Sungard Century

[Guest cporkchop77]

Hey guys, I know this forum is for mainly professional tinters but it seems the only place to get some good info on flat glass film. So let me start out by saying that I have a new appreciation for the window tinting community. I have been ready this forum a lot lately and it seems a little overwhelming to a "noob" like myself.

So let me get to why I'm on here in the first place. I recently purchased a brand new house in south carolina. The sun has lightened the hardwood in my dining room area. This was a model home for 2 years so the fading was surprisingly fast! So I set out to try and remedy this problem while at the same time cutting back on energy costs and adding a little privacy until I can afford to purchase my levolor blinds. I ran up to the local Lowes and purchased some Gila Platinum window film which what the top of the line that they carried. I went home and began the install process.. Followed all the steps and got to the part where I was to pull off the clear liner, and OMG total pain in the ass to do by myself and it probably didn't help that I was trying to do a large piece first (sliding glass door). Well once the film was on and cut, it actually looked pretty decent, (although I had nothing to really compare it to). My problem started that night when I turned the lights on in the dining room and looked at it. It was like looking into a mirror, I couldn't hardly see outside! This really bothered me. On top of that I went outside and could see right in when the lights were on. Well this was unacceptable to me. So I started doing some research on higher quality window films. I use LLumar Air blue 80 and their I believe ATR series for my car and am pretty pleased with the quality. So I started calling the professionals to see what they would charge for my windows and get different ideas. The two places that I talked to carry 3M which he was trying to sell me Night vision I think. The other shop offered Vista and Sun Gard. I will be having 4 windows tinted they will need 2 pieces of film per window. Each panel is 32 wide by 27 high. I will also be having my sliding glass door done, 32 wide by 73 high. The one shop quoted me $--- for the 3m. The other shop said he would do Sun-Gard Century series (which is their top of the line apparently) for $---. The Vista would be like $---. So my goals for this project are:

1) Stop UV rays from damaging any furniture, floors, etc.

2) Cut back on the Heat

3) Add a classy look to the windows on the house.

4) Add some privacy until I get blinds up

So guys a few questions. I have read a lot about window stress with dark tint, seals breaking, etc.

1) Will adding a solar levolor cellular shade cause any more stress to a tinted window?

2) Is the 3M night vision series and or Vista worth that much more vs. the Sun-Gard century series?

Their are SOOO many choices in film it is mind boggling. I have 0 experience with any of these so I would be very appreciative if I could get some expert opinions on what I should do. Also if anybody had pictures of any of these films that would help me visualize what the differences are..

Thanks so much!!

[micro-edge]

Sungard century signature will also look like a mirror at night on the inside,not as bad as gila but def pretty bad. You need a dual reflective film to cut back on nighttime reflectivity,nightvision is one of many dual reflectives. all window films will not give you nighttime privacy unless you did a blackout or frost film which you wouldnt be able to see in or out then.