apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've been thinking about this, as my eastern-facing windows get a -lot- of light. Anyone know how/if it affects plants?

Thanks,
Diana

i've been wanting to do this -- we've got west facing windows so our apartment really heats up in the late afternoon. using the 'light' version, do your windows look gray at all? or is the film clear? and does it affect the view in from outside at all (more privacy)?

thanks,
dan

hey dan- that was a big concern of mine, the gray factor, as one of my favorite things of my room is the lightness- The film is subtly darker, but it still lets in a lot of light- From the outside, during the day, it is very reflective, and you can't see inside, however, at night, it acts the same as if you didn't have any window coverings at all. So, some sort of additional blinds or shades would still be advisable. They do have specific kinds of films just for privacy. At the store, they had a little display that showed samples, so you could get a better idea-

DianaG, as for plants, it says they do block out a lot of UV rays, which I assume is to prevent your furniture from fading, so it may affect your plants a little, but it doesn't block all of it, so it might be ok... let us know if you do try it, and what results you get!

but it definitely has helped with the heat, and hopefully lessens the need to run the AC as much..

I'm so glad I had reflective film installed before this heatwave! Sounds like the same stuff jonathan has -- just the slightest edge of grey viewing out, and a totally private mirror looking in. My wall of windows faces South; before the film was installed I would come home at 6pm to a box o' grueling heat. Now it's far more comfortable and it's nice that the tourists can no longer peer up into my apartment. It cost me about $250 for 6 big windows.

this might be a stupid question, but this prevents you from being able to open the window, right?

hi catherine-
no, it adhere's completely to the glass, just like a car tint, so you can still open the window. besides, most windows don't have the glass touching, so you should be fine... and also, they sell a solution for easy removal, so it doesn't have to be permanent.

Do you apply the film to the inside of the window or the outside?

lorie- to the inside of the window-

Danger on the assumption that there's easy removal. Maybe this is an improved product but my experience is it does wear to where the window always looks dirty, and is very hard to get off.

I used the Gila Ultra-e platinum on my windows 2 years ago. It is as clear as it was then, the windows do not look dirty. It does have reflective qualities though.

There is something on the web page about how you can get a tax write off from it! I have super old crappy windows. I think this will be a good idea in attention to the plastic sheets in the winter. Anything that helps...

Unfortunately, the tax write off expired in December 2007. We had some people come out and give us an estimate to put the 3M window film on but it was way too expensive. This would be a much cheaper alternative. Was it hard to put on? I'd worry about leaving a bubble or some imperfection that would always draw my eye.

I've had two apartments in a row where installing an A/C was not an option, so I've used this heat control film both times. Super easy to put up (easier if you have somebody else do it with you, but I've done it by myself each time with few problems) and it helps with the heat by a few degrees (and at 95F, I'll take anything I can get.) The film in my last apartment was up for two years and looks fine still. In terms of installation, I've gotten better with practice. Luckily the film is easy to take down for up to a day or two after you've put it up so mistakes can be corrected.

And please please post more about heat control tips for renters! Thank you!

I have reasonably extensive experience with Gila window films. I’ve used them on approximately 15-20 windows in my 100 year old house, largely to protect art and books from the damaging effect of the sun.

There are a variety of Gila films. Some are sold at Lowe’s, but at the Lowe’s in my vicinity they rarely, if ever, have had the clear film that I wanted. Therefore, I have ordered rolls of that film directly from Gila.

In my opinion, it is exceedingly difficult to put the film on a window, even if there are comments to the contrary. I’m inclined to say that it’s simply impossible, yet I’ve obviously done it.

Here are my gripes: The instructions are god-awful! They lack detail, and aren’t sufficiently “instructive.” In a real world environment, they just don’t explain how a homeowner could successfully put this film onto a window.

Also, this film creases like aluminum foil. That is, once creased, forever creased. That makes it very difficult to handle, especially if you’re cutting a larger sheet for a larger window.

Furthermore, every possible speck of hair and dirt—and everything else in the universe—is drawn to these sheets by major static electricity, so I have found it impossible to get the film onto the window without sandwiching a zillion little specks (almost all invisible on casual inspection, I know) between the film and the window.

The difficulty increases as the size of the window increases (especially if you’ll be abutting films in order to cover a larger expanse of glass).

Plus, if this wasn’t sufficiently clear from prior comments, I think it’s fair to consider the film “permanent.” They say that you can remove it, but it looks like doing so would be extremely difficult.

I would love to see how a professional does this: I’m pretty skillful when it comes to these sort of things, and while I’ve gotten better at it over time I’ve never been pleased with the results. Maybe the question should be, what sort of professional does this, and how would I find that professional?

Recently, I saw an ad in the back of Dwell for a different brand of window firm that, so far as I could tell, provided essentially the same protection. Has anyone tried that brand? I think the ad may have said that this brand's firm was repositionable and/or removable. I don't see why it would be difficult to make a film like this that’s both repositionable and removable.

Sorry about the weird symbols that took the place of apostrophes in the comment that I just posted. Not sure why/how they appeared.

this sounds great, but i have a feeling that our landlord would want us to take it off before moving out. does it leave a sticky film when you remove it? might be more trouble than it's worth.

We just put this up (twice!) on our huge patio door windows (4ft wide by 7.5 feet tall each ). The first time we chose the darkest tint. Big mistake! It blocked too much light. We took it down 2 weeks later. It left a tiny bit of residue on one panel only, but then again it was only up for 2 weeks. The light tint is best.

We really needed 2 people for such a large project. The trick with the static is to spray generously on all sides of the film. The gila website has a really good video that shows you how to do it. At a few places during the video, we were like "why do you need to spray that side of the film? It doesn't need to be sprayed"...but then we found out the hard way why it really needs to be sprayed. Keeping the film wet keeps it sticking to itself (which then creates really bad creases) and also eliminates the static.

We also installed it twice on our large windows (3ft wide by 5ft tall). These were much easier to install, but still required 2 people.

I think we got very professional results. There are like 2 small strands of dog hair on the patio doors, but they're only visible at the right angle. We could have removed them, but didn't. There are no visible air bubbles either. My mom had all her windows done professionally 7 years ago, when I inspected them carefully recently, you could see tiny little air bubbles. I've never noticed them before.

Always practice on smaller windows first! And buy a lot more of that Gila spray than you think you need.

I wouldn't recommend the splicing technique they use in the video...we tried it but couldn't get an invisible seam.

We have it on our west facing windows and it's been a huge help. IT was a two person job to put up, and we did find that it folded into itself easily (with much cursing on my spouse's part before I arrived on the scene!). We have to take it off in a month (moving) and I'll be interested to see how that works....