Securing Commercial Privacy Film Jobs
by Abby Bowman
Window Film business owners considering adding a new service often don’t know the best way to start. Take privacy film, for example. How can business owners who primarily do automotive tint or residential film find jobs installing privacy film on commercial buildings? Window Film magazine asked business owners and managers with significant privacy film experience to share their insights.
Getting Off the Ground
Sean Gill, owner of The Tint Man Gill in Sumter, South Carolina, didn’t intend for flat glass tint to become a substantial part of his business, but his customers had other plans.
“I mostly did automotive tint, but I started getting a lot of calls for flat glass tint on both houses and commercial buildings a couple of years ago,” he says. “I didn’t know much about it, so I asked the customers why they wanted the service in the first place. I quickly learned that there was a much bigger demand for commercial and residential privacy and heat blocking than I thought.”
Gill reasoned that a dark tint would offer more privacy and better heat blocking, so that’s what he ordered.
“I have the most demand for that in my area,” he says. “I didn’t do my first flat glass job with light tint until last year.”
Gill adds that most of the glass in his area isn’t low-E, so installation isn’t typically restricted by that.
Letha Miller Lasiter, owner of The Tint Diva in Gadsden, Alabama, started her career doing automotive tint only. She began installing privacy film on flat glass while working for Dodge in Texas.
“Their building had a bunch of windows that they wanted tinted,” she says. “I worked with a shop in the area to get it done.”
That experience taught Lasiter that flat glass applications, including privacy tint, were a lucrative business opportunity, but she didn’t know where to start.
“The business owner I worked with in Texas showed me his approach and told me I could just copy that,” she says. “So that’s what I did.”
Lasiter created informational binders with samples of different film options and information about each one.
“I would give these out to prospective customers to show them what I could offer,” she says. “I also started offering a referral discount where customers would get $1 off per square foot if they gave me a lead. The majority of those leads turn into jobs.”
This referral system became so powerful that builders now reach out to her directly without getting bids from other tinters.
“They practically do my advertising for me at this point,” she says.
What You Need
The addition of commercial tint to her offerings did require a bit of preparation, Lasiter says.
“I had to get a general contractor liability insurance policy,” she says. “I also checked to see if my municipality needed any paperwork from me to start working on flat glass. They didn’t, but I know that’s something other flat glass installers have to be aware of.”
Lasiter also had her business put on the approved vendor list for government work in her county.
“If a school, for example, wants its windows tinted, they have to get bids from the top three vendors on that list,” she says.
Brandin Hall, owner of Clean Tintz in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, has offered flat glass tint since opening his business, but he has some advice for those just starting.
“Make sure your insurance covers buildings,” he says. “Also, if you’re ordering film specifically for that job, have your customers sign contracts and pay up front.”
A ladder is another essential tool that tinters might not have in their shops if they only do automotive tint, Hall says.
Gill made two main changes when the influx of flat glass jobs began.
“I invested in a film handler tool, which helped increase my productivity by making it easier to manage those large pieces of film,” he says.
The other change was a little more in-depth.
“You have to go visit a building before doing a flat glass installation, so you have a good sense of what you’re working with,” Gill says. “I didn’t have time to do that and keep up with the rest of my work. My wife, Jaime, already helps run the business, so I trained her in how to measure the glass, identify the frame and pull the seal out of the window.”
What Not to Do
Gill taught himself how to tint flat glass and learned some things the hard way.
“I removed film from flat glass the same way I remove it from cars: with a steam wand,” he says. “The last time I did that, I noticed a crack in the window as I pulled off the film. At first, I thought maybe the crack had already been there, but then I noticed it was following the path of the steam wand. That mistake cost me about $4,000.”
Gill switched over to using “razor blades and elbow grease” to remove film after that. He frequently hires a retired veteran friend to help him with removals.
Hall’s main challenge is explaining to customers why automotive film, especially nearly black tint, doesn’t work for flat glass.
“Automotive tint absorbs the light and the heat,” he says. “Flat glass tint reflects it. If you install the wrong one, you could end up breaking a window.”
That wasn’t always the case. David Read, the sales development manager of Signature Glass Tinting in Costa Mesa, California, has watched flat glass tint’s development with fascination over the past 25 years.
