Tinting windows with auto tint?

[nate379]

I am a night worker so that means I sleep when the sun is shinning right in the bedroom. Not to mention that if I was working days it'd be the same situation in the summer as well.

I have been thinking of putting automotive window tint in the windows. I already have wood 2" blinds, but it's not enough to really dark out the room.

The other option I was thinking was just using cardboard or something to block out the windows, but I'd like to come up with something less white trash

 

[Boyd Who]

What about pull-down rollshades? They block out pretty much everything.

 

[byrd]

i tinted the glass on my patio door with the cheap autozone roll of mirrored window film and it worked great. just throw some 5% on the glass and start snoring!

 

[nate379]

What about pull-down rollshades? They block out pretty much everything.

Do they still make those? I haven't seen them since the 1960s era ones in my grandparent's place!

I could maybe fit the rollshade behind the slat blind, that would work out well actually if so.

 

[61falcon]

lowes has window tint. its in the isle with the window shades and blinds. they have large sheets, from tint to privacy.

 

[Mickey O]

You can buy black out shades, roll down shades that are made with a tint product or tint the window with automotive tint. A word of caution, if you apply tint to the windows do not use a heat gun (used on cars to speed up dry time and form the tint), you could blow out the windows.

 

[Kev442]

If you have insulated low E glass, tint could cause cracking/shattered glass. Roll down shades come in densities from "not doing a damn thing" to "gosh, it's dark in here!"

 

[jon1996]

Aluminum Foil

 

[nate379]

That falls into the white trash/ghetto section.

Aluminum Foil

 

[tekkerAMCer]

look for RV window tint

it comes in bigger rolls with a wider variety of tint %'s

and its cling to not adhesive. so it will make less of a mess if you ever wanna take it off

 

[ddawg16]

I would suggest the roll shades as well.....

I've done the DIY shade....part of the problem is that you can't see out the window at night....second....if you don't do it right, you get air bubbles.....only second to tin foil on the trailer trash ckt....

But it does have one advantage...if someone breaks your window...all the glass sticks together....makes it harder to get through.

 

[tatra]

nate, having experienced night shift and 24 hour sunlight, albeit at different times in my life, if it's just your bedroom, hang dark comforters/ moving mats up as they shield the sun, insulate the cold and heat, and deaden the outside noise............let us know if we can be of any help making sure you get your rest as i really want you on top of your game with the job you do.............

 

[moose knuckle]

I work nights too, and since its just a bedroom, I hung blankets to get complete darkness. Shades and blinds didnt do it for me. Wife doesnt like it, but she'll get over it...

 

[djd99]

I would suggest the roll shades as well.....

I've done the DIY shade....part of the problem is that you can't see out the window at night....second....if you don't do it right, you get air bubbles.....only second to tin foil on the trailer trash ckt....

But it does have one advantage...if someone breaks your window...all the glass sticks together....makes it harder to get through.

I also like this option as well, We bought ours at lowes and it makes our bedroom very dark even in the daylight.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_15267-49091-43-2314-000_0_?productId=3014120&Ntt=roll%20shades&Ntk=i_products&pl=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=roll%20shades$y=0$x=0

 

[diogenes]

Wow. I've worked nights my entire adult life, except when the Army kidnaps me. I've never had a problem sleeping in the daylight.

I know a lot of guys that fight it and they do suffer... Especially if the other half just can't deal with the lifestyle and they keep making demands on the guys to do things other than sleep when they should be sleeping. Wait, maybe I should reword that...

There is one window in my bedroom that faces west. In the late afternoon, when it gets to the right angle, the sun roasts my legs in summer. I hung a beach towel over the curtain rod and that fixed it. It casts a nice blue light to the room, too. I can't imagine permanently blacking out the windows, I'd suggest the roller shades layered behind the venetian blinds you have if you need it dark as a coal sack. That way, if you have a Mrs., she can have light in there when she wants it. It's also easier to clean a room in daylight than in artificial light IMNSHO.

BTW, roller shades are just as finicky as you remember and they aren't made with as good a material as they were in the past. You will end up replacing them as they tear occasionally.

 

[Born_Annoyed]

I Have worked Overnight for a long time. I tried the shades "No Luck" I / We like it dark as my wife sometimes works overnight as well.
What I made was a frame slightly larger than the window with some 1.5 x 1.5 X 8' banisters. -sp? I stapled the foil backed cardboard to the frame and installed with 3" wall anchors in the Sheetrock. The reason I say install into the rock is. It make it easy to pull down if there is a FIRE! I also have horizontal blinds that are mounted and closed in the window well. Looks nice from the outside. Not so nice from the inside! But 100% Blackout.!! Wifee says we will cover the inside with some sort of fabric to clean up the look.

 

[blkhonda1991]

I Have worked Overnight for a long time. I tried the shades "No Luck" I / We like it dark as my wife sometimes works overnight as well.
What I made was a frame slightly larger than the window with some 1.5 x 1.5 X 8' banisters. -sp? I stapled the foil backed cardboard to the frame and installed with 3" wall anchors in the Sheetrock. The reason I say install into the rock is. It make it easy to pull down if there is a FIRE! I also have horizontal blinds that are mounted and closed in the window well. Looks nice from the outside. Not so nice from the inside! But 100% Blackout.!! Wifee says we will cover the inside with some sort of fabric to clean up the look.

now that is how you black out windows haha, no stray light making it past that!

