Why a small chip does not stay small
A rock chip is a tiny crater with a cracked cone underneath it, and the glass around it is already under stress. Every cold morning shrinks the glass, every hot afternoon expands it, and every pothole sends a shock through the whole windshield. Any one of those can push a chip into a crack that runs across the glass.
That is the whole argument for fixing a chip early. A chip filled while it is still a chip costs a small fraction of a new windshield, and it takes far less time. One customer put it plainly in her review: the rock chip in her windshield was fixed before it cracked across the whole thing.
If you cannot get in right away, a small piece of clear tape over the chip keeps dirt and moisture out until you do. Do not push on it, do not blast it with a pressure washer, and try not to slam the doors with the windows up.
How the resin goes in
The chip is cleaned first, because dirt and glass dust left in the crater show up as a stain once the resin is in. Then the air is vacuumed out of the break. Air trapped in the crack is what makes a repair look cloudy, so this step decides how good the result looks.
A bridge with an injector is set over the chip and resin is driven into the break until it fills the cone and the fine legs spreading out from it. The resin is cured so it hardens inside the glass, and the surface is polished flat with the windshield so the finished repair is smooth under a fingernail.
Chip repairs are best done in the shop at 2601 S 5th Ave. We have run an in-shop chip repair special at $35. Call (530) 538-8100 for today's price, because it changes with the size of the chip and the vehicle.
When a chip is past saving
Resin holds a chip, it does not rebuild the glass. A chip that is too big, a break that already has long cracks running from it, or damage at the edge of the windshield is better handled by replacement. The edge is where the glass is bonded to the body, and a repair there will not hold the way a new bond does.
Location matters as much as size. A chip sitting in the zone in front of the camera behind your mirror, or directly in the driver's sweep, can leave a mark you look through on every drive or confuse the camera. In those spots the honest answer is a new windshield, and the camera is recalibrated after it goes in.
If you are not sure which side of the line your chip is on, call and describe where it sits and how big it is. We would rather tell you it needs replacing than fill a chip that will crack again the first cold night.
