Can it take scratches out of a mirror? I was @ a restraunt and saw scratches on the men’s bathroom mirror it’s about the size of your whole hand. Is there a min. that anyone charges for only a small amount of scratches? Thank you
Yes it can. I believe Mark the Window Cleaner did a video where he took scratches out of a mirror with Glass Renu.
I have a minimum of $150.00 for Glass Renu. But remember, it’s not just the # of scratches, or how big the scratched area is…it’s also how deep the scratches are. The deeper the scratches, the larger the area you have to grind out, the more time it takes.
How do I know how deep the scratches are? This would be my first job! If it takes more time then is that more $?
It is hard to tell, drag your fingernail across it, if it’s catching it’s deeper than if it does not. Practice and doing jobs will perfect your estimates. And gauging of depth. Mirrors are no more difficult to remove scratches than regular glass, they are more difficult to get perfect results. Just because the mirror will reflect every flaw. I would not suggest mirrors as your first removal. If you want to get good real fast, practice on a mirror, not the clients though!
as far as judging depth run ur finger nail across the scratch if you feel it and dont catch the nail not deep. if you catch the nail a little medium and if your nail stops dead or clicks hard thats really deep and is going to take a while. as far as a mini goes thats based on your time. $150 for the first hour isnt to bad. as a newbie your going to take alot longer than normal to take a scartch out it has a learning curve. Take your lumps and learn the system.
First question you have to ask yourself, “What is the cost to replace?” If the owner can go to Big Box Store and buy another mirror for 100 bucks, what will they pay to repair? Mirrors are tough. I went to Big Box Store and bought a couple of pieces of mirror to practice on. Mirrors will show any imperfections in your work.
Try price your work at between 35 and 45 percent of replacement.
The mirror I did in my video took at least twice as long as expected and yes, even the slightest imperfection will be reflected and visible. not recommended for your first job unless the client has told you to try as the last option before replacement. Alot of mirrors I see around in mall bathrooms and whatnot wouldn,t be cost affective to repair. cheaper to buy new.
One last IMPORTANT thing to consider when doing mirrors. if it is mounted on a wall there will be no airflow in behind so watch your temperatures carefully and shoot for a max temp much lower that a reglar window.
trashed a mirror today and yes perfection due to the reflection is what is the killer. i used a red disc and enlarged the area hoping distortion would not be a problem… no such luck. i went over it again remembering the video of a distorted window being fixed by cody. not exactly sure what happened and just called it a day. client wasnt angry but i was bummed and while it looked killer straight on the side view looked warped and wavy. im sure the grinder wasnt flat though i was really trying to keep it firm against the mirror. oh well client was gonna replace and said give it a try. i already fixed a slider which came out great so im lost. i would load pics but i have them on my computer.
Don’t get too discouraged, mirrors are a bi_ _. What pad did you use to take the original damage out with? Was it a deep scratch?
wouldnt budge with a black or blue so i went with a red. the scratch was like sand paper couldnt feel with finger nail but those blue and black discs are more for h/w or etch removal than actual scratch removal in my opinion. the scratch was gone with red quickly it looked great pre polished and final polished great. looking at a side angle the mirror was clearly distorted and looked bad. like i said i did a slider that came out great so i was surprised. looked warped and wavy. im sure it was the disc not being flat cause i enlarged the area by at least 4 times the original damage ( scratch was 3 in long and 1 inch wide) . looks like a hot circle was placed onto the mirror and melted the glass. im not frustrated more confused than anything. so far so good and im placing an order soon for more red discs plus those new red ones.
If you couldn’t feel it with your fingernail, then I think the red disc was not necessary. I know what you mean about the blue and black not doing anything. They glide and don’t bite unless there is something to grab. I can usually get them to work after a few minutes, if not, then I will rough up the glass a bit with a tan pad. Sometimes, depending upon the scratch, I’ll either take it all out with tan, or back off and remove the rest with blue/black knowing that is going to bite now that it has something to bite into. Once you get some work done with a rougher pad you can always back off and use the lighter less coarse pads., they work, and can actually do some pre polish as they clean up the original damage, just leave more glass stock on the pad once you see the damage is gone.
oh i know i distorted the glass no doubt. it was definitely sand paper scratches and i hit it with the black right from the start. no tan pads were included with my kit i was surprised and bummed i got so many blue. i worked the area with the black and yes it slide all over and actually did nothing at all. i applied very light had to the mirror with the red and the scratch was gone after a few passes and pre polished to perfection. the mirror looked awesome straight on i never looked at the glass from an angle ( that was a lame mistake since i know better). polished out perfectly and i then looked at an angle d’oh! wavy and concave. i actually went back over it like cody’s distortion video but i just enlarged the area of distortion. great learning experience ( first mirror i did ) i know the scratches will come out and even on an unforgiving mirror surface. guy just keep in mind we are removing glass and whether it is on a thousandths of an inch level glass is being removed so distortion is an issue. feathering feathering feathering plain and simple spreading the initial damage out . at least that is my experience.
