Good-looking windows always add curb appeal to a property no matter if it’s high-rise business building or residential low-rise building. Owners of high-rise buildings (and home owners too ) sooner or later face the problem of damaged window glass. But is it necessary to replace a glass with a new one because of just a few scratches? The answer is no.
The damaged glass of our windows can be quickly restored to an almost new condition by using window restoration services. Glass restoration process (also called scratch removal) includes scratches grounding out of the glass and after that it’s polished to a factory-like quality finish. Glass restoration methods can remove different types of scratches, hazing, chemicals or some other types of window glass damage.
Scratch removal is done for different types of glass:
- windows
- balustrading glass
- glass awnings
- skylights
- shower screens and glass display cabinets as well.
The removal of chips requires the removal of big amounts of glass and often the result from this is severe glass distortion.
If we can catch our finger nail in a scratch, it can be easily removed. But if the scratch is much deeper than this, glass distortion may happen.
How to recover from window glass scratches?
Getting a professional glass restoration service will save us the need of fully replacing the damaged glass and thus saving money. To recover properly from whichever window glass damage we need to get professional help. This service can save us money because it will cost us half the window glass replacement cost.
The service of glass restoration is offered by professional window cleaning companies. The process includes the use of compounds and different polishing techniques that restore the glass to near new condition.
What are the common types of window glass damage?
Most glass damage can be categorized. There are two main of glass damage categories: scratches or acid etching. Most cases of scratching and acid etching are often done by vandals on store fronts.
Glass damage can occur on new properties too. Scratched window glass has been a common problem on new business and home buildings recently. The reason for this specific issue may be the fact that the glass is of low quality and it’s heat-treated.
It’s important for us to realize that window scratches are not caused by just one thing. Metal scrapers or razor blades alone aren’t the cause of glass damage.
Other stuff can become the reason of glass damage like abrasive materials, such as sand or fabricating debris that is captured by a metal scraper or razor blade during the tempering process.
The construction industry is one of the most common places where we can discover glass scratching problems. In the recent years protection measures are gaining popularity. Unfortunately there are some building companies who are still not very careful when working with plasters, brick layers and welders.
What tactics glass restoration companies apply ?
Different restoration companies apply different professional techniques for repairing window glass damage. Good glass restoration companies perform inspection first and then proceed to performing the glass restoration service.
There are some conditions that need to exist to guarantee the permanent removal of glass scratches. One of them is that a glass scratch should be at not less than 6 inches away from the edges in order to be removed successfully.
A good glass restoration company uses only high-grade professional equipment to handle different types of glass damage in a quick and efficient manner.
Their teams should be able to tackle even the toughest glass restoration projects. They should also be able to remove all the scratches and hard water stains from the windows without compromising the integrity the glass.
The professional equipment of a restoration window company should include a variety of tools like pole system, power washing system, ladders, ropes, etc.
Window glass restoration includes several steps. The first step is when the technician uses a relatively coarse grade pad for scratching the damaged glass spot.
The procedure is repeated multiple times with progressively finer pads covering each time a wider area than the previous time. The purpose of this is blend the processed area with the one that is surrounding it.
The next step is polishing and buffing the glass until it is equal so that the glass scratch removal becomes indistinguishable.
The final step is deciding how well the window glass reflects the light and whether there is any distortion.
What are the common things that cause scratched glass?
As we have mentioned window glass is often damage during construction works. Construction workers tend to put their tools on windows, plasterers when wiping plaster off glass, untrained window cleaners remove construction debris from glass in an wrong way.
Some painters or texture crews may dry scrape the window glass . Scratched glass can occur as a result of defective tempered window glass. Other stuff that causes window scratches is mineral build up, hard-water damage and light hazing on glass surface.
That is why we need to be careful when choosing the right construction company for our building projects to avoid window glass damage. Otherwise we may need to search for a professional glass restoration company afterwards to repair the damage.
Construction debris are one of the things that does window damage which is most difficult for repairing. This includes paint, varnish or texture overspray, materials like cement, plaster, stucco, concrete, mortar or grout, silicone, water proofing materials, glue or stickers.
In terms of difficult removal, second place takes graffiti damage . It’s one of the worst kinds of window damage. If we already have such glass damage, we need the most experienced technicians with the best professional equipment and tools to restore the glass without the risk of breaking it and minimizing the distortion.
When a technician is inexperienced, they may damage it further more rather than repair it. Unproper professional restoration techniques can cause unnecessary distortion of the glass, which will be very noticeable and spoil the window’s appearance. Since this isn’t the result we want, we should always choose certified window glass restoration companies with rich experience in the sphere.
Other reason for glass damage are water spots or mineral deposits that occur from prolonged exposure to water that contains excessive amounts of minerals.
The glass may be also affected by haze or film-damage due to wrong use of cleaning chemicals, improper use of sandpaper by painters, the effect of ‘soft glass’ because of glass manufacturing procedures and also by the contractor’s ways of handling.
More rare cases of glass damage result from condensation-moisture between double panes of insulated glass .
How the price for glass restoration is calculated?
The total price of a glass restoration service depends mostly on severity level of the damage and what is caused from. Another factor that has a cost determining role is what is the type of our window glass, whether there is any signage for replacing and the total time spent by the company workers to fully repair our damaged window glass.
If your window glass damage is a serious one, you may need to pay more to recover properly from it.
In general, we are expected to pay approximately anywhere from $50.00 to $100.00 per hour. Another factor that can make the price go up is how easy it is to reach the glass damage. The harder the glass damage spot it is for reaching, the more higher the glass restoration price will go.
Even if we need to pay extra money for stubborn glass scratches, the service will be worth the money only if we choose a reputable glass restoration company.
Window glass replacement isn’t cheap since it involves not only replacing each piece of old glass with a new one, but it also requires replacing the surrounding plaster, woodwork, tiling, brickwork, or flooring.
Therefore glass reparation that doesn’t include all this job will cost us considerably less. Since window glass replacement is a costly process, glass restoration is most preferable option for those of you who wants to save money. In all cases it’s way more cheaper than window glass replacement. It may prove an economic option in the long run especially if we need to repair the glass of a large number windows.
Is window glass restoration a long-term solution? Why should I restore my window instead of replacing it?
This type of service has many other advantages besides the fact it’s cost effective. The common belief is that glass restoration is such a service that needs high expertise. But on the contrary the truth is that most types of glass damages can be repaired in a way that one cannot tell if the window is new or not.
By applying proper glass restoration techniques most window glass scratches can be permanently removed and the window glass can look as if it’s completely new.
Another advantage of window glass restoration is the fact that the scratch removal can be performed directly on site which saves time. We no longer need to remove the pane to perform the task.
We should remember that glass is a very unforgiving substrate to operate with and that is why we should search for a highly trained technician with a professional equipment to provide us with a high quality glass restoration service.
