Tinted window film offers a solution to drawing the shades over your favorite outdoor scenes

It’s part of your morning ritual; one of the first things you do is to draw down the blinds. It’s not that you really want to draw the blinds but you do it anyway.

Outside the window, there is a wonderful panorama – trees are turning colors, squirrels are busying gathering acorns to bury and, occasionally, you might even see a deer wander by. But, you’ll wait until the afternoon to enjoy the view. Now, this morning, it’s just too darn bright. The sun blares in the window with such brilliance that you can almost hear it scream. It’s more than your eyes can handle.

The glare is too much and so the shades are drawn. Fortunately, there is a possible solution to the glaring sun that does not require drawing the shades – tinted window film.

Tinted window film almost works like the light dimmer switch in your dining room. It turns down the sunlight as it comes through the window. Tinted window film has the potential to turn down the sunlight enough so that you can leave the blinds up.

At the same time, tinted window film leaves the view outside clear and uninhibited, assuming your windows are clean (Northern Illinois Windows always cleans the windows, both sides, when installing window film). Of course, if you want a fogged window film, that’s an option, too. Otherwise, that clear view is in its full glory day or night.

While toning down the glaring sun, tinted window film also protects you, your furnishings and your floor coverings from the harmful effects of the sun’s ultra-violet rays.

Have you ever moved a piece of furniture and discovered that the carpet or tile below it is richer and fuller in color underneath? That’s what your flooring looked like originally. Over time, the UV rays of the sun have washed the vibrant colors out of your flooring.

It’s easy to see under a piece of furniture. The furniture creates a time-capsule effect by blocking the UV rays. Otherwise, the UV effects occur slowly, so slowly that you don’t notice the gradual change. Most types of window film, tinted or otherwise, reflect 99.9 percent of the UV rays. That’s good news for your flooring and furniture and it’s good news for your skin.

In terms of cutting the glare so you can see, and see that scene outdoors, window film has the potential to rectify these problems. It can do such a good job that you may decide to completely remove the shades from that window all together.

Fall colors can lead to clogged gutters

Sure it’s beautiful. The splendor of autumn colors in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin is virtually unsurpassed among the wonders of nature. Yet, those crimson red, golden yellow and fiery orange leaves represent the arrival of that annual ritual where trees shrug loose of their leaves. And, when they shrug those leaves loose, those leaves come down.

When the leaves fall to the ground they create the need to break out the rakes. In Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, as well as other areas, this means raking the leaves into piles and dragging them to the curb for vacuuming, bagging them for removal or raking them into piles for burning. But, not all leaves make it to the ground.

Many leaves fall onto roofs and into gutters. Those that fall on the roofs often make their way to the gutters. In either case, they create a blockage that denies the gutters the ability to perform their intended duty – conducting water from the roofs to the ground without creating hazardous pools (icy pools in winter) or potential flooding of basements.

“When gutters are clogged, not only are they unable to efficiently move the water as intended, they also become part of the problem rather than part of the solution,” said Bill Thomas, owner of Northern Illinois Windows in McHenry, a company that washes windows and cleans out gutters. “With clogged gutters, snow and ice can build up beyond the breaking point. The breaking point is where the weight is too much for the gutters and they collapse.”

As a gutter collapses, Thomas said it can create a hazardous condition for anyone walking by at the time. Even if that’s not the case, it can create icy and flooding conditions. As the gutter pulls free from the house, it can damage the roof, fascia and eaves.

Water can also buildup under the roof, when the gutter is clogged. This can damage the roofing material and the wood below it. Water flowing over a clogged gutter, on a warmer winter day, can cause pools below that are treacherous when frozen as the temperature drops again.

The solution is to clean gutters so the water can flow through as designed to do. Since leaves fall in the autumn, and snows generally come down in the winter, the best time to clean your gutters is in that short period between the two seasonal events.

“Cleaning the gutters is not a highly complex process,” Thomas said. “However, since it does involve working off of ladders and climbing on roofs, it’s not something you should do without serious attention to safety. That’s particularly true if you have a two-story or higher home or office.”

When in doubt, Thomas said it’s best to call in a professional. However, he said you shouldn’t call just anyone who claims to clean gutters.

“It’s essential that you hire someone who is insured and bonded,” Thomas said. “If they aren’t, not only are they more likely to use less than the safest procedures, but, if they do fall, you’ll find yourself with a bigger problem than clogged gutters.”

For more information, call Thomas at 815-385-6646.

Welcome to The Northern Illinois Windows blog

This, the new Northern Illinois Windows blog, is where we will post information relevant to window cleaning, window tinting, gutter cleaning and power washing. We hope you find this information helpful in maintaining your home in top condition and we welcome your questions and feedback. Regular maintenance of your windows, gutters and siding will extend the useful life of your home, not to mention how much the neighbors will love you for it.