Cary, North Carolina is a booming city, home to renowned restaurants, top-tier entertainment, world-class dining, and a diversity of outdoor experiences. Failing to give a cracked windshield the attention it deserves before hitting these Cary hotspots could result in more damage to your auto glass.
Glass Repair Now or Glass Replacement Later?
It happens to drivers all the time. A piece of gravel hits their windshield, and just like that, there’s a little crack. If it isn’t in your view, it’s easy to put off a windshield repair for now. It isn’t doing any harm. Why pay the cost of a glass repair when you really don’t need it?
Over time, you might even get used to the damage in your auto glass. After a while, you don’t even notice it anymore. But damaged glass doesn’t heal and it can get a lot worse. Under some circumstances, a small crack can turn into a big problem.
Why Does Windshield Damage Grow?
Windshields are made of layers of glass for strong resistance against cracks and breaks. Once something causes a large enough crack, it damages the integrity of the glass. Think of it as breaking a few threads in a woven fabric. Once those threads break, they are no longer held in place or bonded as tightly to the nearby threads.
Several things can cause the damage to get worse. Changes in temperature, such as pouring hot water on a frozen windshield, can do it. The hot water causes the glass to expand in the area where the water is applied. It remains frozen in other areas, causing the glass to break.
The same is true if you pour cold water on a hot windshield, like if you run your car through the car wash after it sat out in the sun all day. Changes in pressure also cause minor damage to grow. This can result from the change in atmospheric pressure or from high winds or an impact.
Do I Need a Windshield Repair or a Replacement?
Most small chips and cracks require windshield repairs and not replacements. The exceptions are for cracks that interfere with your line of vision or those near the outer edges of the glass.
When a windshield repair is all you need, we restore the glass by injecting a clear resin into the outer surface of the glass. Once the resin cures, we polish it to make the glass look as good as new.
If you need a windshield replacement, the cost depends on the make and model of your vehicle. Contact us today to get a quote or to schedule an appointment with the glass repair pros at Impex Auto Glass in Cary, NC.