It's my turn to black out some windows! I priced up 3m 2080 black at $1.8/ft^2, and black ACM at $1.88/ft^2. My thought was to just cut acm panels and adhere them to the window to save install time, but I'm concerned with how much tape/lexel to use, as I imagine the whole panel buckling when it expands. I could trim it out and screw the trim to the window, but now my material costs are getting too high. Could I just lexel the whole perimeter with some tape in the corners to hold it while it sets?
Anybody try to do something similar? Am I just being lazy not wanting to stick vinyl?
A cautionary tale for anyone who runs across this kind of thing....
the short version: if the sun hits the glass, the light is normally passed THROUGH....( 97% or...). If you apply a dark colour to the glass, it will ABSORB the energy, and the glass will heat up ....a LOT!
longer version; I was about to paint a big promo splash on a hot tub store ( remember the 80's?) I used poster paint on the inside, big white and yellow letters, with a bold black outline and shade! ( maybe 30% of the glass?)
The day before I painted it, I read an article in SignCraft mag about this problem, so I warned the client that the west-facing windows would heat up and expand. He blew it off ( just renting the space). I really should have gotten the landlords permission, but hey, not like I was bolting a sign to the building, right?
When painting the huge splash, I noticed there was the odd 'chip' in the thick 8' x 10' panels, like a rock-chip in a car windshield. It was near a highway, perhaps rocks thrown from snowplows or sand truck? I proceeded.
A month or two later, spring arrived, the sun became more intense, and I saw cracks appear in the glass...mostly radiating from the edges, I suppose where rough cuts had been made, and not polished out! The landlord freaked out, told the tenant he had to replace the glass....which of course, he refused, and said it was a pre-existing condition. I was not blamed, more due to luck than my verbal warning....but potentially $20,000 of glass affected. A forensic analysis would like conclude that the glass was installed with inadequate space to expand in the frames, and/or the building had settled, putting pressure on the glass causing the stress cracks to start, unseen behind the gasket.
SO......... I totally endorse solid sheeting of some kind that can be easily removed, will deflect the heat if it's exposed to sunlight etc.
ah, another fun day in the sign circus eh?
