Windscreen questions, answered properly

Yes, if the chip is smaller than a 20-cent coin and sits outside the driver's direct line of sight. A resin repair takes about 30 minutes, restores the strength of the glass and stops the damage spreading. Once a crack runs longer than roughly 15 cm, or reaches the edge of the windscreen, replacement is the only safe option.

As a working rule: chips up to about 20 mm across can be repaired, cracks up to about 150 mm sometimes can, and anything longer, anything reaching the edge of the glass, or any damage sitting in the driver's critical viewing area needs replacement. Send a photo and we will tell you honestly which side of the line you are on.

Not entirely. A good repair typically removes 70 to 90 percent of the visible mark and fully restores the structural strength, but a faint blemish usually remains. The point of a repair is safety and stopping the spread — it is not a cosmetic treatment.

Now. Chips spread with vibration, potholes, temperature swings and cold air conditioning on hot glass. A 30-minute repair today is the cheapest outcome available; the same chip after a cold night on the highway is often a full replacement.

About 60 to 90 minutes on site for a car, roughly two hours for a truck or coach screen, plus 30 to 60 minutes on top where ADAS calibration is required.

Safe drive-away time is typically about one hour after fitting, depending on the urethane used and the weather on the day. Your technician gives you the exact figure before leaving — it is worth respecting, because the windscreen carries structural load in a rollover.

Light rain is usually workable under cover — a carport, garage or awning. Heavy rain compromises the bond between the urethane and the glass, so we would rather reschedule than fit a screen that leaks in three months.

Most jobs are booked within a day or two. Call early and there is a good chance the job is finished before the end of the working day, provided the glass for your vehicle is in stock.

It can be. A windscreen fails a Queensland roadworthy inspection if damage sits in the driver's critical viewing area, if a crack is longer than 150 mm, or if chips are larger than 16 mm. Beyond the paperwork, laminated glass is a structural component: it supports the roof in a rollover and backs the passenger airbag.

Damage that obstructs the driver's view can attract a defect notice or an infringement, and it can complicate an insurance claim after an accident. If you are unsure whether yours would pass, send us a photo.

Most comprehensive policies cover windscreen repair or replacement, and many waive or reduce the excess for a chip repair specifically. We work with every insurer — have your policy number handy when you call and we will walk through it with you and handle the paperwork.

In most comprehensive policies a windscreen claim does not affect the no-claim bonus, and some policies include one free chip repair each year. Policies do differ, so check your PDS or call us and we will help you read it.

It depends on the glass, not the postcode. Rain and light sensors, heated wiper park zones, acoustic laminate, heads-up display, solar tint bands and ADAS cameras all change the specification and the price. Call 0451 180 046 with your make, model and year and you get a firm number rather than a range.

No. There is no call-out fee anywhere within our Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and Bayside service area, whether we come to your driveway, your workplace or the roadside.

It re-aims the forward-facing camera bonded to the windscreen — the one that drives lane-keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and adaptive cruise control. Moving the glass by a millimetre changes where that camera is looking, so it has to be re-targeted to the manufacturer's specification after fitting.

Look for a camera housing behind the rear-view mirror, or check whether the car has lane-keeping assist, autonomous emergency braking, traffic sign recognition or adaptive cruise control. Tell us the make, model and year and we will confirm before quoting.

We would not fit a screen and leave it uncalibrated. An uncalibrated camera does not throw a warning light — it just reads the road slightly wrong, which is the worst possible failure mode for a braking system.

Yes. We source and fit glass for trucks, buses, coaches, motorhomes, campervans and heavy commercial vehicles, and we attend depots and yards so fleets lose as little running time as possible.

Yes — door glass, quarter glass and rear windows. Tempered side glass shatters into thousands of fragments, so vacuuming it out of the door cavity, the carpet and the seat rails is part of the job, not an extra.

Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, Bayside, the Redlands and the surrounding South East Queensland suburbs — from Marburg in the west through to Mount Cotton and Birkdale on the bay. If your suburb is not on our list, call and ask; we usually still come out.