Main Reasons Why Windscreens Chip and Crack

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Windscreen damage happens all the time usually appearing first as windscreen chips and cracks. No matter how hard you try to keep your car as healthy and pristine as possible, a chip can occur at any moment – and for many reasons. Left untreated, windscreen chips turn to full blown cracks and become more and more dangerous and costly as time goes on.

Here at 1st Call Windscreens we’ve put together some of the most common reasons why you might find chips and cracks on your windscreen. If you know what might cause a windscreen chip, the more likely you are to prevent them in the future.

Rocks, stones, gravel and debris

The most obvious and noticeable source of windscreen damage is airborne debris from the road itself. Roads are scattered with plenty of stones and rocks that can be easily stirred up and sent flying by cars and trucks travelling by at high speeds.

This one shouldn’t creep up on you; when a stone or something similar strikes your windscreen you’ll almost definitely notice it. When something like that strikes the glass with force it can create a sizable chip and should be repaired immediately. Leaving a chip like this alone is just asking for trouble. The glass will already be substantially weaker, so you don’t want to tempt fate and hope nothing else makes it worse. Something definitely will.

Temperature change

It’s not just direct impact that can cause windscreen cracks, you also have to keep an eye out for stress cracks. These are harder to notice and can be caused by any number of things.

A common cause of stress cracks is a sudden change in temperature. An example would be if you were to use boiling hot water to melt the ice on a windshield during the winter.

This isn’t only affected by your actions though, if the temperature in your area often changes drastically then the glass of your vehicle windscreen will be constantly contracting and expanding. This puts a lot of extra stress on your windscreen in different areas, so a crack can easily form in the circumstances.

Direct sunlight

Prolonged, clear sunlight might be a welcome sight here in the UK, but it doesn’t bring the same joy and celebration to your windscreen. Exposure to intense heat can distort the glass and cause chips or even fracture the windscreen in extreme cases. Heat can also make the metal around the glass expand, which will impact the edges of your windscreen faster than the centre. The best way to avoid these kinds of cracks is to make sure to park your car in the shade while you’re out enjoying the sun.

Structural weakness

The windscreen is important to the structural integrity and safety of your vehicle. It is prone to a lot of pressure around the edges so a high manufacturing quality is critical for the strength and durability of the windscreen. If your windscreen has been manufactured poorly, then it is much more likely to gain cracks, chips and fractures from slight strains or pressures.

This needs to be rectified right away, if your windscreen isn’t strong enough to do the job it was made for in the first place then driving your car will be unsafe. 1st Call Windscreens offer affordable windscreen replacements for when standard repair isn’t enough. If you find that your windscreen is susceptible to damage on a regular basis talk to us to arrange a replacement.

Day to day use

If you’ve got a slight chip in your windscreen but it’s not blocking your view and you just don’t want to deal with getting it repaired, you’re inviting further damage. The longer you leave it, the easier it will be for even the slightest everyday pressures to take their toll. Slamming the car door, driving over speed bumps, and driving down bumpy, loose dirt roads can all become more damaging to your windscreen if it’s already weakened by a chip. Just because the chip or crack isn’t disrupting your line of sight now, doesn’t mean it won’t do in the near future if left undealt with. As soon as you see a chip on your windscreen you must get it fixed. It will solve a lot of problems down the line.

1st Call Windscreens offer a 24/7 windscreen repair service to Maidstone, Gillingham, Sittingbourne, Chatham, Rochester and the Medway Towns. Our experienced and professional team will replace or repair your windscreen efficiently and to the highest standard, meaning there’s no reason to let that chip or crack go untreated any longer. Get in touch today so we can ensure your windscreen is strong and safe.

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1st Call Windscreens

Hello and welcome to 1st Call Windscreens. To put it simply, we offer the best windscreen repair and windscreen replacement services for customers in Sittingbourne, Maidstone and the rest of Kent.