Your boat windshield literally covers you from wind and rain. Unless your boat is always left gathering dust at her dockside, it is unavoidable for her to get a few scrapes and bruises. Small chips or cracks do not need you to replace your whole windshield. Instead, it needs simple but delicate repair work to make sure it doesn’t get worse. The question is, can you do it yourself or do you need a professional to do your boat windshield repair?
If you’re short on money, doing the repair yourself can save you a lot on upfront fees. Fixing cracks or chips would only need a drill and a DIY repair kit which costs only about $10.00 to $15.00. Meanwhile, calling a pro would cost you at least $50.00 or more.
However, are you sure you can complete a quality repair work yourself without doing additional damage? When should you DIY or when should you hire a pro? You should consider not just the price but your capability and the quality of the repair.
Related: DIY Boat Restoration in 5 Easy Steps
Most people who buy DIY kits, thinking it is easy to use end up getting overwhelmed.
A DIY repair kit usually contains a tool to remove the broken glass from the break, resin that can be injected into the damaged area, and a curing film. Before starting your boat windshield repair, you should first prepare the chipped surface. This does not mean just cleaning the area or removing bits of broken glass. The surface should have a sufficient entry point, or else, the repair resin will not fill it in. Most DIY-ers fail to prep the surface properly. As a result, the resin only fills the opening, and the glass may break below the surface.
If you aren’t careful, applying too much pressure might add more cracks to your windshield.
More often than not, repairing your boat windshield would need you to use a glass drill. Damaged marine glass and drill sound like a scary combination, but you might need to drill the chipped area to have a sufficient entry point. On the other hand, you would need to drill a hole on both sides of a crack to lessen the stress and keep it from spreading. You cannot use to much speed or pressure or else you might damage the glass. If you don’t have a pair of careful and steady hands, you should reconsider it.
You only get one chance to fix that crack, and when you mess up, you would need to spend more money to replace your windshield.
Basically, you will only get one chance—one chance to drill a hole in a crack and one chance to fill the chip with resin. If you make any mistakes and mess it up, there isn’t a way to remedy it. You would need to spend more money to buy a boat windshield replacement. This would cost you more than calling a professional to do your windshield repair once.
The quality of a DIY repair won’t be as high as those done by professionals
Even if you get your repair work done by yourself. How much longer will it hold? A day? A month? It’s impossible to tell. But one thing is for sure—it can’t be better than those who have repaired windshields thousands of time.
Doing your boat windshield repair by yourself is inexpensive; Yes. But you are not just taking the risk of an additional expense if you make even a tiny bit of mistake; you are also compromising on the quality of the repair and safety of your windshield.
Related: What You Need To Know When Replacing Your Boat’s Windshield