Advice needed on Mirror Film please?

[David Rogers]

charge it out at linear metre rate + time & travel…and any extras for out of hours.

I often find it easy to do a flat rate per window install…then adjust up or down depending on whether you think it’s reasonable to charge that much.

about 100 windows? I’d be in the region of 10 minutes each to allow for cleaning and install, (team of two…one cleans one fits). IF and only IF the windows are nice and not ratty, flaky paint with crud laden, crusty putty…then you could be 30 mins each just getting them clean enough to work with…if you want perfection.

All precut 10mm oversized OR 2mm under depending on how you roll…

Don’t get the cheapest mirror out there from the likes of ebay – it’s garbage and a nightmare to work with. Good quality stuff is actually pretty thick.

Mirror really isn’t nice stuff to fit unless the windows and especially the edges are immaculate as even the slightest bit of dirt migrates into the film as you work (capillary action).

Good tools are also a must.

I’ve done loads of offices, banks and showrooms over the years as a subcontractor for a tinting / manifestation company…not a major part of our business, but I’ve had a fair bit of practice.

Dave

[Gert du Preez]

David,

Maybe the standards of the builders is better in the UK than Africa, but I have burnt my fingers many many times by pre-cutting film. Even in supposedly modular complexes the sizes of an 850 x 850 window can mean just that, or 850 x 860, or 840 x 865, or 865×855, or….. you get the idea!

If I pre cut, I normally add appx 20mm all round. Its easier to apply if the film is slightly smaller than the window, but rather safe than sorry!

I pay the same for window film as for frosted vinyl, so cost them the same. Per linear metre, with a slight discount if the offcut is usable. It usually is’nt… 🙄

[Clive Martinez]

Thank you for your replies.

So what would be a going rate per m2

m2 = £45 sound ok?

[Stuart Miller]

I base all my silver mirror film at £35m2
plus a pane charge of £5.
(Over the years i have found I need to charge this as often asked to do lots of small windows which take a lot longer than 1 big one so have to take this into account)
plus mileage to the job.

For larger jobs I may drop the pane charge.

Many tinters use base price around £30/m2. It depends on supplier costs & quality of the film you use.

Just priced a couple of jobs and with all my costs covered including 9 days travel at 80 miles a day it worked out at £44/m2 with the pane charge.
By dropping the pane charge as I’m subcontracting to a glass company so can do the work in their factory (making cleaning & cutting easier) it comes to £37/m2.
All down to what you can get away with in your area but this gives an idea.

[Stuart Miller]

As for time.
I work alone and find if easy access I can clean , cut & install around 4 panes an hour. size is not that relevant for standard size windows.
So on site usually estimate I will fit around 25-30 a day/
In the glass factory where everything is laid out, and easily done the fastest I seem to get done on a production line basis is 6 panes an hour. (40-45 /day)
I never pre-cut mirror film. For best fit it should be oversized & trimmed on the glass.
Only pre-cut film I fit would be thick security films or some frost on a rough wooden frame where a gap around the edge is to be left.
Of course all these timing and cutting of film is based on using a specialist film cutter on site, which the occasional fitter probably does not have, so cutting to size may be an option if you only have a plotter. But then you have the problem of transporting the small bits of cut film to site without damaging them.
Hope that helps.

[Clive Martinez]

Thanks stuart for you "in depth" reply. No doubt I will be using your pricing as a guide.

Thanks once again!

[Stuart Miller]

Also Clive, both my preferred suppliers (Solar Gard or Bonwyke) will provide Silver 20 film in 36" rolls which is 914mm. They will also sell it in 5 foot lengths if only need a small piece.

That’s perfect for 840mm windows with no real waste, which I hope you mean rather than 84mm.

Width is perfect (I usually oversize by 4cm but 6 or 7 would be OK) so just pull out the length you want off the roll and use the edge of the box as a guide to cut the length off.

Solar Gard will probably require you to be an accredited fitter but Bonwyke are more relaxed about selling to anyone.

[Clive Martinez]

Stuart,
Yes 840mm!
I’ll contact Bonwyke – Usualy shiiping to gibraltar makes buying from UK imposible.
I am looking at unikorn solar films, I can get them from Spain, ever heard of them? are they any good?
Thanks for all your help!

[Stuart Miller]

Never heard of Unikorn in the UK.
Asked on an American forum as their website says Miami Florida. But even there no one has heard of it. So not a well known respected brand.
It could however be a known brand, re-boxed and sold under another name as quite a lot of that goes on in the film industry.

[Clive Martinez]

Stuart, thanks for all your advice. This particular job is for a building which is being demolished in 3 years time. I imagine that even the worst films will hold up that long….