Tintguy1980

Take a look at 3M's Nightvision or LLumar's Dual Reflective series, they both have a warm tone to them.

LLumar, 3M and Solargard have in the industry as far back as the genesis of window film mid-1960's). Solargard is the younger of the three and all others came to play in the last 20 or so years.

I've had all three on my vehicles over the years and my current is 3M Crystalline on my Jeep since 2015. It still has stable color, scratch coat is holding strong and impeccable adhesive clarity. Never been garaged.

My choice toady would be 3M or LLumar.

Hook up with Glassy Business and get all the ins and outs of pro vs DIY with window film.

That company goes back way before my retirement in 2015. I want to believe they are/were a Vista Film dealer and I cannot remember the owner's name.

Peace out.

Forgot to mention; if your house is under HOA, you may have to check in with them. Some, eh hem, many seemingly shy away from having a reflective look to the glass. A dual reflective with a visible light transmission of 35% (ex: NV35) would likely be more palatable to HOA, but not so happy for the owner.

Your position to take with them is: The higher the reflectivity of a film product, the better when dealing with desert heat.

There exists a necessary (physics) compromise in every window film transaction. Can't please all parties.

Glad I could help educate.

3 hours ago, Recoil said:

Hi folks,

I have south facing double pane windows that get a lot sun here in Las Vegas. Those windows get extremely hot and I want to get them tinted. I do not mind if they are black, mirror, dark, light, etc. I am looking for performance blocking the heat without doing a complete blackout.

Initially I was thinking of going with 3M Prestige 70 since 3M is the only reputable brand I could think but I did read a few posts here in the forum and I see that there is other brands with perhaps better products like “Huper Optik”.

Personally knowing what it's like in Vegas when it's hot, I would stir clear of any film TSER performance value less than 60% or a solar heat gain value greater than 40%. Prestige does not fit this and would be  a big waste of good money.

Huper Optiks' ceramic products have high solar energy absorption rates, so in hot environments these kind high absorptive films run counterintuitive to the use of the product while using air conditioning to cooling the interior. High absorption on the inside pane, where most films are applied will radiate that absorbed heat toward the room. Outside breezes across the exterior surface of the window will not be as effective in cooling down the interior than say a low absorptive film, high solar reflection film product.

In this case, low absorptive/high solar reflection products should be a go-to such as: 3M's Night Vision15 or NV25, Vista Film's Dual Reflective18 or DR 28, LLumar's DR15 or DR25 (which closely matches 3M NV), or Madico's Optivision in and around the same number assignment. The numbers assigned to films represent the visible light transmission of the product.

When a dealer comes out to assess and likely have and leave samples, use the samples as sunglasses by wrapping over your eyes a viewing out and in the room. This gives you a more precise idea of what the film will look like once applied. A small sample placed on the glass will always appear darker than having the entire panel tinted.

Good luck.

 

Dry shrink is akin to moving from the horse and buggy age to the age of automobiles; not only innovative, but you find yourself getting to your destination quicker. Dry shrink is also less damaging to the chemical properties of the film itself.

And like Bham has pointed out in different words, work smart not harder. TD mentioned the wet check after dry shrinking, which is a technique used by many in the early stages of learning to dry shrink.

Plenty of demos on Youtube.

15 hours ago, metagamers said:

question: when polishing glass will it impact the visibility after?

Any impact from polishing, if the mar responds to polishing, would result in no or little visible trace.

Anyone experienced in buffing glass will likely say, no guarantees; unless they've experienced the same mar on glass.

2 hours ago, unrecognized88 said:

Wow thank you for the comment about the tax advantage. I'll definitely have this noted for my taxes. And thank you for the recommendation for Madico Optivision. For $47 more, I would not mind going with them after what you said.

 

On that Madico proposal, I've been going back and forth about the Front Bedroom. These windows NEED to have a mirror like finish and I'm between the 25 and 35. The 25 is definitely very mirrorlike, but I'm afraid it might be too much for a set of windows facing the street, so possibly the 35 would be better? What are your thoughts? Attaching a picture of the front windows that currently have this Kespen tint I bought off Amazon. Which of the 25 or 35 would be closest to this finish?

 

I'm okay with doing 25 on the Master Bedroom though since it's in the back of the house and facing West. I don't have any neighbors directly behind me due to it being a greenspace where a pipeline runs underground. I've had the samples up and keep going back to look at them, but it's sometimes hard to tell.

