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Reparing glass scratch


MJNewton

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I discovered a 3" scratch the other day on the glazing in our lift and slide doors, and whilst I can't prove it I'm sure our lovely 3yr old daughter might've had something to do with it but I must admit I'm not entirely sure how. I was horrified when I first spotted it (whilst buffing off a hand print) and whilst it really bothered me I eventually realised that the odd cobweb and other blemish on the outside of the windows were far worse and didn't bother me so would should the scratch? It still did though.

 

Anyway, the scratch is easy to feel under a finger/nail and, somewhat optimistically I'm sure, I tried running it with toothpaste but it didn't have any effect. I am nervous about upping the ante with something more abrasive but would welcome any tips/suggestions as to how I might improve/remove it?

 

My wife's windscreen has a small chip in it and I was intending on getting that sorted through the insurance (for £20) and wondered if the repairer of that would be in a position to sort this out too if I bunged them some notes? I know with a previous windscreen repair a small contraption to hold the liquid in/above the chip was used and then UV light to cure, but not sure if that approach would work for a long scratch on a vertical pane? Maybe they've got a whole arsenal of tricks and techniques available to them...

 

 

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I'm worried I could turn something that is only visible to me into something more blatant! Might there be coating issues to consider, or would any such coating be on the inside of the DG unit? This is the internal pane so whilst there's no self-cleaning coating (like there is on the exterior of our roof lantern glass) it is toughened Pilkington K Glass S 'soft coat' but which surface would that be on?

Edited by MJNewton
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You need a professional glass repairer. I’ve seen some shoddy work by installers trying to make things good but making it worse and clients doing just the same.

 

A professional repairer will do a good job. I had a really bad scratch that was a “certain” replacement at over £4k for the glass.

 

The repair (polish) made a 50% improvement, so much so that it was acceptable to the customer.

 

It’s a skilled art.

Edited by craig
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One of our lad's pointed an angle grinder the wrong way on site years ago and showered a window with sparks. We got the marks out with progressively finer grades of cerium oxide. Think this is aka jeweller's rouge. Bloody hard work but we got away with it. 

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Thanks all for the thoughts. I might get the windscreen sorted and just see what they say whilst they're here. I may end up just leaving it as now that a few days have passed I can only really find the scratch from remembering roughly where it is.

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1 hour ago, MJNewton said:

now that a few days have passed I can only really find the scratch from remembering roughly where it is.


Look at it from a guideline point of view, if you can’t see from 3 metres away there is no fault. Additionally with glass you have to look through the glass, not at the glass.

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1 hour ago, Onoff said:

One of our lad's pointed an angle grinder the wrong way on site years ago and showered a window with sparks. We got the marks out with progressively finer grades of cerium oxide. Think this is aka jeweller's rouge. Bloody hard work but we got away with it. 

I had to chuckle. I did exactly that on a new expensive pair of glazed front doors on my last house. I never owned up, and my mrs always said the front doors were a right pain to clean and felt gritty. I said it must be funny foreign glass as i had imported the doors.?

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UV curing acrylic is used to repair windscreens. This is mainly because it adheres to the acrylic film that makes up the laminate. It has a slightly different refractive index to glass, so can be quite visible when looked at from an angle.

Polishing anything properly is long and painful, you have to polish much more than you ever imagine.

If your glass is covered by insurance, a small child throwing marbles at it can cause real damage.

But depending on the size, maybe @pocster can help.

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53 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

UV curing acrylic is used to repair windscreens. This is mainly because it adheres to the acrylic film that makes up the laminate. It has a slightly different refractive index to glass, so can be quite visible when looked at from an angle.

 

Ah, hadn't considered it being a different material.

 

I think I'll just leave it as it is. If the light is right I can just about see it from about a metre away, but only as I know where exactly to look.

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1 hour ago, craig said:


Look at it from a guideline point of view, if you can’t see from 3 metres away there is no fault. Additionally with glass you have to look through the glass, not at the glass.

 

On that basis this is non-existent in all honesty, particularly if looking through the glass rather than focusing in on it.

Edited by MJNewton
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9 hours ago, MJNewton said:

 

On that basis this is non-existent in all honesty, particularly if looking through the glass rather than focusing in on it.

We had some repairs carried out by Plasticman courtesy of our window installers and they polished a couple of glass units. It is a specialised job and only a few technicians are trained in the art. A lot has to do with heat and not overdoing it.

I'd be more concerned with your 3 year old and what she will do next!!

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11 hours ago, Onoff said:

One of our lad's pointed an angle grinder the wrong way on site years ago and showered a window with sparks. We got the marks out with progressively finer grades of cerium oxide. Think this is aka jeweller's rouge. Bloody hard work but we got away with it. 

We had exactly the same while building Lowry Centre in Manchester, big odd shaped panes and one of our guys was spotted throwing sparks at the glass .... nightmare!

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25 minutes ago, markc said:

We had exactly the same while building Lowry Centre in Manchester, big odd shaped panes and one of our guys was spotted throwing sparks at the glass .... nightmare!

 

We had that experience - a trade was using grinders to trim steel bolts on the frame and a few of the hot sparks hit the inside of a few windows - luckily I intervened early enough to prevent any damage (there are a few microscopic marks) but could have been much worse.

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9 hours ago, MJNewton said:

 

Ah, hadn't considered it being a different material.

 

I think I'll just leave it as it is. If the light is right I can just about see it from about a metre away, but only as I know where exactly to look.

 

It's called character.

 

Your lovely new build accumulates a lot of it over time and it's all distressing initially but then fades into the background.

 

@craig Our lockdown puppy had a good chew on the bottom of one of our sliders - luckily I still have a can of the original paint so that's a fill, sand and paint job at some point... 

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5 hours ago, Bitpipe said:

Our lockdown puppy had a good chew on the bottom of one of our sliders - luckily I still have a can of the original paint so that's a fill, sand and paint job at some point... 

Shotgun and spade would have been a more permanent fix.

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6 hours ago, Bitpipe said:

@craig Our lockdown puppy had a good chew on the bottom of one of our sliders - luckily I still have a can of the original paint so that's a fill, sand and paint job at some point...

 

That puppy needs it's knackers chopped if it's a boy lol

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