Tinted glass?

[Jenni]

Hello, I'm after some advice please. 

 

On our barn conversation, the old entrance (3mx3m) is going to be all glass with central front door. Pic attached of test fit. 

 

Everything on that side of the barn is black - weatherboard, window frames. 

Given that it's a fairly large amount of glass, and my desire for a little privacy in the entrance hall, plus I think it'll look good. I'd like to have tinted glass fitted.

 

In my minds eye it's like the rear windows you see on many cars, about 30% light transmission, (not limo black). But having spoken to several glass suppliers, it seems this is not as easy as I thought it would be. I can get 'smoke' glass, but this is much paler than I wanted, and may look naff. 

 

So, can and I add a tinted film to achieve what I'm trying to do? Or is that simply not likely to work? 

Thanks. 

[Jeremy Harris]

You can add a privacy film, but it doesn't work at night, when the lights are on inside.  We have a heat reflective film on our glazed gable and it is very effective at reflecting heat outwards, plus it provides good privacy during the day, but as soon as it is darker outside than in it provides no privacy at all.  Our solution was to fit close-fitting duette pleated blinds to all the glazing, motorised gable versions at the top (as our glazing is over 5m high) and hand operated versions on the lower panes.  Not a cheap option though, I think the blinds came to around £2.5k altogether, and the reflective film was over £1k.  We might have been better off fitting electrochromic glass, as the cost may not have been very much more overall.

[Ferdinand]

What stage are you at? Lots of options, but may not be applicable if your glass is in already.

 

As JSH mentions, you could use something switchable. 

 

You could also perhaps go for something printed to break it up a little - but that would perhaps also show through in the light.

 

Or could you consider a modern strained glass design? Abstract and/or monochrome?

 

Or can you specify translucent glass, or enamelled or textured glass from someone like Linit UK on 01634 890750. They also do printed glass and lots of others. Based in Kent iirc, so not too far away.

http://linituk.com/linit-colour-enamelled-glass.html

 

You could even do it as an Interior Design thing with a full height latticework, bamboo Japanese style, or fretwork screen behind the window.

 

It will cost a deal of money, though, whatever you do.

 

F

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Ferdinand

[Onoff]

Didn't @NSS say the electrochromic glass has limitations at night? Something about having to fit curtains just to prevent the neighbours seeing his crown jewels? ?

[Jenni]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. 

 

@JSHarris, I've read your very informative thread, thanks. The privacy stuff tends to be 'mirror' which isn't what I'm after, but the concept of applying film is tried and tested, so that's good. I think my concerns are about robustness and longevity of a film, given that I think they have to be applied externally, or risk damaging the sealed unit? 

 

@Ferdinand, need to decide and order glass in the next week ideally. I don't have mega-money to splash on this, so think that rules out electro, and don't fancy overcomplicating like that anyway. 

I'm not worried about nighttime privacy, as it's just a front hall, not a space one would walk thro other than to get to the door. I'm really just want it to look like the rear windows of cars do, so pretty much black from the outside, but can still see out fine from the inside, albeit with reduced light transmission. 

I'll have a look at the link, thanks. 

An alternative thought that has crossed my mind is black voiles curtains, but that goes against my principles of reducing dust traps! 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Jenni

[Jeremy Harris]

You can get films that aren't "silvery", we have some on our east facing windows.  The tint effect doesn't give anywhere near as much privacy as on a car through, unless very dark.  This has a lot to do with the tendency for there to be more light inside houses than inside the back of a car.  The tint on the rear windows of my car looks very dark, but in reality it's little different to that on some of the lightest films I looked at.

 

Your best bet is perhaps to get some samples of different films and see how they look.  I suspect you'll find that they don't provide as much privacy in any condition except a bright day as you'd like.

 

The films probably have a limited life, not sure how long they last, but I'd guess that they may start to look a bit tatty after 10 years or so.  Not hard to peel it off and replace it though.  Tinted glass may be an option, but getting a supplier to be able to supply it the timescale you need may be a challenge.

 

Another option might be to look at fitting some form of external shutter or blind.  Not easy to do over a door, but there are sun screen/privacy blinds around.  One slight snag is that external blinds really need to be built in to the external wall for the neatest installation, but you may be able to hide these OK.  For the door, then you can usually fit blinds inside the door for privacy.  We have some very slim blinds that fit wholly inside the internal rebate between the inner face of the frame and the glass, so don't project into the house and, being fitted to tight cords, they stay firmly in place when the door is opened and closed.

[Jenni]

Your slim internal blinds sound interesting, do you have a name I can search for, or a link please? 

 

I'm leaning towards 'normal' glass, then addition of film or blinds later. 

[newhome]

I have integral blinds inside my windows. They are called Uniblinds. 

[newhome]

Perfect Fit blinds are blinds that fit neatly into the window recess. 

 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

The ones we have aren't the Perfect Fit ones (although they came from the same company) but are the Duette ones, that fit tight to the glass with a very slim rail down either side.  Easier to fit than the Perfect Fit ones, as the rail is just fixed to the glass on either side with a self-adhesive backing:

 

 

[Gone West]

5 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Easier to fit than the Perfect Fit ones, as the rail is just fixed to the glass on either side with a self-adhesive backing

They look good. We are currently experimenting with different blinds that attach directly to the glazing. Wendy would like to see what the rails look like from the outside. Would you be willing to post a picture?

[Sue B]

We had internal Venetian blinds in the last house - there was a choice of colours but not sure about black.

With Venetian blinds, if you get the angle right, you can see out but outside cannot see in.  Being internal to the glass there is no dust.

[newhome]

6 minutes ago, Sue B said:

We had internal Venetian blinds in the last house - there was a choice of colours but not sure about black.

