05-06-2008, 02:54 PM
A door-size piece of tint is probably a two-person job, because if the tint folds over on itself, it's stuck together and you will damage it trying to pull it back apart.
Basically the key to putting on the tint is to hose everything down with liquid...either their application spray, or some solution of soapy water. That includes soaking the tint with spray as you are separating it from the backer that it comes rolled up on.
Mine has held up well. I got the Gila solar-reflective tint, which makes the windows slightly reflective from outside. I don't know what would happen if a cat were to try and scratch the tint. I think it makes a noticeable difference in the windows.
Also as a former Midwesterner, I was surprised when I bought a house down here and it had single-pane windows. Everyone (inspectors, hardware store people, etc.) said that was the way it was done here...either the payback for double-pane windows was too long, or the pane seals failed (this was in 2004). Of course, by the time I put an addition on the house in late 2006, the contractor was using double-pane windows.
Someone mentioned hurricane film. I would never call the Gila film hurricane film, but I will say that during the aforementioned addition, one of the windows with the Gila film got hit by a stray 2x4, and while the glass shattered, the Gila film held it in the frame.
Basically the key to putting on the tint is to hose everything down with liquid...either their application spray, or some solution of soapy water. That includes soaking the tint with spray as you are separating it from the backer that it comes rolled up on.
Mine has held up well. I got the Gila solar-reflective tint, which makes the windows slightly reflective from outside. I don't know what would happen if a cat were to try and scratch the tint. I think it makes a noticeable difference in the windows.
Also as a former Midwesterner, I was surprised when I bought a house down here and it had single-pane windows. Everyone (inspectors, hardware store people, etc.) said that was the way it was done here...either the payback for double-pane windows was too long, or the pane seals failed (this was in 2004). Of course, by the time I put an addition on the house in late 2006, the contractor was using double-pane windows.
Someone mentioned hurricane film. I would never call the Gila film hurricane film, but I will say that during the aforementioned addition, one of the windows with the Gila film got hit by a stray 2x4, and while the glass shattered, the Gila film held it in the frame.