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Solar windows film installation

msenjur

New Member
Hello!

How do you install windows film? Im having some questions about backing liner. Do you remove it whole before installation, or do you re-roll it on window?

I have seen some video where the guy has roll of prepared film in hand and then remove backing liner for few cm, spray some water on in, then put it on glass and then somehow removing backing liner and applying film on glass...

I have tried this method but it didnt work for me.... is there some hack during this process...

I have 50m2 to install, and i would like to speed up the process a bit...
 

rjssigns

Active Member
If you've never done it before, don't. If this is not a profit center for your business sub it out to a pro and mark it up.
On a couple jobs I worked with a friend who was a professional film installer. Holy Cow! Lots of little tricks to get it right and you won't learn those on a forum.
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
I haven't done it in a long time but IIRC, Id wet the window, stick it face down which keeps it stuck to the window, put a piece of tape on each side in a corner to get the backing to peel, take the backing off, spray the tint, flip it, put it on the window and float it into place. I found it to be a PITA, mainly because 1 grain of sand/dirt pretty much ruins it. It was mainly school buses so you had to work around the dirty seats and all of the wedge rubber. Doing it on flat glass before installing the glass is easy. We did a pilot house in a dredge on site, pulled the glass, put on the tint, replaced the rubbers and stuck it back in.
 

msenjur

New Member
yes, this is how im doing it now...

but i would to know they do it, when they are removing backing paper at the same time as installing it on glass...
 

msenjur

New Member
If you've never done it before, don't. If this is not a profit center for your business sub it out to a pro and mark it up.
On a couple jobs I worked with a friend who was a professional film installer. Holy Cow! Lots of little tricks to get it right and you won't learn those on a forum.

yes, i know there is a lot of trick. i know about 80% of them.

that is just one more trick that i would to learn..
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
yes, this is how im doing it now...

but i would to know they do it, when they are removing backing paper at the same time as installing it on glass...
Again, I am amateur level with this stuff but I don't believe that they do. Its non stick side to the glass, remove all of the backer and then flip it over so the stick side is down. It's not like a decal
 

Stacey K

I like making signs
Maybe there is a window tint forum somewhere online? Most sign shops don't window tint.

I send all my customers to my friend who's tint guy quit so he's in the same boat as you with learning. He begged me to teach him but I don't know how to do it so that was a dead end, hence why I send them to him! LOL
 
It's fairly easy to do once you get the hang of it.

Roll the film tightly with the liner in.

Unroll about 4-5 inches of film

Peel the liner

Wet the outside of the liner and of course the adhesive side of the film

Roll the liner around and back onto the film side that will be facing you (opposite of the adhesive of course)

At this stage you can either hold the corners of the film you peeled and kind of throw the roll of film towards the ground, or you can place the portion you exposed onto the glass and gently pull the roll towards the round.

As the film unrolls, it will simultaneously peel the liner and stick it to the side of the film facing you and once it's all unrolled you can pull it off and discard it.

Line up your edges and start squeegeeing.

Hope this makes sense. I'll either try to take some pictures or draw a super detailed, high quality line drawing if it doesn't.


Edit: The throw method doesn't work well with small windows, there's not enough heft to unroll it and peel the backing at once. It's not really necessary with them anyway, they're easy enough to peel on another window or wall, flip around, and install.
 

Tomtint

New Member
The method that was described earlier where you start the liner rolled up on the inside, and unwind it as you go, works well with dry adhesive window film. With PS adhesive it's more of an acquire skill. Depending on how big the pieces are, it may just be faster to have someone peal and spray the film as you hold it. I have been in the trade for 37-38 years..with a helper we do 2k -1500 sf a day. Solo it's about 1/2 of that,
 

msenjur

New Member
thats is a lot anyway...

so i have finishedthe job. 2 person around 10 hours.

it was this glass "air-lock entry". with glass roof on top. it was quite difficult to install it on that aslant roof...

what are your install steps.

here are mine:

1. clean glass with scraper and clean all large dirt
2. wet glass, apply vinyl with backing paper, fix it and cut off edges, roll viny off the glass
3. wet glass and clean it with wiper
4. peel off backing paper, spray glass + vinyl and install it

IMG_20220819_204455.jpg
 

msenjur

New Member
You installed the film on the exterior...? ...Was it a exterior rated film ? ..did you caulk the edges afterwards?

yes, on the exterior. i couldnt install it on interior, becouse there is many hoses going under the roof. Ofcourse it exterior rated film.

No, i didnt caulk edges. i leave a 1mm gap around between rubber and film... will see how long it will last.

Never saw tint go on the outside before

its not tint, its uv solar.


 
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