Is it repairable?
Bullseye Chip in a Windshield: Can It Be Repaired?
A bullseye is one of the cleanest breaks a rock can leave, and one of the easiest to fix. Here is how to tell whether yours can still be filled or whether you waited too long.
Usually repairable, as long as it is smaller than a quarter and out of your line of sight.
A bullseye is the circular chip most people picture when they think of a rock hit. A stone caught the glass hard and square, and the impact separated a small cone of glass at the point of contact, leaving a dark circle or ring around a brighter center. Your windshield is laminated, two panes of glass with a plastic layer bonded between them, and a bullseye almost always stops at that outer pane. Because the damage is contained in one clean circle instead of running off in cracks, it is one of the most repairable breaks we see.
Two things decide whether we can fill it: size and where it sits. As a rule of thumb, a bullseye smaller than about a quarter is a straightforward repair. It also has to be out of the driver's direct line of sight, because a repair leaves a faint mark, and a faint mark dead ahead of your eyes is a distraction you do not want. A bullseye that has crept out toward the edge of the glass is a different story, since the edge is where the windshield carries the most stress and a repair there tends not to hold.
The fix is quick and it is the same one that has worked for years. We open the impact point, pull the air out of that little cone, and inject clear resin under pressure so it flows into every part of the break. The resin cures hard, bonds to the glass, and restores most of the strength and most of the clarity. You will usually still see a small blemish where the stone hit, but the break stops there. On a clean bullseye caught early, the result is close to invisible from the driver's seat.
The catch is time. A bullseye is stable right up until it is not. One sharp temperature swing, the kind we get when a warm afternoon drops toward freezing overnight, flexes the glass and can send a crack running out of that circle in seconds. Blasting the defroster across a cold windshield does the same thing. Once a leg runs out of the bullseye and past about three inches, the repair window is closed and you are looking at a new windshield. Catch it the same week and you keep it an $85 fix.
A bullseye is usually repairable if it is
- Smaller than about a quarter
- Out of the driver's direct line of sight
- Not touching the edge of the glass
- Still a clean circle, not sprouting cracks
Repairing a bullseye is a flat $85, and that covers up to three chips on the same windshield with us coming to you. Next to a full replacement it is a small number, which is the whole reason to move fast while the chip is still repairable. If we look at yours and it is too far gone to hold, we tell you straight instead of filling something that will fail.
Questions Drivers Ask
How can I tell a bullseye from other chip types?
A bullseye is a clean circle or ring around a single point of impact, with no cracks running out of it. A star break has short cracks radiating out like an asterisk, and a combination break mixes the two. The circle with no legs is the tell, and it is the type that repairs best.
Will the bullseye disappear after the repair?
Not completely. The resin restores strength and most of the clarity, but you will usually still see a faint mark where the stone hit. On a small bullseye caught early it is easy to miss. The trade is a small blemish instead of a whole new windshield.
How long does a bullseye repair take?
About 20 to 30 minutes start to finish. We come to your driveway or your office parking lot, so there is no shop trip and no waiting room. You go about your day and we handle it right where the car is parked.
The bullseye is right in front of the steering wheel. Can you still fix it?
Usually not. A repair leaves a faint mark, and a mark directly in the driver's line of sight is a clarity and safety issue, so that spot is treated as a replacement even when the chip is small. Text us a photo and we will tell you which side of that line yours falls on.
The Service That Handles This
- Windshield Repair Fast mobile rock-chip repair, $85 flat for up to three chips, done at your location before the damage spreads into a full crack.
- Windshield Replacement Mobile windshield replacement at your home or work in Cumming, using OEM, OEE, or aftermarket glass, backed by a workmanship warranty for the life of your vehicle.
Not Sure What Your Windshield Needs?
Call or text a photo of the damage and we will tell you straight, repair or replace, and what it costs. Mobile service across Cumming and Forsyth County.