I’ve been looking for a film, or a contact paper-type product that would be able to be cut to size and be stuck to inside of a home window.
I’ve done some googling, and I’ve gone to the national chain home stores, but I can’t find anything.
Does this product exist? Perhaps I don’t have the right term in my google search. But mainly, I want the stuff to help a window from shattering in a billion pieces if hit with a ball, rock, etc. I’m guessing it would be a security feature too, but that may be too much to ask for.
I know windows can come with wire mesh inside the glass to help make it shatter-resistant. Does this kind of product exist for home use?
Yes, it exists. I saw it used on a television show in which a professional thief identifies all of the weak points in a home’s defense, and then fixes them. It was a clear film or even a stiffish plastic, and they made it sound like it was readily available.
The stuff does exist. I know this because an office building I worked in about ayear and a half ago had to do a makeover for security purposes, with either bulletproof glass or something similar in certain offices, and this was cheaper. (But still not inexpensive.) A thin sheet of something was applied with an adhesive to the windows–it took two weeks to cure but the windows looked, basically, like glass, that is I couldn’t tell the stuff was on there.
Sorry not to be more help. Everything I know about it (which is not much) I learned from our building manager when I asked him what that smell was. But the stuff is out there. I always assume that anything you can buy for an office you can get for your home assuming you can throw sufficient money at it.
(There is also something that people do have in their homes, which is supposed to cut down on UV rays or something. Unlike the secure stuff in the office building this stuff is bubbly and not real clear, if looking through your glass is important to you. But it would probably keep the window from shattering.)
Yes you can buy many different grades of films. There’s also laminated glass that can be glazed into many windows in place of tempered or even insulated glass. If you have insulated windows the security film may void your warranty , you would have to check the windows manufacter to see if you even have a warranty. In any case you should contact your friendly neighborhood glass company or solar tinting company. They should be able to look at your situation and advise you how to acheve what ever level of security you want to
have and can afford.