MastersTint1414

Isn't it frameless doors on a challenger? So where is a need for felt taping?

I got a heat box from @Midtown Houston and put 35% samples of ATC, CTX and IRX in it. The drop in felt heat between ATC and CTX is honestly incredible to me. The drop from CTX to IRX isn't nearly as drastic but you can still tell a difference. It has already swayed a few customers for me and has me fully convinced that when mine gets redone it will be getting IRX.

I feel like that glass aid stuff isn’t helping your feel for the shrink in the corners. I feel like you’ve got way to much film on the sides and are making more to shrink. You could try leaving your top corners loose. Like an old integra. And if the bottoms not a problem move your anchor point up. 

I don't normally use a soft squeegee to set doors.  Just get it in place then go after it with the Orange crush.

I half to give a huge shout out to some truly great people that I met on here. Most have never heard of me, but I met some great people on her e years ago.  I live in Lake Charles La. and we were just devastated by Hurricane Laura.  Two old friends that I met on this site, John Flemming “Tint Wizard” and John Champaign JR. “Cajun Tinter” have reached out to offer support, just out of the blue because they are awesome people!    Right now there’s really nothing anyone can do, but just remember, there are great people on this country that would give you the shirt off of their back, and these are two of them that I would have never met of out wasn’t for this site.  Thanks Tintdude for a great place to meet really cool people!

You never notice a scratch on glass till you put a black background on it...

Other than a handful of Trucks and Suv's I shrink everything I would rather deal with fingers on the outside than the inside.

This is why talking to the customer is very important. The more they talk the more information you can gather from them. This lets you weed out the bad customers. A vibe check. Ill say no to alot of customer and set the proper expectations. Those customers that want it perfect usually have entry level luxury vehicles.  I’ve tinted alot of cars in 15 years and no car is perfect. Once in awhile maybe one window is perfect. I spend alot of my installation time finding the imperfections and heating it out before a customer can even lay eyes on it. This will solve many issues because once they see something they can unsee it. 

I think we were averaging 2 cars a day by the second year of offering window tint.  As @TNTLady said, social media and online marketing is going to bring you customers faster.  Take advantage of all the free options out there until you can build up some money to do paid advertising.  Craigslist used to be a great option when it was free, but now they charge per post.  It is still pretty cheap if you do a few posts here and there but I wouldn't spend a bunch of money there.  Facebook, Google, Yelp, Instagram, YouTube, etc are all great ways to be found.  Take photos of your work and post online...customers are visual so they want to see that your doing work.  Also, talk to customers about leaving you a review if they enjoy your work.  Tint shops that have been around for years/decades with virtually no online presence will fade away since they have no way to attract the newer generations besides word of mouth.  It was like when Cadillac decided to revamp their entire lineup because they realized their current customer base was literally dying off.  The last piece of advice, do not start off with a low price because you are newer to the game...this is a mistake a lot of people make.  Once you build a reputation for being cheap, it is hard to raise your prices without losing all your customers.  A higher price tag gives the customer perceived value in your service.

nevermind LLumar Air90 says VLT 84
 

LLumar Air90
 

Lately a couple of people have suggested taking the forum to the Goliath of Facebook. I suppose they prefer the ease and that there are many people on it.
I think these people deserve a thoughtful response from me why we will never be on Facebook and why TintDude.com is different. 
The easiest way to do this is to say what we are not, so I titled the post: TintDude.com Does Not...
 
 
TintDude.com does not have a team of psychologists making their product as addictive as possible.  
TintDude.com does not add members to the forum, every member here signed up. Unlike the groups that can be created in a day where the admin 'adds' members that they have info about to make it look like hundreds of people signed up.  
TintDude.com does not track you around the web and keep track of all the websites you visit.  
TintDude.com does not make you wait 2 weeks to delete your account.  
TintDude.com does not create a psychological profile of you that it can share with 3rd parties.  
TintDude.com does not sell your information to, or share your information with 3rd parties or device makers.  
TintDude.com does not require in its terms of service that if you use the mobile app that we have full access to any and all banking information done on that phone.  
TintDude.com does not build shadow profiles of non-members.  
TintDude.com does not work with payment sites to know what products you buy online.  
TintDude.com does not care about your race, gender or politics.  
TintDude.com does not perform psychologic experiments on its members.  
 
 
 
Facebook does.
 
 
 
I hope everyone appreciates the difference and what we are trying to do here. Thanks for your time.
 
 
 
 
 
 

done
 

How do contestants contribute?

Pretty sure those marks are external.  That seems to be a liquid that has etched the glass but wasn't visible until tint was applied.  
 
Inspect it really close externally, wet the area and see if the water changes.  See if you can feel it with a razor blade or see what happens when you hit it with some 0000 steel wool. 
But from the pics, that looks like messed up glass on the outside, not the film   
 

@Debo5454 It's difficult to answer the question of what something looks like without a picture to see what it looks like. It's so easy to post a picture nowadays, if you want help it would make it much easier and effective.

50+ year old business looking to hire an experienced tinter.  We primarily install automotive film but are currently expanding into flat glass.  PPF experience is a bonus.  We are a Llumar dealer.  Store hours are Monday - Friday 9am to 6pm and Saturday from 9am to 4pm.  We strive for a 5 day work week.  Pay depends on experience.  If this sounds interesting to you, call Roland at 864-271-6890.

In short then, very few cars have laminated glass other than the windshield.  While laminated glass does provide uv protection, it does not generally provide heat reduction.  Except in a few limited exceptions, widow film still has benefits such as heat rejection, uv rejection and safety benefits for installing it on factory tinted windows in trucks, vans and suvs.  Our jobs are safe for a little while longer on the automotive side.  

Please forgive me if I am wrong, but most "factory tinted" windows are AS3.  This means that they are tempered glass with lower than a 70% light transmittance.  While they can be laminated, most car manufacturers do not do so.  AS1 stamped windows (windshields) and a few front roll-ups are laminated.  AS2 windows are are windows with tempered glass with a light transmittance of 70% or higher.  It is easy to tell if AS3 roll-ups are laminated or not, look at the top of the glass.  How can you tell if the cargo windows are laminated?  And, if they are not laminated how do they reject more solar energy?  I was under the impression that solar control windows were double and triple pane windows.  There is a lot of difference between architectural glass and auto glass.  I am having a difficult time seeing how adding a layer of film over automotive temper glass is not beneficial for heat rejection, uv rejection and safety (it holds all the little pieces together.  And, even if the glass is laminated, it would provide more heat rejection.  I guess I am being a bit long winded to ask where are you getting your numbers for a "factory tinted" windows having a TSER of 70%