Cheap Car Windshield Replacement

Today’s automotive windshields are not simple composed of glass as the name might suggest. Modern windshields are made from laminated safety glass that include two layers of glass sandwiched around a layer of PVB (polyvinyl butyrate). This is for safety reasons. During a crash or other occasion when the windshield is damaged, sharp pieces of glass will tend to stick to the PVB layer. This decreases the potential danger from flying glass, to passengers in the cabin of the vehicle. The PVB layer in laminated glass also serves to protect passengers and keep them inside the vehicle during collisions by exerting a cushioning effect.

Heat strengthened, alson known as tempered, glass is considered to be a form of safety glass as well. This type of glass is commonly used in vehicle side and back windows as opposed to windshields. Tempered glass crumbles into rounded glass pebbles which are relatively harmless, when broken.

Tempered glass cannot be repaired, but laminated safety glass can. This is why it is very common to see windshield repair services, but nobody typically offers to repair side or rear windows in the same fashion.

Modern windshields are no longer simple panes of properly-fitting glass. They are now complex, engineered glass systems with such elements as: heating mechanisms to melt ice; coatings to repel harmful ultra-violet radiation from the sun; shade bands to help the driver fight glare; high performance radio and telephone antennas; satellite uplinks; heads-up holographic instrument displays; and sensors to activate windshield wipers or close convertible tops. Because of dramatically increased performance expectations, the cost of the modern windshield has increased quite a bit as a result.