Windshield glass is referred to as laminated glass within the glass industry.  That is because of the way the glass is "put together."

    When putting a windshield together, it is manufactured by rolling a layer of glass, a layer of plastic, and another layer of glass together into one sheet.  Then the process continues to cut and bend that sheet into the desired shape.  If you were to cut a windshield and look at the cross section, it looks like a sandwich, with plastic sandwiched between the two layers of glass.

    This laminated glass is actually the only auto glass that is able to be repaired.  The plastic holds the resin in place while it is finding it's way into all the fissures and cracks of the break.  Since neither layer of glass is tempered, (see previous blog titled ,"Tempered"), and there is the layer of plastic between each layer of glass, the outside glass simply chips when impacted by a rock.

    The rock that hits the windshield typically only breaks the outside layer of glass.  If the rock is big enough or impacts hard enough to break both layers of glass, the windshield is not repairable and must be replaced. 

    If you have any questions about any damage to your windshield and need some free advice, please give us a call and we'll make arrangements to take a look for you.