Need Help What a FAIL. Glass door all scretched up. Anything to fix it?

[CSOCSO]

I had a local hotel hire me to install something at their front ( automatic) door.
it was their logo printed and cut out in real big. When I wanted to install the graphics I cleaned the glasses but there were overspray and other stuff that didn't wanted to come off so I took my 4" wide scraper and scraped off every square inch of the glass. Installed the graphics which covers the window not even %50 percent. A lot of glass were still exposed and some people from the management came out and we looked at graphics from far away and up close. Everything seemed totally fine. Next day the other half of the management calls me that they loved my work so far but I scratched the crap out of the window. I went there to meet and talk to them i looked at the glass and there were scratches literally EVERYWHERE! I was speechless! Look at the pictures. The glass looks horrible but I do not understand what the hell happened. When I was scraping off the overspray i did not see any scratches. I cleaned the whole window after with alcohol I did NOT see any scratches. Half of the management looked at the graphics that day. No one spotted any scratched and today; BOOM, horrible scratches. How the hell did they pop up out of nowhere the next day? Is there anything to make it look better??
I told them we could put perf on it covering the whole window but they do not want to do that. I was thinking maybe put on some clear vinyl. Perhaps anti graffiti gloss vinyl? But I am afraid it will be still visible.
I have never had a problem like this for over 10 years
I don't even want to think about the cost of it if its an impact window ((
Perhaps there are any magical anti scratch liquids out there? Does anyone has a magic wand? something?

 

[GAC05]

Did you scrape it dry or keep it wet with a soap solution? Fresh blade?
Higher quality glass can be really soft, you can definitely scratch it with a dry scraper or even a dull, nicked one.
With the customer aware of the issue there is not much that can be done to mask it now.
If the glass is toast, before you spring for a new panel, maybe try one of those headlight restoration wipes. Works to fill in the scratches on the hard coating on top of the plastic lens. Can't make it worse than what you have now.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[CSOCSO]

I did it dry and i did not have a new blade on me. It was a brand new place and when i did the measurements i did not spot any overspray so i wasnt prepared with a new blade. I just happened to have some older one in the bottom of my bag. Not sure if plastic wipe or scratch remover would do anything but i found planty of windshield glass scratch removal stuff online but every other person leaves bad reviews for all of those

Did you scrape it dry or keep it wet with a soap solution? Fresh blade?
Higher quality glass can be really soft, you can definitely scratch it with a dry scraper or even a dull, nicked one.
With the customer aware of the issue there is not much that can be done to mask it now.
If the glass is toast, before you spring for a new panel, maybe try one of those headlight restoration wipes. Works to fill in the scratches on the hard coating on top of the plastic lens. Can't make it worse than what you have now.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[studio 440]

I did it dry and i did not have a new blade on me. It was a brand new place and when i did the measurements i did not spot any overspray so i wasnt prepared with a new blade. I just happened to have some older one in the bottom of my bag. Not sure if plastic wipe or scratch remover would do anything but i found planty of windshield glass scratch removal stuff online but every other person leaves bad reviews for all of those

the only magic im afraid is to replace the glass . An expensive lesson learned ,maybe next time come prepared with a complete kit with new blades rapid tack rags window cleaner ,levels measuring tape masking tape all the right stuff better to take to much and not need it than to not have it, good luck

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

I did it dry and i did not have a new blade on me. It was a brand new place and when i did the measurements i did not spot any overspray so i wasnt prepared with a new blade. I just happened to have some older one in the bottom of my bag. Not sure if plastic wipe or scratch remover would do anything but i found planty of windshield glass scratch removal stuff online but every other person leaves bad reviews for all of those

You should always have new blades with you, needed or not. Use stainless steel razor blades it wont scrach the glass. You can a glass filler for windshields im sure it would work just as good as it does on car windows.

 

[Gino]

In all my years cleaning glass for prepping to paint, gild or vinyl....... no one I know has ever scratched any glass. Broken, yes, but never scratched. Other than with a diamond tip knife, I didn't know it was possible. I've used thousands of razor blades, 4" scrapers and other tools, but never scratched. I'm not convinced you did this. Did you try to further remove the scratches by using a good blade on it again. It could possibly be some residue from whatever the over spray was.

In our quotes, when quoting glass windows or doors, we have a line item which simply states ALL glass must be cleaned by others. We are not responsible for any cleaning, except for a final cleaning of an alcohol wash. As a matter of fact, we have a similar line item for doing just about any work on anything which does not originate in our shop.

Your only out might be to tell them, it was already on the glass and when you removed the overspray, it was already there, just no one noticed it, until things dried.

 

[equippaint]

They look like some deep scratches. You would have known if you were making them. Being a front door thats probably tempered glass too.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I used an old (not rusty crazy old, just not totally fresh) blade and dry scraped off letters. After I got the vinyl off I used brake cleaner to get the adhesive off but still... I didn't scratch glass.

Maybe rust can build up on a blade and become harder then glass?? Was your blade chipped or broken? That could cause it.