 

[metal1313]

thermal or insulated roller shades. they look decent, have the foil inside, and if you mount them tight in the window, or wider than it and close to the wall they should block all the light.

i have huge windows, surrounded by very ornate mouldings so off the shelf shades dont work for me, custom shades are worth it, as the windows are all origonal and the storm windows ****. and new windows are out of the question being an historic house. so the cost of the shades was worth it.

 

[Rosco]

I have roller shades from lowes and mini blinds behind them. Absolutely no light and the mini blinds show from the outside.

Especially helpful for privacy at night also........

 

[rsanter]

someone was making a window tint (for home) that was static cling.
install and trim, remove when you dont want

bob

 

[bimmer1980]

we have some heavy drapes in our bedroom and they block a huge amount of the light. the only light that comes in is on the edges if you don't pull the drapes correctly.

We used an expanding curtain rod that clamps in between the window frame after you put the drapes over it. easy to do, and easy to push the drapes open to let light in.... We also have shutters on the lower half of the window. These are shutters on the inside, not the outside. The drapes and shutters are kind of a Pennsylvania thing... or colonial......

regardless, it works well for sleeping in on Saturday mornings.....

 

[jmack]

Go to Lowes - they carry a wide range of window films for residential use made by Gila. This is what you want: Product Link

 

[boiler7904]

Tint or reflective film on single pane windows would be a good option but everything I've heard about tint film on insulated glass points to seal failures and condensation problems at some point due to the excessive heat buildup in the air space. One of the commercial glazing contractors I know voids the warranty on any unit instantly that has tint film applied for that reason. Since you have a new(er) house you've got insulated units at a minimum, possibly triple glazed.

I think you'd be better off with black out shades or curtains if you can't get blinds to do the trick.

 

[nate379]

10-4.

I'm going to see if the roll-em-up shades will fit behind the blinds.

For the comments about sleeping in the light, sure I can do that but I find I sleep better if it's dark. The blinds aren't too bad, but darker would be better.

 

[nate379]

Well the roll up em blinds worked out. $13 at Wal-Mart. I just put it between the window and the wood blinds. Had to move the wood blinds forward a little, but it still looks fine.

First pic is with just the wood blinds closed on both windows.
3rd pic is with the roll em up shades down on both windows and the wood blinds closed.

 

[94Vette]

My sister in law is a cop that used to work the night shift and she had the same problem but she found the best solution. Now this is going to sound funny but it works, Aluminum Foil.

It's thin, easy to form and ZERO light will pass through it. It may look strange from the outside, but who cares. You'll be sleeping like a baby.

Good luck and Good night.

 

[Nostraquedeo]

I have a little bit of insomnia, so sometimes I find myself sleeping after I get home from work or maybe on the weekends during the daylight hours. I used to sleep with my arm over my eyes, but started waking up with a sore shoulder. For the last couple of years, I use a black beanie and just pull it down over my eyes. This is only for an hour or two at a time, but works PERFECT!

 

[W.I.P.]

I'm a night worker as well with the wood blinds in my bedroom. Until I can get something set up to darken better I just put another pillow over my head leaving an air gap to breath. It dampens the occasional leafblower or garbage truck noise also.

 

[buening]

My wife worked nights for awhile and couldn't sleep with even a slight bit of light in the room. We tried the roll down shades from both Wal-mart and Lowes. The problem is they don't block light out the sides and its hard to find one an exact perfect fit.

While this may sound ghetto, here is what we did and it wasn't noticeable from the outside of the house. We took some white posterboard that you can get at walmart and cut it to fit perfectly in the window opening, taped aluminum foil to one side of the posterboard (completely blocks out light), and used duct tape to tape the posterboard in the window. Since the posterboard fits the window opening perfectly, you can't see any tape from the outside. On the inside, we had mini-blinds and curtains that covered up the duct tape.

Our method provided an absolutely dark room with no light bleed out the sides like the roll-down shades. The down side is that you can't ever see out the window unless you remove the tape and panel. We had ceiling lights to provide light when we needed it. We live in a nice neighborhood so we were worried about appearance as well, and we were pleased with the results.

 

[Intel]

Walmart sells black out curtains that I use for blocking out all of the light in my home theatre since projectors do not like light.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Eclipse-Dobby-Energy-Efficient-Curtain-Panel-Black/13038045

Aluminum foil does work in a pinch as most of my friends who are nurses did it in college and in a pinch if they get switch on their schedules.

 

[Zick]

If you have insulated low E glass, tint could cause cracking/shattered glass. Roll down shades come in densities from "not doing a damn thing" to "gosh, it's dark in here!"

Why is this?

 

[nate379]

Little bit of light doesn't bother me. Just hard to sleep when there is 4 million degree sun rays burning holes in my face. It was really bright outside when I took those pics, sun was reflecting off the snow.

What I like about the roller shades is they are there when I need them and hidden when not needed.

Speaking of, I should probably get to sleep pretty soon. Been up since 4AM yesterday morning.

My wife worked nights for awhile and couldn't sleep with even a slight bit of light in the room. We tried the roll down shades from both Wal-mart and Lowes. The problem is they don't block light out the sides and its hard to find one an exact perfect fit.