Yes, rock chips even happen to the windshield repair guy; especially here in Colorado Springs. I figured this would make an excellent article for the new Windshield Repair Blog and provide a way to show you how we repair windshield damage step-by-step.
So here is the culprit:
The chip
Drilling the damaged area
The first step to repair the damaged area is to drill the chip area to remove loose bits of glass and make a clear channel to later inject resin into the damaged area.
Clearing glass from the damaged area with compressed gas
Next we use compressed gas to remove glass from the chip. Note that we do not use compressed air, as it can contain moisture that would ruin our windshield repair. We then clean the damaged area with a special compound that enhances the bonding properties of the resin and removes water repellent chemicals that are sometimes used in car washes, windshield wiper fluids and other applications.
Cleaning the windshield chip to ensure the resin bonds properly to the glass
We use the windshield repair tool to inject a special resin into the repair
After a thorough cleaning, we inject a special resin into the damaged area using a series of vacuum and pressure cycles with the windshield chip repair tool.
Windshield repair in progress
A thick resin is used to fill the pit and a curing tab is applied
An ultraviolet light is used to permanently cure the resin
Excess resin is carefully removed with a razor blade
Applying polish to the chip repair to optimize the finish
Next, we buff the damaged area to complete the windshield repair
The completed windshield chip repair
The chip before being repaired (left) and the chip after repair (right)