 

[brycesteiner]

I've never heard of removing anything like that on glass (only previous vinyls). I just clean with water and put the vinyl on. Am I just showing my ignorance? I've never had a vinyl on glass job fail before.
To the OP, I think I would try and find out what the overspray is and duplicate it back on. Maybe the windshield filler as others suggested.

Maybe asked to see footage from their security cameras. You left and there were no scratches. Perhaps somebody thought they would be funny.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

I hate to say it, but if you used an old, chipped blade, you very well could have done this. My guess is the scratches were there the whole time, you may not have noticed them because you were focused on the finished work. I have personally never scratched glass, but I've run into a few times. I've used baking soda tooth paste to remove minor scratches before. It's worth a shot. I've also heard that clear nail polish works if you let it dry and remove the excess with nail polish remover works, and so does metal polish.

Always, always, always carry fresh blades. A pack of 100 blades isn't crazy expensive and can easily fit in an install bag. You can also get the plastic razor blades if you're really worried about scratching a surface.

 

[Johnny Best]

Your in Florida. Maybe a glass door that has something softer than glass or maybe some sort of film on it. Dry glass with an old razor blade, like scratching a blackboard with a fingernail. Good luck and hopefully you won't lose your ass replacing the glass if it comes to that. Check your liability insurance if it covers that sort of thing.

 

[jfiscus]

The black/stronger razor blades can definitely scratch glass. Stainless ones do not.

 

[myront]

Your in Florida. Maybe a glass door that has something softer than glass or maybe some sort of film on it....

My thoughts exactly, I'm in Florida and just about every "glass" has a tint film to it. I've never used anything to "scrape" the surface. If residue is left from any removed vinyl we'll clean it with rapid remover and follow up with a different rag and clean with alcohol.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

How much could a glass for a door be? I had a shop once I worked at that got broken into and I think it was like $250 to replace it... it was tempered

 

[Billct2]

Wow, like some have said, I've cleaned a ton of glass and not always with fresh blades and never come close to scratching it. That looks like what would happen on lexan or acrylic.
And as has been suggested it could be some new type of UV glass that is softer than normal, but I would expect some kind of label somewhere as a warning. But why weren't those scratches obvious the day of the install? Maybe they showed up because they got dirty and they don't show when clean? I would try to find out what the story is with the glass before trying any solutions.

 

[Gino]

Never thought of some kinda tinting film on there, but rather than scratch that much and not be completely noticeable right off the bat..... wouldn't it actually peel here and there ??

 

[Chasez]

So it doesn't seem that anyone knows that tempered glass has good side and a bad side (for using a razor blade). It all depends on the glass manufacturer and their kiln. When the glass goes through the tempering process it goes back into the kiln to get baked again and then a quick high pressure cooling, and in this cooling process if the kiln isn't completely clean dust particles settle on the top side of the glass and get baked into the surface of the glass.. in turn you would have 1 smooth side (the bottom) and 1 "rough" side (the top). While the bottom side is smooth, using a razor blade on it will do no harm but on the rough side it will leave the scratches every time. We see it every day, being a specialized 3m authorized solar and security film dealer; applying materials to glass is what we do.

Now in saying this, not all glass manufacturers' tempered glass will have this issue. We have one manufacturer here (not going to name name's) and it is every single piece of tempered glass has the rough side and can't have a razor put on it but we've had glass from other manufacturers and have never had an issue with either side.

It will also depend on the type of glass as well; there is 3 types. Straight annealed (breaks into large shards), heat-strengthened (breaks into larger shards but has a greater chance of staying together), and tempered (breaks into small cubes). Annealed will never scratch with using a razor blade, heat-strengthened and tempered are dependent on the manufacturer.

As far as which type of razor blade to use, some people here have said that stainless steel blade won't scratch - that is false. It is dependent on the blade itself. We use the triumph blades and we use the carbon blades because they have a smaller chance to scratch glass than the stainless triumph blades.

And by looking at the photo, those definitely look like scratches from the razor blade. I would always use some sort of slip solution on the glass with the blade as it will help to reduce the risk of cause scratches. Sorry to break it to you but those are definitely scratches from the razor blade.

Chaz

 

[equippaint]

Your in Florida. Maybe a glass door that has something softer than glass or maybe some sort of film on it. Dry glass with an old razor blade, like scratching a blackboard with a fingernail. Good luck and hopefully you won't lose your *** replacing the glass if it comes to that. Check your liability insurance if it covers that sort of thing.

Impact glass is soft and very easy to scratch. I still think it would be tempered by code for safety on a door. If it was laminated and you fell into it, you could possibly end up stuck halfway through it like a windshield.
I bet it sat on the jobsite and something got set on it and dragged. Maybe the masons slopped stucco all over then tried to clean up with whatever they had handy, like a trowel. Unfortunately, you cleaned it good and the application of the decal drew the first hard looks at the door.

 

[klingsdesigns]

There are products out there to buff the glass and get the scratches out. Home – Innovative Polishing Systems SheerForce Products is one of them.

 

[AF]

Dry scraping tempered glass with rusty blade = scratches. Just call a local glass guy and get it replaced.

Cardinal, PPG, Guardian etc all can have the tempered glass issue. Cardinal is the worst from my experience.