Fishtown Window Film for New Construction and Frankford Avenue

Heat Control Film for Fishtown New Construction Townhomes

The new townhomes going up across Fishtown tend to follow a pattern: tall front windows, a wall of glass at the back opening onto a small yard, and a roof deck reached through a glass-walled pilot house. Builders use modern double-pane glass, but double-pane does not stop solar heat on its own, and a west-facing back wall can turn the kitchen into a greenhouse by late afternoon.

Heat control film on the sunniest glass usually makes the biggest difference for the money. The pilot house and roof deck doors are the first place we look, since that small glass room sits in full sun all day and pushes heat down the stairwell. After that, the rear sliders or the large window over the kitchen sink. New windows often come with a manufacturer warranty. Some window makers have rules about aftermarket film on their insulated glass. Check your paperwork or ask your builder, and we will choose a film that fits whatever conditions the window warranty sets.

Privacy Window Film for Fishtown Homes Facing the El

The Market-Frankford Line runs overhead along Front Street and Kensington Avenue on Fishtown's western edge. Homes and apartments close to the tracks have second- and third-floor windows level with passing trains, which means a carload of riders looking into a bedroom every few minutes. Riders pass from early morning well into the night.

Frosted and patterned films are the usual answer on those windows, because they hide the room at any time of day. For a living room where you still want to see out, a light reflective film works during daylight hours, and shades handle the evening. We can cut film to cover only the part of a window in the riders' line of sight.

Storefront Window Film Along Frankford Avenue and Girard Avenue

Frankford Avenue has filled with restaurants, coffee shops, music venues and small stores, many in old buildings with new storefront glass. Girard Avenue has its own mix of shops along the trolley route. Owners on both streets ask about three things: sun on window seats, fading on merchandise and break-ins.

Solar control film handles the first two. Security film handles the third by keeping broken glass bonded together so the opening is not instantly clear. For a venue or bar with a long stretch of sidewalk glass, we can combine security film with a frosted band or a cut-vinyl logo in one visit.

• Solar film for cafe and restaurant window seats
• Clear UV film for retail displays
• Security film for display and door glass
• Cut logos and frosted bands on storefront glass

Window Film for Fishtown Rowhomes and Warehouse Conversions

Not everything in Fishtown is new. The older brick rowhomes on the side streets have smaller windows and the usual rowhome concerns: privacy at the sidewalk, UV on the front room, and a hot back bedroom. Clear UV film and frosted lower-sash film cover most of it. Owners renovating one usually ask us to treat it room by room.

Converted warehouses and factory buildings near the river have the opposite problem, with huge industrial windows that light up the whole unit and heat it at the same time. Those get heat control film, sometimes with frosted sections for sleeping areas in open lofts. Steel-framed openings get checked first, since some older industrial glass is wired or textured.