With Venetian blinds, if you get the angle right, you can see out but outside cannot see in.  Being internal to the glass there is no dust.

 

They sound like mine. Looks like they do Ral 7016 but not black. 

 

https://www.morleyglass.co.uk/available-colours/

 

[Jeremy Harris]

11 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

They look good. We are currently experimenting with different blinds that attach directly to the glazing. Wendy would like to see what the rails look like from the outside. Would you be willing to post a picture?

 

I've just tried to take a photo but even close up I can't see the rail from the outside, because of the film on those windows.  The rail is 15mm wide, with about 3mm over the trim/seal on the inside of the window, so it projects about 10mm from the edge of the glass when viewed from outside.  The adhesive pad is black, so looks rather like the ones used to attach car interior mirrors. 

[Gone West]

1 minute ago, JSHarris said:

 

I've just tried to take a photo but even close up I can't see the rail from the outside, because of the film on those windows.  The rail is 15mm wide, with about 3mm over the trim/seal on the inside of the window, so it projects about 10mm from the edge of the glass when viewed from outside.  The adhesive pad is black, so looks rather like the ones used to attach car interior mirrors. 

Many thanks for trying. Would you be willing to supply the name of the blind and the company you bought them from?

[Jeremy Harris]

4 minutes ago, PeterStarck said:

Many thanks for trying. Would you be willing to supply the name of the blind and the company you bought them from?

 

Certainly, they came from Conservatory Blinds Ltd and the model is the Duette Thermal conservatory blind: https://www.conservatoryblinds.co.uk/conservatory-blinds/duette-thermal-blinds/ Ours are in parchment, with parchment support bars.

[newhome]

2 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Certainly, they came from Conservatory Blinds Ltd and the model is the Duette Thermal conservatory blind

 

They look good @JSHarris. I have a couple of windows like yours down the side of the door and one above and they might work for there as I don't have integral blinds in those. The solar gain is welcome in the spring and autumn but it's way too much in the summer. How easy are they to clean? Spiders seem to take a liking to the vestibule and run their damn webs across the windows. 

[Jeremy Harris]

1 minute ago, newhome said:

 

They look good @JSHarris. I have a couple of windows like yours down the side of the door and one above and they might work for there as I don't have integral blinds in those. The solar gain is welcome in the spring and autumn but it's way too much in the summer. How easy are they to clean? Spiders seem to take a liking to the vestibule and run their damn webs across the windows. 

 

They are a lot easier to clean than venetian blinds, as they are a seamless length of cloth when closed, with no holes or cords showing, so it's easy to just run a vacuum cleaner over them with a soft brush nozzle.  However, we've not had them long enough to see how they cope with dead insects etc, although this house tends to be pretty insect-free, as it's too well sealed for bugs to get in, it seems.

[lizzie]

I had quotes from conservatory blind people.....v v expensive one was over 12k!

 

I wanted blinds to be as minimal as possible and also to sit inside the frame on the sliders.....perfect fit too big to allow slider to work so then there was the glued on to the glass solution which did away with the perfect fit framing.  All many £££’s and not offering me quite what I wanted.

 

In the end I got the duette fabric blinds made by a local indepenent company and they fitted them on a very small frame (not perfect fit). Frame sprayed ral 7016 to match window frames and its almost invisible.  I had blinds coming down top to bottom conventionally in master bedroom slider but in dressing room, en suite other bedrooms and our TV snug I had them fitted bottom up.  I am very pleased cost me less than 2k for the lot fitted.

[newhome]

19 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

as they are a seamless length of cloth when closed

 

They sound very like the blinds we had in our caravan actually. Sometimes the pleats wouldn't fold down evenly and took a bit of fiddling with but they worked pretty well. The pulled up from the bottom though rather than the top as they were meant as privacy blinds as well as to keep the sunlight out. 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

28 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

They sound very like the blinds we had in our caravan actually. Sometimes the pleats wouldn't fold down evenly and took a bit of fiddling with but they worked pretty well. The pulled up from the bottom though rather than the top as they were meant as privacy blinds as well as to keep the sunlight out. 

 

 

 

Because these are a double layer, with a sort of honeycomb section when viewed from the edge (which isn't visible on ours when fitted) they seem to stay very even when closed.  They can be opened from the top or bottom, so part of the window can be covered with an open bit at top and bottom if needed.

[newhome]

20 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

 

Because these are a double layer, with a sort of honeycomb section when viewed from the edge (which isn't visible on ours when fitted) they seem to stay very even when closed.  They can be opened from the top or bottom, so part of the window can be covered with an open bit at top and bottom if needed.

 

Thanks. So they slide up and down the window and are not attached at the top or bottom? . Now hit me with the damage for the 2 at the side of your door please  ?

[Jeremy Harris]

13 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

Thanks. So they slide up and down the window and are not attached at the top or bottom? . Now hit me with the damage for the 2 at the side of your door please  ?

 

Yes, they aren't attached at the top or bottom, only at the sides.  We opted for the Duette double layer ones mainly because they have better thermal properties than single layer blinds and because the cords are completely hidden from view.

 

The cost of the blinds on the door and window isn't broken out separately on the invoice, I'm afraid, so I've no idea how much they were.  I do know that the Duette motorised blinds we have at the top of the gable were the most expensive ones, by far, though.  I've recently asked them to quote for two more blinds to fit to our French windows, so as soon as I get a price for those I can let you know.

[Jenni]

Some really interesting ideas, thank you everyone  ?

 

[NSS]

15 hours ago, Onoff said:

Didn't @NSS say the electrochromic glass has limitations at night? Something about having to fit curtains just to prevent the neighbours seeing his crown jewels? ?

 

Yep, we resorted to roller blinds on the bedroom windows for this reason, but the glass is the mutt's nuts ?