Published on Jul 20, 2026
Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from y'all on the internet.
Today's question is:
Jake admits the difficult truth that customers often can't tell whether their glass was installed badly. He contrasts Magnatech's openness, where he and Mike welcome customers to watch the work, with technicians who insist on privacy because they're cutting corners. The specific shortcuts he names are stuffing a windshield in without removing the proper components and, most importantly, failing to prime the scratches left by urethane-scraping blades. In Washington's wet climate, unprimed scratches lead to rust, which he calls the number-one problem he sees. Jake notes that the evidence is unmistakable once the old glass is removed; he can read the prior installer's work like a book, and customers frequently confirm who did the earlier, faulty job.
This is the hard part, because the customer might never know if their glass was installed improperly. Mike and I are friendly people; we know how to talk, and even if it's just one of us, we want that customer to come see our installs. A lot of people ask first. I had a gentleman today say, “Hey, you don't mind if I watch, do you?” and we said, “No, we actually prefer that.” We want you to see what actually goes into this. But there are technicians out there who say, “No, leave me alone, give me time.” Why? Because he's stuffing the windshield in without taking components off, and he's not priming his scratches. Each tool we use, like the blades we scrape urethane with, can leave scratches, and I can't tell you how many times, living in Washington, we've taken a windshield out and it was never primed, and that customer has rust because of it. That's probably the number one worst thing up here. We know exactly which companies do it, because the customer will say, “Yeah, six months ago so-and-so did it,” and when we pull the glass it's almost like reading a book; we can see everything.
