Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

[thedukeryan]

I went to Walmart and bought some 5% tint for my old Bayliner and new Wellcraft. All I can say is wow. It all comes down to personal preference but in my opinion it is well worth it as far as aesthetics and adding value to your boat. What do you guys think? Agree disagree or ???

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

I have been thinking of the same thing. Were your windows plexiglass? I'm restoring an old runabout and the window has a few small cracks in it. Was thinking of applying it to both sides and try to disquise the cracks until I can afford a replacement.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

im all for it. I dont want 5% though, been looking at maybe 20% so i dont lose too much visibility at dusk. pepboys has a good deal, 2 professional series rolls for $20 i found.

 

[109jb]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

Tint the windows when the boat doesn't have a roof. Seems pretty useless to me. IMO it isn't addinng any value. At least I wouldn't give a dime more just because the glass is tinted.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

I run all winter, at night and some times in less than perfect weather. So I don't want anything that could further obstruct my view.

 

[WAVENBYE2]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

Redone is 20% lighter? When you do yours let me see the pics before and after. I don't wear a hat, but it doesn't stop me from wearing sun glasses!

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

I agree with ^^^^^ about added value. I might look cool but I doubt it would add any value at all. I was just hoping to hide a crappy looking window.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

20% allows 20% of light thru, versus only letting 5% of the light thru. I personally think that tint makes everything look cleaner: houses, cars, trucks, etc. my truck is 5% all the way around.

I also do think that it might keep some of the sun off the side panels and the dash, possibly making it last a little longer. but it is mostly for looks, in my case anyways. I have never tinted before, but i think this might be my learning project. then I'll do the girlfriends car if it comes out alright lol.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

i personally wouldn't go out of my way to tint boat windows. like noted above. night time it's hard enough to see as is... on the other hand.

my oem windows are coke bottle green plexiglass. they're tinted like a green coke bottle. i do have a hardtop too. i really have no issues seeing with the light colored tint one way or the other, even at night. though if i really want to see at night i look through an open center panel. the light green tint does look cool and adds to the aesthetics of my boat i think. + it's era aproperiate for me too. i guess i feel if it came from the oem tinted. i'd go out of my way to do that, if it's aftermarket. i could take it or leave it..

 

[thedukeryan]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

If your considering tinting the windows it is not hard to do. I can go a good sized window in say 10 minutes. With that said spend the extra $10 and buy the tint kit. Im sure it isnt hard to do without it but I have found it very worth while. It should come with a spray solution, squeegee, knife and DVD. The night vision thing has not been a issue for me. Mostly because I rarely am in a sitting position and am often in before the sun sets. To me its like a SUV they look fine without tinted windows but look so much better with. As for the percentage the above post is correct. The 5% is gonna be much darker than say the 20%. I believe most factory cars are right around 35%. 5% is fine for me as far as my boat goes but I had a truck with 5% all around and it was almost scary at night. In my opinion it adds value to a boat. It made my old Bayliner a lot more sporty. Below are the before/after pics.

Here is the Bayliner that i picked up for $800

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww236/MidwestArmorycom/l_a8d3d003629b4c79bff1663185b1289f.jpg

Here it is after buffing it with some "Gel Coat Renewer" off of Ebay, new vents and tinted windows. Put less than $100 in it and sold it shortly after for $4,000 I think buffing it and replacing the vents made a huge difference but dont think the windows hurt.

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww236/MidwestArmorycom/DSCF4917.jpg

 

[WAVENBYE2]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

Thats awsome!! Good job on the profit!

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

If your considering tinting the windows it is not hard to do. I can go a good sized window in say 10 minutes. With that said spend the extra $10 and buy the tint kit. Im sure it isnt hard to do without it but I have found it very worth while. It should come with a spray solution, squeegee, knife and DVD. The night vision thing has not been a issue for me. Mostly because I rarely am in a sitting position and am often in before the sun sets. To me its like a SUV they look fine without tinted windows but look so much better with. As for the percentage the above post is correct. The 5% is gonna be much darker than say the 20%. I believe most factory cars are right around 35%. 5% is fine for me as far as my boat goes but I had a truck with 5% all around and it was almost scary at night. In my opinion it adds value to a boat. It made my old Bayliner a lot more sporty. Below are the before/after pics.

Here is the Bayliner that i picked up for $800

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww236/MidwestArmorycom/l_a8d3d003629b4c79bff1663185b1289f.jpg

Here it is after buffing it with some "Gel Coat Renewer" off of Ebay, new vents and tinted windows. Put less than $100 in it and sold it shortly after for $4,000 I think buffing it and replacing the vents made a huge difference but dont think the windows hurt.

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww236/MidwestArmorycom/DSCF4917.jpg

man that looks good. I want just one shade lighter than that. i gotta do it now after seein that pic lol. off topic, but where did you find all black vents at? pm me if ya want.

 

[rjlipscomb]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

I hadn't thought about tinting, but kinda like the look. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

I hadn't thought about tinting, but kinda like the look. Thanks for the suggestion.

lets have a tinting party and do it, i got the shop space lol. im gonna do mine myself in the next few weeks here, i think. it really makes a difference in cleaning the look up, i think.

 

[Chaz7R]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

I wanna tint my windows, but my side windows are curved. How much harder does having curved windows make the job? will i get air bubbles?

 

[LIQUID PROZAC]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

tinted mine the week after i got it-wow what a difference and it really helps with the glare on the lake and when towing down the road--no more blinding in the mirror

 

[Rowroy]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

I wanna tint my windows, but my side windows are curved. How much harder does having curved windows make the job? will i get air bubbles?

It depends. If it's curved in one direction, then it won't be any harder. However, if your glass has a compound curve (both directions), then you have no choice but to section the tint into smaller segments.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

so out of those of you that have done it, did you have it done or do it yourself? I cant imagine it would be that hard since the windows on mine are all pretty flat and square for the most part. cut it to size, peel it n spray, then stick it on and squeegie it out flat? is that about it?

 

[oshkoshboating]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

Wow - that looks great!

 

[ringmaster72]

Re: Am I the only one who black outs their windows?

I actually replaced all of my glass with black lexan. It is opaque so there is 0 light going through. I love it and it looks great. But, I see over my windshield so I dont need to worry about seeing through it.