The front door to my house has a side window that extends the full length of the door. What was there when we moved in, was a sheer curtain held up by several thumbtacks. Needless to say, this had to go!
After a walk around the neighborhood, my wife and I noticed that many of the homes in the area actually do not have a covering on this part of their door. Anyone walking on the street can see directly into those houses. We both agreed that an open view of the house was unacceptable. At the same time, however, we did not want to block out the natural light. The natural light was one of the main things that we loved about the house in the first place. So we searched for an option that would fit these specifications.
On one of our many trips to Lowe’s, we were introduced to the Gila Sidelight Solutions Window Film. This, seemingly, solved our issues The film promised to let the light through but maximize privacy. It also promised an easy install with no adhesive residue. My wife was totally convinced that I would be able to make this work for our home.
When I began the installation process, admittedly I was probably too tired to try to start putting this together. But the product did promise that the install would be simple. To my surprise, it actually was pretty easy. My only qualm was that it was too short for the window. About 3-4 inches of the bottom of the window was uncovered. On top of that, no matter how hard I tried, I could not keep it from shifting while I attempted to get the air pockets out. in the final steps, a bit irritated, from the film shifting, I stepped back and I realized that the film shifted while I was cutting and I cut the film a little slanted. It didn’t take long for my wife to come behind me and tear the entire thing down and highly encouraged me to start over.
I am happy to say that my second attempt went much better than the first. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures to show these results, but in retrospect, I probably should not have started this until I was less exhausted. A day after I put the film up, I noticed that it started separating from the window. It was only then that I realized that there were several steps that I totally missed in the instructions, such as the film was a two-piece product that had to be separated before placing on the window. Also, a how to install video from the manufacturer’s website suggests cutting the film before installing. That made a world of difference in trying to mount the film to the window. Finally, When we purchased this product, were did not specifically go out to buy it. We were actually working on another project (take a look at #handymanCorey on facebook to see what else we’ve done). Lowe’s had this product in two sizes, a six foot and a six and a half foot film. Since this was a spur of the moment purchase we did not have the measurements of the window.
Fortunately, I am not one to give up easily and the staff at Lowe’s was sympathetic to my situation. They allowed me to exchange the product for the one I actually needed. With the correct product, I was finally able to install the “easy-to-install” window film. Now, we have the privacy, light and less tacky finish to our front door.
Lessons Learned!
- Measure twice; Cut once!
- Never work exhausted.
- Be nice to your hardware store personnel, they may help you out in your time of need.
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Corey Stokes 