Young Tinter

I gotten decent enough to run a tint business, 1 - 2 cars a day alone. I realized I think seriously about quitting every 2 weeks. Its like I'm fighting myself working a job I've already moved on from mentally. The little things SUCK. Pumping up my sprayer every 20 seconds, scraping (throwing away) a window, tight quarter seals, customers that don't respect me cause I'm young, and being rushed. I've told myself and gurantee that I am closing my business once I make the $10,000 I need for various reasons (car maintenance, real estate agent registration, buying another car,) or by August 2022. Whichever comes first. Its been great and bad, and Dano is a big reason why I was able to be successful in this industry.

Sorry for your loss.

When he mentioned there would be an impact on the defogger, the onus was/is on you to ask exactly what impact, not just simply say 'okay'. That grants him permission to do what needs be done to remove the old film. Had you inquired further, he would have wound up explaining the risk; that sometimes when film is removed the defroster lines may release from the glass as the film comes away from the surface.
 
These are factors that impact defroster line when film is removed;
 
1. Poor quality firing of the defroster line during production of rear window glass. Camry's are one of the most troublesome rear glass for any window tint specialist because of this reason.
 
2. Poor quality film product applied; one that bakes on in a three year time frame. Florida is a graveyard for cheap/inexpensive window film products. It's also one of the places window film is tested against when in development. Most high quality film products have adhesives that can withstand 5-7 years of steady bombardment of Florida's climate.  
 
3. If the film product's adhesive has hardened (and baked to the surface) under the Florida sun, the only way to remove it is to literally razor scrape it off. Most window tint establishments do not guarantee operational status of the defroster elements for this reason.
 
4. There exists a couple of methods that are available to a tint specialist that removes film through a sweat/steam method. One is using a plastic bag and special solution to 'sweat' the film away, doing so with assistance from the sun (kind of similar to sweating away wallpaper without the sun). The other approach is by using an industrial steamer to 'steam' the film/adhesive away from the glass surface. Neither of these approaches to remove are successful with 'baked on' film.
 
Now, if you have a splotchy appearance in your defroster grid layout, it is because they hit the lines with a razor blade during film removal as opposed to scrapping the entire grid off once it was damaged. That would have given it a uniform appearance, however, the lines would not and do not work because they are made up of a metallic paint-like material that gets fired to the surface during glass production.
 
Yes, if you love the defogging aspect of the defroster grid (which has a primary function in defrosting the glass without scrapping).
 
Your options now appear to be:
 
1. Live with it.
 
2. Have the dealer remove the tint and finish scrapping the entire grid off to establish and more uniform look and retint again.
 
3. Once you achieve a cleaner appearance to the grid, you keep a towel or squeegee handy to clear dew from the window, manually.
 
4. Have the rear glass replaced.
 
#4 was what I wound up doing for a client who had played foul ball during the removal discussion by reversing his position of 'go ahead and remove it' some 30 years ago. After I had the glass replaced, he wanted it tinted. I refused to do it based on his actions leading up to replacement and I told him my reason for refusal was to spare the next tinter from the same ordeal; he denied he ever gave my installer permission to remove the defroster lines. After that, experience, our invoices specifically mentioned the defroster impact and it required a customer to sign off on it.
 
Good luck.

Let them spend another 50bux in fuel and lost time driving on over there, then let them do it again when they have a warranty issue.

Tell them or fashion a large sign for the greeting area wall: "We fix $180 tint jobs".

The el-cheapo olfa in the middle is usually my blade of choice. I use the fatty on the left when my hands are sore or if I'm running heavy vinyl production. The red dot on the right I use for getting good precision cuts on ppf.
The slight position change can make a big difference. Same with the handle squeegees. 

A soak rope will help. Also pull the inside wheel trims and stuff some towels over the power boxes on anything euro or electric. I pull the a-pillar covers on windshields and find stuff in there as well, teslas particularly.

It is a scam, and an old one. 