 

I don't have a sample of the 45 for the living room, but I think that's as high as it goes, so I'm fine with 45 to allow max amount of natural light through.

 

 

 

The first picture appears to be similar to a 25%. Front of house?

The second picture with 2 shades pulled down should get 25%, especially if facing West.

The third picture should get 45%. The compromise is lesser privacy, while providing greater incoming light (already shaded from patio overhead).

Small samples provided by the dealer don't give you a good sense of what the film will look like once installed. There is too much light streaming in around the sample (when taped to the glass), making the film look darker than what it will look like installed.

The best and most accurate way to see what it will look like, viewing out, is to use the sample as quasi-sunglasses by wrapping it around your face and eyes (to the point of no light leaking in). Now, look toward the window(s). Viola`, there's your tinted view.

As to the tax benefit, do check with a pro tax person just in case they no longer have that program. I've been retired for almost a decade now.

50 minutes ago, unrecognized88 said:

Thanks. I am slightly leaning towards the Suntek now due to the installer dropping the price a bit for me. He's willing to do $1,365 plus tax. Or if I pay cash, then tax will be excluded. 

 

Slate and Optivision installer says there's no sales tax because "Residential is non-taxable in Texas because the film is considered a home improvement"

A simple google ask tells you it residential installs of film are not taxable; labor and material. If they are collecting tax, they're in for a world of hurt, if discovered.

There's also this: For solar films, the tax advantages are even greater. The US Department of Energy allows you to claim up to 30% of the cost, including installation fees.

You may want to ask your tax prep person about this.
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My choice of the three films for the home would be Madico. Why? They've had a solid product for as long as my career goes back. They are also one of the founders of the window film industry (mid to late 50's last century, along with 3M and LLumar), whereby the other two came along years later; SolarGard then Suntek, respectively.

I used to sell SolarGard and got away from them when they had a rash of failures in the late 80's, moving to LLumar/Vista.

Suntek is owned by Eastman Chemical, who also owns many other brands and is known for producing components other brands will buy and use. Suntek was bought by Eastman about ten years ago to work as an entry level product (lower cost product) in comparison to their LLumar, Vista, Huper Optiks, V-kool brands for residential/commercial glass.

Eastman Chem is the fifth generation owner of the film plant in Henry Co. Virginia.

Little tough and time consuming to walk someone through the process using words. See if either of these will help:

9 hours ago, doctor4766 said:

You're right,  it really annoyed me that someone of my experience should be attacked by an amateur who thought he knew every square inch of his vehicle.

This day and age we have armchair rookie experts calling out true to form experts with decades of experience. Case in point our own Dr. Fauci with a career spanning 50 yrs studying virus and bacteria getting trounced during the Covid crisis.

Correct; using 15 will darken, so will 25, just not as much.

Experiment before laying $$ down on film by watching TV with sunglasses, especially when the sun is bombarding those windows straight on. Does it make watching TV more comfortable? In other words, does it cut the glare to your satisfaction? Use old-fashion dark sunglasses, not some special ops type advertised on TV and don't use polarized.

Or, take a film sample and wrap it around your face, covering your eyes as faux glasses and watch TV in the worst of the sun shining through. Pick the sample that satisfies your comfort level.

If it satisfies your comfort level, then either of the two would suffice.

Also, compare pricing between LLumar Dr 15/25 and the 3M NV. They are said to be very close in appearance. I don't recall which  has the edge over the other in terms of total solar energy rejection.

If neither film works, you are facing the prospect of sun-blocking shades, blind or drapes; motorized of course.

Good  luck.

It takes anywhere from two weeks to 4 weeks for the moisture to dry out from under the film.

Dot matrix material height off the glass varies from glass manufacturer to glass manufacturer. The film is suspended off the glass between each dot and is not flimsy/flexible enough to be pressed to stay in between these dots. Take a look at other cars around parking lots and you will see a mixed appearance from car to car; some will adhere nicely in the dot region some will not. Again, it depends on the material height of the dot matrix.

Throwing some pictures up on this site showing precisely what you see would be more helpful than an article.

Going with another film doesn't translate into improved conditions since they are made with similar thickness.

Visors are regulated by state law and the vast majority of States restrict them to no more than six inches.

And lastly, you are not alone; every car owner believes window tint can be applied so perfect that it would be perceived to be actual glass and not an aftermarket product.

Don't know what I was thinking when saying, 1/16-1/8th in the above comment; it wouldn't be wide enough because of sticker thickness creating a linear air pocket at its edge.

