Windshield replacement in Vancouver

How the appointment goes

1. 1

   Confirm the exact glass≈10 min

   We decode the VIN and verify the options: rain sensor, acoustic interlayer, heated wiper park, camera bracket. The right part is in the van before your old glass comes out.

2. 2

   Remove the old windshield≈20–30 min

   The old urethane is cut with the glass supported, and the windshield is lifted out without gouging paint or dropping fragments into the defroster vents.

3. 3

   Prepare the pinch weld≈15–20 min

   Old urethane is trimmed to a thin, sound base layer, which is the best surface for a new bond. We check for corrosion and prime any scratches. Primer needs about 10 minutes of flash time before glass can be set over it, and we give it those minutes.

4. 4

   Set the new glass≈15 min

   A continuous urethane bead, the glass set onto its blocks, alignment checked against the body lines, mouldings seated.

5. 5

   Cure, calibrate and check60 min minimum cure, confirmed for your vehicle

   The vehicle stays parked until the safe drive-away time. We reinstall the wipers and cowl, recalibrate the camera when the vehicle needs it, check the set, and walk you through first-day care.

Plan on 60 to 90 minutes for most vehicles, and up to two hours for larger vehicles or vehicles with a lot of trim. Safe drive-away is typically 60 minutes or more after the glass is set, and it moves with temperature and humidity. We tell you the exact time for your vehicle and the day's urethane before you get the keys back.

OEM and OEE glass

OEM glass is made under the automaker's part number and usually carries its logo. OEE glass, which stands for original equipment equivalent, is built to the same safety standard, often in the same glass plants, without the badge. For most vehicles, good OEE glass is dimensionally and optically excellent, and we fit it with confidence. Anyone who tells you OEE is automatically inferior is selling something.

There are real cases where OEM earns its premium. Head-up displays need a wedge-shaped interlayer built to a tight tolerance, or the projected image doubles. Acoustic windshields carry a sound-damping layer that some equivalents match imperfectly, and the acoustic and heated windshields page covers those features in depth. Camera-equipped vehicles depend on the bracket sitting at exactly the engineered angle, and a bracket a hair off makes the recalibration on our camera recalibration page harder or impossible. If your vehicle falls into one of these groups, we say so before ordering and let you make the call with the trade-offs in front of you.

Safe drive-away time

Urethane is a structural adhesive, not a sealant. Until it reaches minimum strength, the windshield cannot do its crash job, which is to hold the glass in place, brace the roof, and take the force of a deploying passenger airbag. Safe drive-away time is the point where the adhesive manufacturer's testing says it can. High-modulus, fast-cure urethane typically reaches it in about an hour in mild, humid conditions. A cold, dry day stretches it. We give you the real time for the day rather than rounding it down.

First-day care is simple. Close the doors gently, because cabin pressure pushes on fresh urethane. Leave a window open a finger's width. Keep any retention tape on for 24 hours, and skip pressure washing for 48.

What a proper installation includes

The difference between a windshield that lasts ten years and a leak in eighteen months lives under the glass. Full-cut removal instead of shortcuts that carve into the paint. A real corrosion check, because rust under urethane spreads quietly and weakens the bond, so we photograph what we find, treat the minor cases, and tell you when body repair should come first. Primer given its full flash time instead of being set over wet. New mouldings where the originals are single-use by design, because reused brittle trim is where wind noise starts.

If your damage is a chip smaller than a loonie, read our rock chip repair page before booking a replacement. A 30-minute repair may still be possible, and under ICBC Comprehensive coverage a qualifying repair has no deductible. We would rather tell you that than sell you glass. Either way, you approve one price before anything starts.

If you are claiming through ICBC

You do not call ICBC first. ICBC’s glass claims page says drivers can go directly to an approved Glass Repair Program facility, and we are one. We open the claim when you book, you pay your deductible at the appointment, and we invoice ICBC for the rest. Chip repairs that meet ICBC’s guidelines carry no deductible at an approved facility.

How an ICBC windshield claim works, in ICBC’s own words · What BC law says about driving with a cracked windshield

Questions about windshield replacement

Windshield replacement across Metro Vancouver

The same job, at your address, in every city we cover. Each page has the local details: parkade rules, response windows and where the chips come from.

• Vancouver
• Burnaby
• North Vancouver
• West Vancouver
• Richmond
• Coquitlam
• New Westminster
• Surrey
• Langley
• White Rock
• Port Moody
• Port Coquitlam
• Maple Ridge
• Pitt Meadows

By vehicle

• Honda Civic
• Honda CR-V
• Toyota RAV4
• Toyota Corolla
• Ford F-150
• Chevrolet Silverado
• Subaru Outback
• Subaru Forester
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