I had one job this summer on a small French pane (new windows, window company refused to replace???) a deep scratch the size of a quarter. This window heated up big time and fast, had to keep backing off and go on break, very frustrating. In the end I had distortion I couldn’t get rid of. Looked fine straight on but from the side…yeeeeesh! Was very bummed and the customer didn’t pay. I told him upfront, if I can’t get it clear and distortion free, you don’t pay. I have a FD removal this Saturday on a door. If it goes well there will be around 6 other panes to do. Again, new glass and scratches are very close to the edge. Why don’t I ever get the easy ones? LOL
My last one was like that. I told the client this, I can get the tag out, BUT your glass will not be perfect. You most likely will have some distortion and possible haziness by two edges of the frame. It was a French pane with a tag in the upper right corner. Like you, total time spent grinding…probably 25 min, total time waiting for glass to cool, closer to 70 minutes. Small deep scratches on small panes = big time waiting for glass temp to cool. I actually got impatient too and had no 2" red so I cut down a 5" to 2" and went at it… I need to order stuff! Oh, client was happy, no issues with a little distortion. That pane is on my fb page somewhere if ya want a visual
i was in direct sun today on a 3ft wide by 12ft tall window pane vandalized by EXTREMELY deep scratchitit. WOW! scratched to all three upper edges and hard as heck to keep cool. i kid you not i was grinding (red pads) for 3 hours and the upper edge did not budge. this was some seriously deep scratching with glass that had chipped and broken off along the scratch. 12mm tempered 16CFR1201ansiZ97 is how it was labeled. PITA brothers and sisters. i was pushing the limits on the edges but never got to the bottom of the scratch. i seriously cant imagine how distortion wouldnt be an issue on a store front window having removed so much glass. seems like the entire window would have to “feathered” out and resurfaced. im back at it on monday as i have other “projects” in the works. i ended up pre polishing and polishing out to see exactly where i was. heck i even broke out the black pad just for the heck of it and you guessed nothing. i started with a new red pad since this was DEEP and forget the catching a finger nail test this was straight up DEEP. I actually went to another new pad after the 2nd hour when the bottom of the scratch wasnt even close. i opened up the entire area 6 feet to the bottom worried that i had removed a ton of glass. insane damage today and definitely let them know right from the start that this pane most likely with distort. FYI regardless of the system ive used i ALWAYS have a waiver signed stating distortion may be caused by this process and in the event i cannot take out the scratch they dont have to pay. i was gonna walk but im hell bent on fixing this window since this client was gonna replace before i told him give me a try. great test of my ability and im excited to get back at it i just flat out ran out of time today after a total of 4.5 hours on 3ft by 3ft area of damage on the upper end of the window. ill report back after monday.
Glas-Renu… I was thinking of Buying this . But which type glass can it repair and which can it not repair ???
Can it do modern double glazing ( those with tin ,sealed , sealant for keeping windows cleaner longer etc ) etc ? and can it also do DG glass with tint or is Glas-renu restricted to normal unsmoked single paine glass ?
if thats the case its not for me because most modern windows are where i am are 75 % DG and specially treated… not like the glass from the 60 s 70s 80 ´s early 90 `s etc
I know this post is several years old but the question is a very valid one. Faced with a job involving scratch removal from toughened tinted windows. Have an uneasy feeling that removing any amount of glass stock has the potential to create areas of lighter shades of tint. Does anyone have any experience of this?
depends on if the tint is inside or out. I ran across some windows with welding slag on them. With Cole as my witness, it was the toughest job I have ever run across. In some places the slag cuts were 1/8" deep. After literally days of grinding, polishing and cussing Cole, we got through it and the tint color did not change.
It takes tremendous concentration (and many pads) to completely grind a 6’ X 8’ window and polish it without distortion. I will tell you that the GlasRenu will perform as they say it will, but just like cleaning a window, you are not going to pick the equipment up and be competent with out hours of practice.
I didn’t actually realise you could remove welding slag! Tried it once and avoided it ever since.
Hmm, what if the tint is seemingly throughout the glass? Or is it usually on one side or the other?
Great question!
There are essentially 3 ways of tinting the glass.
1: After-market tint. This SHOULD be placed on the inside panes, but, sometimes I have seen it on the outside of a pane as well. To check, look around the edges and you almost will always see a line where the film was cut too. If the scratches are on the FILM side of the glass, we will need to remove the film before we perform the repair.
2: Factory Tint. This will be “colored” glass for the most part. The color will go through the entire pane of the glass so no after-market tint is needed. If this is the case, you can perform the work, no problem. Even after you remove parts of the glass, it will still remain colored.
3: Pryolytic Coating: This will give a “Mirror Tint” to the glass. Most times the scratches will appear to look black. This coating is placed on the glass while the glass is being produced. It typically gives the 1 way mirror affect to it. This coating will be one OUTSIDE of the glass (so you can see out but can not see in). Once you begin the repair you will notice that you are removing the mirror from the glass.
HOW TO TELL IF IT IS MIRROR COATED: Do the reflection test. Put your fingernail or a ball point pen up to the glass and look very closely. If you see a DOUBLE reflection (there will be a gap between the reflection and your object) then the coating or film is on the OPPOSITE side of the glass from where you are looking. If you see a DIRECT reflection (no gap between the glass and your object) then the mirror film is on the side of the glass you are looking through. If this is the case, then you will need to remove the film before performing the repair. If it is mirror coated, just know you will completely remove the mirror finish. (Talk with the building owner to give them a heads up on what would happen if the whole piece of glass gets worked on.
I have seen a couple times before someone removing the mirror tint then replacing it with matching mirror tint. Again, double check with the building owner (or whoever you are working for) before you grind the entire pane.
I hope this helps!