Thanks.  What’s the scam ???    It just felt wrong.  

I feel as if I'm getting the hang of auto tinting, for every 10 cars that come i can complete 7 of the cars and send the other 3 on there way without tint. 7:3 ratio. But the little things suck (deteriorating felt, annoying customers, researching brand new cars, having a panic attack if I left the ignition on for too long or not, BMWs, etc.)
 
So, everyone says commercial is where the money is and im sure its easier than automotive (right?)... Why the hell am I not doing flat glass!? 
 
Summary: what are the pros and cons of doing flat glass tinting over automotive tinting?

He pretty much covered everything and more. 
 
That being said, you couldn't pay me enough to tint cars.
 
Different strokes.
 
 

Cars are easy money. I’m fine and dandy making $300/hr. 

Seems TD has covered a lot of ground ...
 
My story starts with auto and ends with flat glass. Cars feed you flat glass work and flat glass feeds you auto. At some point my focus flipped to mostly resi-comm and cars by reference and appointment only.
 
I believe I've walked away from as many projects as those I've completed. First large project my bid was the highest and outpaced the next closest bid by 6K and I dropped it to be more competitive, which lost me the opportunity because the client perceived I would cut corners by giving up the thousand(s) difference. Lesson learned: stand your ground and justify your price.
 
Only had one residential job that upon entering the home I knew I wasn't going to stay long and refused to remove my shoes; the place was gross from the floor up. One job I walked away from was an old grumpy lady hating on the rainy day I arrive to give her an estimate. She wanted me to do the job but when she asked if I cleaned the outside of the glass before installing, I said No, I only do the inside. She then quipped, How would you know the film was installed well? I called her back a couple days after that conversation and withdrew my bid. My reason told to her was that I did not believe I could install to her satisfaction. She laughed her ass off and I wondered if her face was cracking from the laughter.
 
I was the only tint biz in Naples that would do one window (small job). I did one at a 21 story hi-rise and the condo owner told me I was the only one that would come out. I said, small jobs tend to lead to big jobs. After a couple references at that hi-rise and completed jobs over the course of a couple years, I received an invite to bid the entire building. 77K sq ft of glass area, from 84 condos, to be covered. I beat the 3M dealer in that bid and when awarded to contract I was a one-man operation facing having to complete the project in 10 weeks. Shook hands and said 'no problem'. Had to call a couple competitors and my ex-wife (who was an installer, too) in an effort to get a team together. Finished by the end of the tenth week. That project got my name circulating among all the managers of hi-rise condo building down the strip. Before anything panned out I was hired by a film manufacturer as a rep.
 
So, is flat glass profitable, yes, however, it can take a long time to get a large project because of their finance or lack thereof, decisions delayed and the dog eat dog mentality that comes with bidding large projects.
 
I spent years doing moderate size jobs like homes and business locations. By then I had a great word of mouth network bringing me work. You get to see how the poor as well as the wealthy live. One home I remember from Bonita Springs FL was a turn-key build costing the owner 4.1 mil. I spent all day doing their game room and entertainment room and when I told the lady of the house their place looked lived in and not a museum like other wealthy homes, she said they aren't the stuffy type. LOL. That house was their get away and a mere cottage compared to their home back in Ohio. I've also done work for a couple different clients that had a net worth of 250 mil. One was refined and the other was down home like us working stiffs.
 
Anyway, I came to love doing resi-comm and began to dislike auto tinting. In the end, I would not do ladder work after losing my nerve at the top of a 28-foot extension ladder in home on Marco Island. I've used scissor lifts to complete some jobs and would have needed a cherry picker with bucket to complete the launch center at Kennedy Space Center way back in the day. It was the sloped roof glass they use to watch the rockets go up from their seats at their control stations. I withdrew my bid a couple days before the winner was to be announced. A friend inside called and said I was going to win the bid. I didn't want to do the job; exterior remove and replace 5' x 5' sheets of film on the coast, which always has a wind factor. Nope, not for this guy.
 
