crack is past the size of a dollar bill a technician would replace the glass.
• The crack is in a precarious location. Suppose the crack is on the driver’s side. In that case, even if it’s technically repairable, replacement may be a better option because residual marks may impair the driver’s field of vision. Cracks that affect the structural integrity of the safety glass by running from one edge to another or that are particularly close to the edge or perimeter of the windshield may make replacement necessary, too.
• Multiple cracks and/or chips exist. As a rule of thumb, if there are three or more cracks in your windshield in any location, replacement is required. This is because your windshield’s ability to withstand additional impacts is affected by each crack.
• Visibility is compromised.Windshield replacement or repair is essential if a cracked or chipped windshield obscures the driver’s view of the road.
• You live where driving with a chipped or cracked windshield is illegal. State law varies on this. So if you live in a state or in an area where local law prohibits operating your car with a damaged windshield, replacement or repair should occur ASAP to avoid legal trouble, such as fines.

Safety: Should You Drive with a Chipped or Cracked Windshield?

A damaged windshield can impact safety. So it’s crucial to address chips or cracks immediately.

If you’re driving with a cracked or chipped windshield, you take a considerable risk every time you hit the road. A cracked or chipped windshield affects the structural integrity of your vehicle’s cabin, so rollover accidents and even front-end collisions result in more severe damage. Moreover, the protection afforded by an intact windshield is compromised so that injuries may be more severe in the event of a sudden impact.

The bottom line is that driving with a cracked or chipped windshield can be unsafe and is certainly unsightly from an aesthetic point of view. Don’t risk your safety and the safety of others; trust Caliber Auto Glass for windshield repair or replacement. Schedule an appointment with Caliber’s auto glass techs at your local location, or arrange for our glass repair professionals to come to you for a mobile installation.