More homes wearing shades

Keeping nosy neighbors from seeing inside your home, the security issue, is something of interest to only a few of Larry Kraayenbrink's window-tinting customers. Reducing that UV fade is the main reason, said the owner of Krayco Window Treatments of Sioux Center.

Now in business for nearly 25 years, it took a while for him to get the application technique down, getting the usually metallized film on correctly without bubbles and creases, and that's one reason the experts suggest professionals be hired for the tricky window film treatment work.

The polyester window film is applied directly to the window. And the typical residential/commercial solar control films are "pretty thin," from 1 to 2 millimeters thick, Kraayenbrink said. "And it's applied with a slip agent, sort of like soap mixed with water. Water activates adhesive on the film. So it's actually a chemical bond that holds the film down to glass."

The window is thoroughly cleaned prior to the application, with the film pre-cut a half inch bigger than needed. It is squeegeed down, then trimmed and allowed to dry. The window can be washed in three days.

"It's really hard to remove," he said of the window film. "It lasts a minimum of about 20 years, and it's stuck on where you can't just take a corner and peal it off. You have to really scrape it with a blade to take it off. It has a very durable adhesive to hold the corners down tight."

Kraayenbrink stressed that UV rays don't cause the film to deteriorate like car-tinting valued films do.

The home window tinting end of his business has picked up the past two or three years, part of the reason being that newer glass comes with a low e-coding on it.

"It's got argon gas between the two panes and it's got a low e-coding (low emissivity) which is actually a tint," he said. "And that low e-coding does help winterize the windows in the winter real well. It keeps the heat from escaping."

What it doesn't do is keep out the UV light. Window film, however, can keep out 99.9 percent of the ultraviolet light that causes fading of fabrics and furnishings. These newer windows generally keep no more than 80 percent of the UV light out, he noted.

About 70 percent of his residential customers have homes no more than 5 to 7 years old.

In addition to the UV fade prevention, another benefit to window tinting is its solar control or insulating value, especially in the summer when you really want to keep the heat out, Kraayenbrink said. "And in the winter time, a lot of times the sun is too intense in the south window. The sun is lower and it comes in through the window, and they've got their hot and cold spots in the home," he said.

So, in addition to keeping out the passive solar rays, the tinted window helps equalize the temperature in the home by eliminating the hot and cold spots, he said.

Kraayenbrink said abut 25 percent of his residential customers have every window in their home tinted. And most prefer a medium shade to the costlier lighter tint. The medium tint cuts the glare but it is still easy to see through the window.

"Most people do one side of the home - or one great room," he said, noting that these rooms often boast three-fourths of a home's window glass content and, as such, are the most problematic windows.

The "privacy factor" has some clients going for darker-tinted films which keep outsiders from seeing into the house in the daytime.

Between the residential and commercial, metallized and security films, Krayco stocks more than 25 different types of film, he said. That's 15 different kinds for home use.

One misconception people have about window film is that they think the windows will be too dark, He calls it the "dungeon view." The popular light and medium tints, however, are hardly noticeable, he said, noting that most homeowners only see a difference when the sun is shining directly on the window.

He admitted that when he started tinting windows 25 years ago, there was no metallized film. Windows were darker back then and the film treatment didn't last as long. "But technology changes. It's so much lighter today," he said.

The treatment cost varies with the number of windows and degree of difficulty. A French panel door with dozens of window panes is going to take a lot longer than a big picture window. The usual bill is between $2,000 and $10,000, he noted. And an "average" home job takes half a day for a two-person crew.

A home he did for a Siouxland executive a few years ago in Dakota Dunes had 890 windows. It was a two-week project that well exceeded $10,000. They did the south and east windows first. Then about a year and a half later, the owner noticed fading from the north and west windows, resulting in that second week of work by Krayco.

"Most people think, 'Oh, that sun never comes in the north window.' It comes in a lot," he said.

Going on 25 years

Larry Kraayenbrink and his wife Dorita have been in the window treatment business for 25 years.

They started Krayco Window Treatments in Boyden, Iowa, moving to Sioux Center about a year later.

"My father and I started the same time. He had been farming his whole life, and back in the early '80s when the economy went kind of bad and the interest rates were high, he got out of farming, looking for something different," he said.

They hooked up with a company out of St. Louis that was selling energy-saving products. Kraayenbrink said he went fulltime into window film while his father became a weatherization contractor, also doing window film in Sioux City for about 10 years. Their service area covers anything within about a 120-mile radius, but about 70 percent of their business comes from Sioux Falls, S.D., where they established an early beachhead.

Dad's business had been located at the corner of Second Street and Floyd Boulevard.