The coolest thing I ever tinted was the crawler cabs at KSC. The crawler was those giant platforms that slowly rolled the Space Shuttle to the pad for launch.
 
Can you see the positive side of doing resi-comm? If you do take the plunge, you will need to learn much about film performance values as well as different types of glazing units and their performance values as well. The IWFA has educations guides that can jump start your knowledge base in their Architectural Education Guide and their Safety Film Education Guides.
 
Here's a start:
 
Annealed glass breaks into large sharp edge shards and will break the easiest from thermal stress. Thermal stress is the presence of differing surface temperatures from pane center to pane edge. it only takes a 50 degree different from center to edge for an annealed pain of glass to break, crack or snap.
 
Heat strengthened glass breaks in the same way annealed glass yet, has twice the strength as annealed and can withstand 100 degree difference in surface temp from center to edge.
 
Tempered glass is four times stronger than annealed, it breaks into small non-legal pellets, and can withstand a 200 degree difference in surface temperature from center to edge.
 
This information is critical when choosing the right film for the client's glass. A film with a high solar absorption rate could be too much for a full or partial sun-exposed, annealed piece of glass. Film such as limo tint can snap the glass soon after installation; it has an 89% absorption rate.
 
Other factors need be studied such as lowE coatings, type of framing, single-, dual-, triple-pane glazing units and the use of laminated glass in buildings.
 
Oh and ah, on flat glass jobs I would always have a contract and that contract spelled out what conditions were necessary prior to arriving to install; access to glass with minimum 3-feet of clearance around the glass, all valuables removed from the work area to avoid damage responsibility, Air/Heat need run a minimum of 3 days before and for 3 days after installation. I have never had the back to be able to move (large) stuff away from the pane to be worked on and I would emphasize the fact I did not want to be held responsible for damage to their possessions. The vast majority understood this point. I only did it for elderly folk who had no one to do it for them.
 
Story time is over. Good luck.

????????

Are cars seeming better yet?

I feel as if I'm getting the hang of auto tinting, for every 10 cars that come i can complete 7 of the cars and send the other 3 on there way without tint. 7:3 ratio. But the little things suck (deteriorating felt, annoying customers, researching brand new cars, having a panic attack if I left the ignition on for too long or not, BMWs, etc.)
 
So, everyone says commercial is where the money is and im sure its easier than automotive (right?)... Why the hell am I not doing flat glass!? 
 
Summary: what are the pros and cons of doing flat glass tinting over automotive tinting?

I would recommend a roland or an older graphtech (fc7000, fc 8000, fc8600) if you can find one. The run forever. These are compatible with CorelDraw and Adobe for basic art. Just about all the film suppliers have a cutting program for car patterns. Get a 60" so you can pass thru wrap film and PPF. 

I would stay away from the off brands unless you just want a bigger learning curve and compatibility issues.

Put some soap on those seals to stop some of the handling creases. For small fingers I'll wrap a towel around a hard card and jam it in and leave it until the glue tacks. 

Power cord yes and a 15-25' printer type cord for computer connect (plotters are simply large printers using a blade rather than ink).
Check with your film supplier for computer cut film software and subscription costs.
See #1
If your film supplier sells plotter and software they are likely your go to for plotter issues. Eastman (LLumar Film has a dept dedicated to patterns and plotters).
Pretty much; it's all about having the plotter set up to cut different materials. Some plotters you can select 1-5 (possibly more) different blade pressure settings. Critical to select blade pressure before cutting selected material.
Stick to software and patterns from US/Canada to ensure quality of fit on car models sold in NA.
Tintdude.com or look for vinyl discussion boards.
Buying a plotter from a company not in window film may lead to difficulties since plotters (such as those sold through LLumar) have a motherboard specified for window film pattern software use (Roland, Graphtech).
See #8
 
 
There are times when some peeps on this board remind me of my wife when it comes to answering questions; they seem to skirt getting direct to the point aka answer(s). 😆

Thank you sir