FITTING & WARRANTY FAQ'S
Will there be any mess?
No, one of our pet 'hates' - a quick trawl around the internet will show you many, many pictures, videos etc of all sorts of 'professionals' taking a jigsaw, angle grinder, reciprocating saw etc to your precious van, we use a very expensive, specially modified tool that will cut just like a pair of scissors, no sparks, no iron filings to rust on your bodywork or hidden nooks and crannies.
Can I watch the procedure?
Absolutely, with many years of experience we have nothing to hide and actively encourage it, be very wary of anyone who wants to hide or send you away. We are very aware that most of our customers do not know how a window is fitted and there are a few who take advantage of this, some of the common errors by inexperienced fitters include: Bodywork not degreased, Primers not used or applied to the wrong area, No rust inhibitor on the cut metal, Glass not prepared correctly, Inner/Outer skins not joined together, No edge trim to cover up the sharp edges (essential when little fingers are nearby), it is very easy to get this wrong and the misdemeanours are quickly hidden by a shiney new window, nothing will look amiss. If a window is fitted without the proper procedures you will have a good 'mechanical' bond but no 'chemical' bond, this means that the window will stick for a while, but the adhesion will quickly break down causing a leak at best, or the worst case is the window will fall out, hopefully not at 70 on the motorway.
How long is the Guarantee?
Our warranty on the fitting is for 'Life' which means as long as you own the vehicle, opening windows and their mechanisms are guaranteed for a period of 12 months. Again, be wary of anyone who is not a qualified Automotive Glazier, if there is a problem and the window needs to be removed, it's doubtful that they will have the skills or tools to do this without damage, we have always been trained to fit windows in such a way that it would be easy to remove them if necessary.
How long before I can drive it after fitting?
This
really depends on quite a few factors; the type of window, temperature
and humidity to name but a few, with the most modern adhesives
available, the drive-away time for a front windscreen in ideal
conditions can be as low as 30 minutes, HOWEVER air pressure is forcing a
windscreen into the aperture as opposed to trying to suck it away on a
side or rear window and conditions in the UK are rarely optimal, as a
rule of thumb we say allow 2 hours from when the glass goes onto the
glue, maybe a little longer in winter. Be wary of adverts that say
'drive away in an hour' or similar claims, it won't just be unsafe for a
couple of hours, structural integrity will be compromised for the life
of the vehicle.
Does the weather affect mobile fitting?
Yes, in a word. A bonded window has to be fitted in the dry. Some of our vehicles have awnings fitted which means we can usually manage in all but extreme weather conditions if there's room to set up, our vans also have electricity on board to run our power tools so this also becomes an issue of safety if its too wet. Obviously this won't apply if you have somewhere under cover and its large and light enough to work in
Do I fit the carpet lining first or the windows?
We get asked this almost on a daily basis, I would always recommend that you do your lining FIRST and leave a couple of inches of material overlapping the aperture, when we fit the window we will tuck the lining under our edge trim and trim off the excess material, this is then obscured by the black ceramic band on the glass. Pictures here
