Ten to twelve minutes east across the neighbourhood. Strawberry Mansion backs onto East Fairmount Park, and the two jobs we do most for these blocks are branch damage, meaning a windshield at $250 to $450 fitted or a back glass at $200 to $500, and chip fills at $60 to $130 off the Thirty-third Street and Ridge Avenue stone. We are at 3115 Germantown Avenue, open 7:30 to 4:00 weekdays. 215-608-1108.
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Strawberry Mansion has something almost nowhere else in North Philadelphia has, which is a genuine tree line. The neighbourhood runs right up against East Fairmount Park along Thirty-third Street, and the mature trees on the park edge and on the wider residential streets shade a lot of parked cars. That is pleasant in July and expensive in a storm. A limb coming down on a car takes out the windshield or the back glass, and it takes them out completely rather than leaving you a chip to think about. It is the one neighbourhood on our list where we get more calls after weather than after a Friday night.
The rest of the picture is familiar: rowhouse blocks, kerb parking, one-way streets, and cars that sit outside every night of the year. Thirty-third Street and Ridge Avenue carry the through traffic and both of them throw stone. What we would say to anyone here is that a chip found in the autumn is a chip worth filling before December, because a car parked under trees collects sap and grit, the wipers grind it in, and the glass ends up finely scratched around the break, which is exactly where a crack wants to run. Half an hour and $60 to $130 now, against $250 to $450 in February. Call 215-608-1108.
Thirty-third Street runs the length of the western edge with East Fairmount Park on the far side, which is why it feels like a park road rather than a city street and why people drive it faster than they should. Ridge Avenue comes across the corner on the diagonal and is the road most people take out of the neighbourhood. Diamond Street, Susquehanna Avenue and Dauphin Street carry the crosstown movement toward Twenty-ninth and Twenty-second. Below the park edge, Kelly Drive and the river take the through traffic that would otherwise come through here. The residential grid is one-way with kerb parking on both sides, plenty of it under trees, and there is more open ground than there used to be, so the blocks vary from densely built to nearly empty within a few hundred yards.
“I had a great experience with this glass replacement company. They were quick & very professional throughout the process, and the pricing was extremely reasonable compared to others I contacted. The work was done efficiently and the quality was top-notch. Highly recommend them for anyone looking for affordable and reliable glass repair or replacement!”
One: falling timber. This is the only neighbourhood on our list where storm damage outranks everything else, because the park edge and the older residential streets carry mature trees directly over parked cars, and limbs take out windshields and back glass outright. Two: sap and grit doing slow damage. A car parked under trees is filmed in sap, pollen and fine debris, wipers grind that across the screen, and the fine scoring it leaves is exactly where an existing chip decides to run. Three: stone off Thirty-third Street and Ridge Avenue, both fast, both patched, both carrying trucks. Four: break-ins on the darker blocks, particularly where a street runs out into open ground and there is no lit window facing the kerb.
Head east. From Thirty-third Street, take Diamond Street, Susquehanna Avenue or Dauphin Street across to Twenty-second and carry on to Broad Street. Turn north on Broad, then right onto Allegheny Avenue and east about half a mile to Germantown Avenue; we are on the 3100 block just below Allegheny. Ten to twelve minutes. The alternative is to pick up Ridge Avenue and follow it down to Lehigh Avenue, then take Lehigh east across Broad to Germantown Avenue, which is a longer way round but simpler if you already know Ridge. If a branch has gone through the screen and you cannot see properly, leave the car where it is and call 215-608-1108.
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Legally you can drive without a rear window, but you should not want to. Everything in the boot is exposed, rain gets into the parcel shelf and the wiring under it, and if the car has a heated rear screen the element goes with the glass. Tape a bin bag over it to keep water out, do not drive it at speed with the bag on, and get it booked. Back glass is $200 to $500 fitted. Ring 215-608-1108 with the plate and we will check stock.
Yes. Strawberry Mansion is a ten-minute run for the van, and storm damage is exactly the case where that makes sense, because a car with no windshield should not be driven across the city. What we need is somewhere the van can pull in beside the car and a bit of room to work at the glass. A tight one-way with cars both sides and traffic behind us is workable but slower; a corner space or a lot is ideal. Tell us the street when you call.
It is worth it sooner rather than later, precisely because the car lives under trees. A fresh chip with clean edges fills well and holds. The same chip in March, after a winter of sap, salt and dry wipers, often has dirt down inside it that resin cannot displace, and then the only honest answer is a replacement. $60 to $130 and half an hour now is the cheap version of the conversation.
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