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Auto Glass » Installation Matters II

Installation Matters Part 2

In my previous article, I discussed what could go wrong in a windshield replacement. Below, I’ll go into further detail on exactly what Floyd Glass & Window does to avoid such pitfalls and in doing so, hopefully illustrate that you should be paying very close attention to the quality of the job you are paying for.

Supplied here is a step-by-step walkthrough of a typical windshield replacement and what sorts of things we’re paying attention to.
• Remove all obstructions: This varies from car to car, but removing auto parts such as windshield wipers, moldings, cowls, etc without damaging the car is part of the process. Carelessness here leads to broken pieces or scratches to the paint.
• Cut out the old windshield. Various tools are used for this. Pull knives, powered reciprocating blades, etc. This is where the majority of pinch weld nicks happen. Negligence here can cause scratches outside the areas that will be covered.
• Removed excess urethane. The old urethane (windshield glue) needs to be removed, but not all of it. Using a razor knife, the old urethane needs to be shaved down to about a 1/8” depth. This gets skipped in many rush jobs, but failure to do this step causes an increased chance of seal failure since the new urethane is being asked to adhere to an uneven / air pocketed surface. In addition, by simply adding more urethane on top of the old, the windshield will fit into the pinch weld differently, giving a sloppy appearance to the job.
• Prime ALL nicks to Prevent Rust - As mentioned previously, there will probably be places inside the pinch weld that have been scratched during the extraction. This is perfectly normal and generally unavoidable. What matters is how diligently the glass technician primes those spots. This is a major corner that often gets cut by companies looking to maximize their speed. The customer won’t be able to see the scratches and problems won’t arise until after any warranty offered has expired. You are taking it on faith that the technician took the time to avoid leaving you with a ticking time bomb of corrosion.
• Ensure a clean surface in the pinch weld. The urethane will not adhere properly to an unclean surface. We ensure the surface is prepared for a good seal by wiping everything down, and then priming a seal line around the entire pinch weld. We’re told this is overkill…we do it anyway. According to the auto glass associations, we really only need to prime the nicks. However, if the only places the urethane has to properly adhere to is the old urethane and the few spots we primed scratches, then we are limiting our adherence surfaces to a) where someone else laid urethane and b) where we made nicks. We can do better that that by spending a little extra time and primer. The end result is a fully cleaned and primed surface.
• Prep the windshield. The interior side of the windshield needs to be cleaned of dirt and oils to ensure a clean surface. Then, a seal line must be primed all the way around the windshield. The urethane does not stick to glass…just to the primer. So, the primed seal line on the glass needs to match up with the primed seal line previously prepared in the pinch weld. In addition, each brand and style of urethane should be used only with its corresponding primer. Failure at this stage will cause air and water leaks.
• Attach moldings. The molding is that black piece of rubber that surrounds your windshield. Some windshields come with moldings attached, some have custom moldings that must be purchased, others still can use universal molding that we keep on hand.  A reputable glass shop will 1) use the proper molding and 2) disclose the price of said molding up front. Re-using your old, stretched, and aged molding or jury-rigging universal molding to fit a windshield that should have a custom one is one way to shave a few bucks off a glass shop’s cost of goods…but it looks horrible and won’t divert water correctly. And springing the cost of the molding on the customer at the time of install is one way to make the quoted price SEEM cheaper…but it’s dishonest. At Floyd Glass & Window, we use the right molding and we price it for you when we quote the job.
• Lay the urethane in the pinch weld. This is not as straightforward as is sounds and is, in fact, one of the steps that leads to the most seal failures if not done properly.  Urethane is halfway between caulk and tar. It’s stringy and stretchy and difficult to work with and would love nothing more than to get on your headliner (the fabric on your car’s “ceiling”). Still, a nice, neat, even bead of urethane must be laid atop the primed pinch weld seal line. This bead must be continuous since air bubbles or gaps in the urethane lead to leaks. Too much sealant and you get a mess. Not enough and you get leaks. In addition, the urethane needs to be laid with a fine point ridge along the top (imagine a mountain range with a summit ridge). If this peak curls over…air bubble. If this peak is not of consistent height…air bubble. If you stop your bead to change your grip on the urethane gun without overlapping the ridges correctly…air bubble. We have replaced more than a few leaking windshields originally installed by some fly-by-night guy with a magnetic sign on his truck, only to find the problem arose due to incorrectly laid urethane.
• Install Windshield. If you’ve done everything properly, the new windshield should fit in atop the urethane bead perfectly.  However, take note that the number of windshields that can be set by a single installer is very small. The vast majority of windshields require two installers to properly and smoothly place the new auto glass into your vehicle. That said, it’s more expensive to have two glass techs on hand to do this job…therefore a great many auto glass companies cut this corner and have just one tech set windshields that are not rated for single installer. There is, in the industry, a bit of machismo about this; installers bragging that they can set a F250 windshield by themselves, etc. I’ve seen the results of such braggadocio: leaks from improperly aligned windshields, urethane on headliners from attempted corrections, paint scratches from installers leaning way too far over a car. Here at Floyd Glass & Window we want to brag about our track record and our customer satisfaction…not about how manly our installers are.

And that’s it…except that even with all that detail, I’m ignoring the variables. And the trick for any expert in a trade is dealing with the variables. Every year, make and model of car is different. And knowing these differences is the key to consistent success. I’ll offer three examples to highlight the need for an experienced glass tech.
1) You can’t use a power tool on a Ford Focus because there is no molding. Powered blades tend to nick on the outside of the pinch weld…pull knives on the inside. If there is no molding, the installer needs to error on the side of nicks on the inside rather than out since primed scratches will be visible after install.
2) The glass for the new Chevy Cruzes all have a slight curve along the upper edge that doesn’t quite match the pinch weld. No big deal so long as you apply a little extra urethane to that section. Fail to do so and the windshield will leak. 
3) Under 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the urethane begins to act differently. The manufactures of the sealant rate them down to 32 (and sometimes below) but through experience we’ve found that get below 40 and the urethane sets and seal better with an in-shop install. As luck would have it…Floyd has the best glass shop waiting room in the St Charles / St Louis area.
Nearly every car and situation has some little trick like this…and these are not the kind of lessons you want a glass tech learning on your car.
In the end, the point of all this is that auto glass installation should not be seen as an assembly line commodity. The product matters, the installation matters. Pick the person and company you trust with your car or truck carefully. A magnetic sign on a truck and a cheap price does not mean a good install…it just means a cheap price. I’ve seen too many botched jobs. I’ve seen too many people put their trust in “some guy who’ll do it cheap” only to have them have to pay us to fix it. A red polo and khaki pants do not mean a quality job…it just means there’s a corporation with an eye for snappy dress codes and maximization of the bottom line.  I’ve seen glass techs installing windshields in the rain (nearly guaranteed urethane failure).  I know the corners that get cut and the way the focus on the bottom line has lead at least one “industry leader” to have a full staff of techs whose sole function is to travel around bandaging up and resealing leaks still under warranty. They can get away with this because statistically enough lasted through the warranty period that there was no profit in doing it right the first time.  Here at Floyd Glass & Window, we find that…unacceptable.

Sure, doing it right can take a little longer (up to an hour in most cases). And that’s why we’ve built the most comfortable showroom you’re likely to find in the St Charles / St Louis glass industry. Coffee, soda, hot tea, sparkling conversation, and couches so cozy we’ve had to wake some customers up when their car was done.

Give us a call for a quote and be sure to check out the Floyd Assurance Package that comes with all our residential vehicles.

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