One shot is all you would have, if you were to dry laminate it between two layers of PPF or clear vinyl. Although, PPF might be more pliable enough to hide the linear air pocket created at the sticker edge from its material thickness. You know, the good ole fingernail press together trick.

Got access to PPF? Consider it.

Check out this recent discussion further down the feed:

You may already know these and I'm not here to insult your knowledge base. I just hope it's useful info.

Some of it may sound redundant, but a tinter quickly learns, contaminates are the enemy and requires the same kind of focus on surrounding detail(s) similar to someone riding a motorcycle in heavy car/truck traffic.

Frankenstein method of install:

Mist and squeegee clean peel board surface before placing the pattern onto it. How you do that may or may not be the process mentioned in the next paragraph.

Ensure the back of the pattern has been rinsed clean, eliminating any contaminates picked up from auto glass surface when hand cutting or a plotter run, before placing on peel board surface. This is best done by laying the pattern liner down on peel board, smoothing flat, light mist and squeegee clean. Carefully fold pattern without creasing, lift away holding with one hand, while the other mists peel board surface and squeegees it clean and now lay pattern on cleaned surface.

Lightly mist the headliner and seats just before entering.

Lightly mist the film's liner surface before peeling.

Rinse both hands, forearms, and all ten fingers before lifting pattern from peel board.

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Reverse-roll install:

Follow above when and where necessary.

When the pattern is staged flat on the cleaned peel board (to lift liner for wetting adhesive), mist the liner surface, carefully squeegee dry including surrounding glass surface, rinse hands/fingers/forearms before lifting liner to wet adhesive, wet adhesive/replace liner/roll up and install.

Additional note: Be mindful of the type of fabric your clothing is made of, it will hold contaminates as well. Dry air causes static that can pull particles to your clothing. Use a tight-fit hat or bandana, if you know your hair is flaky.

It's definitely a journey. 🙏 Namaste.

Here are two links to tinting tool suppliers in the US:

https://44tools.com/

https://expresswindowfilms.com/

You can either order and have it shipped to St. Pete or you can order and have it shipped to your son in Orlando.

If you ship to Orlando, just make sure the tool(s) will not be confiscated by airport security. You can put them into checked baggage that will not travel in the main cabin of the plane.

Best time for outdoor mobile tinting is right after the sun comes up, no wind. and a heavy dew (or rain) covering everything.

38 minutes ago, tony27 said:

 

Can some one please just tell me if the polyfilm 2ply 1.5ml tint is or isn't better to use.

Here, I'll simplify ... depends on your skill level.

And, I answered by saying 1.5 mil is thinner. I'm now adding 1.5 mil is not as heavy as a 2-mil.

The thinner the film the more difficult it is to handle and squeegee down without heavy-handing it.

So, did you actually buy a 1 mil product labeled as a 2 mil? Meaning you got snookered?

Maybe somebody else can speak more clearly.

(Tint) polyester film in these thicknesses are typically found in the window film market, depending on who made the product for sale or assembly into single or multi-ply products:
.5 = thin

1

1.5

2

4

6

7

8

10

11

12

14

15 = thick

21 = monster thick

If you buy a 2-mil, it is likely constructed of 1+1 = 2-mil 2-ply (or as you stated, layers)

If you buy a 1.5-mil, it is likely constructed of .5+1 = 1.5-mil 2-ply

1.5 mil is thinner than a 2 mil.

Thickness of film does not impact longevity, however, the type of chemical protection in the polyester (weatherable vs. non-weatherable), the laminating adhesive and the mounting adhesive does.

19 hours ago, TintDude said:

 

Tell us more about this wonderful product!  

Where's that SpitSprayMyCoffeeAllOverTheScreen emoticon. |

Whoops, forgot one thing maybe two.

They are also using lowE technology in auto glass; from what I saw when seeking the other info, it is being used in sunroof and panorama roofs. If it is a single sheet and not laminated, any film applied to the actual lowE coating negates the lowE properties (which is the same for architectural glass (single pane lowE glass).

Also, I mentioned the EDTM meter and I must admit I am unsure whether the ID is 2250 or 2450. I know it was pricey back in 2014, but it was found to be as accurate (-/+ 2-3%) as the photospectrometers mannies use that cost 100K or above.

Example:

https://www.pilkington.com/en-gb/uk/automotive/original-equipment/automotive-glazing/automotive-products/thermal-comfort#

Yes, it was metered using EDTM 2250(?)