“Simple dyed films used to be the most popular, and they were used for both automotive and flat glass,” he says. “Now, the dye is sandwiched between two metallic layers.”
That development is great, Read says, but there’s one element that’s still missing.
“Glass keeps getting bigger, but not the film,” he says. “The film isn’t wide enough to do a one-piece install on a lot of windows.”
Real-World Jobs
Brandin Hall
Owner/Operator
Clean Tintz, Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Brandin Hall of Clean Tintz says businesses sometimes seek privacy film to deal with inconveniently placed windows.
“I worked on a restaurant with a strange setup,” he says. “It had big windows in the kitchen, which is already pretty hot. The sunlight from the windows made it worse. The customer also didn’t like having people watch the staff work, so he had me install privacy film to block some of the light and keep the kitchen out of sight.”
That job is an exception to the rule, says Hall.
“Typically, when restaurants want film, it’s just to help block sunlight,” he says. “They still want some visibility into the restaurant so potential customers can see people inside enjoying their meals.”
Businesses that handle sensitive information are also frequent privacy film customers, Hall says.
“One customer asked for privacy tint on an insurance building,” he says. “They deal with a lot of paperwork that contains policyholders’ personal information and didn’t want people outside the building to see it.”
Some businesses want privacy film to create a specific ambiance, according to Hall.
“A game room had me install blackout film to create a casino-like vibe,” he says.
Letha Miller Lasiter
Owner/Operator
The Tint Diva, Gadsden, Alabama
For The Tint Diva, Letha Miller Lasiter, adding flat glass film to her automotive tint business was so lucrative that she opened another location just for that work. Privacy film and solar-blocking film make up the bulk of those jobs.
Some customers want complete privacy, she says, so they request blackout film.
“Sometimes a company moves into a building with a lot of windows, but they don’t really want the windows,” she says.
This kind of installation is popular with Tropical Smoothie locations, which can be picky about how the film is installed, she says.
“The last time I did a Tropical Smoothie, they had me install the blackout film on the exterior of the windows,” she says.
Lasiter recently did a bank that also requested blackout film.
“They still had boards lying around from when they renovated the building before move-in, and they didn’t want people to see that debris,” she says.
Schools also select privacy film for security purposes, Lasiter says.
“It helps keep the kids out of sight if someone tries to attack the school,” she says. “That gives them more time to escape.”
PRO TIP: Lasiter encourages automotive-only film companies to branch into flat glass installation, including privacy film, as long as they keep one important thing in mind.
“You have to dress the part,” she says. “It’s normal to wear casual, blue-collar clothes when you’re tinting cars, but flat glass customers typically expect a polished look. You have to dress more like a contractor to be taken seriously.”
Sean Gill
Owner/Operator
The Tint Man Gill, Sumter, South Carolina
Businesses that face some level of stigma or a higher break-in risk may also opt for privacy film. Sean Gill of The Tint Man Gill installed film at a cannabis dispensary.
“The company wasn’t able to invest in security film but wanted their customers to feel secure by keeping them out of sight,” he says. “Plus, the film would help reduce heat from the sunlight.”
The heat-reduction factor of reflective film attracts customers just as much as the privacy, he says.
“One customer told me his electric bill decreased dramatically after I installed privacy film because the air conditioning system didn’t have to work as hard,” Gill says. “Apparently, he told a lot of people that, because another business owner in that building called and asked me to install film for him, too.”
David Read
Sales Development Manager
Signature Glass Tinting, Costa Mesa, California
Businesses catering to well-to-do clientele often opt for privacy film, says David Read of Signature Glass Tinting.
“We’re currently installing super dark, dual-reflection privacy film on a high-end gym,” he says. “The owners wanted to lean into the gym’s exclusivity by making it pretty much impossible to see inside.”
It’s important to inform customers of privacy film’s limits, Read says.
“I clarify that reflective film only offers privacy when the sun is out because it reflects that light,” he says. “When there’s no light to reflect, you can see through the film.”
PRO TIP: There are ways to get around the lack of privacy at nighttime, Read says.
“Signature Glass Tinting often ends up installing exterior lighting to shine on the windows when the sun goes down,” he says.
Abby Bowman is the editor of Window Film magazine. Email her at abowman@glass.com and connect with her on LinkedIn.
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