Window tinting...

K

ken35216

New member
I just had a tint guy look at my 25 Cruiser. He said that he would not be able to do a good job and declined. He's been tinting for 25 years. Worried about the soft rubber around the windows and the tight grove on the side sliding windows. He said he'd have to cut the tint short and short around the sliding door latch and light would come through.

Any of you guys get yours tinted?

My boat is in Florida and it gets HOT in Florida and hard to cool the boat. I figured tint would help.
 
I put UV/Solar resistant Lexan windows in our Cal 46. I didn't think it helped much with the heat transfer. The negative was decreased vision from the pilot house at night.

What I have done is cut the mylar bubble material from Home Depot to fit all of the windows. When not under way, on hot days, we put up our window coverings (Sunbrella) inside of the bubble material. That helps substantially.

I have seen boat windows, where they had to cut the tint material short of the sliding and areas covered by the frame. Not sure which boat it was on. Our decision was not to have tinted windows.
 
Ken
Both my 22 and 25 came with tinted windows. (Bought both used) The 22 had a very dark tint and I removed the tinting.....to dark! The 25 came with a lighter tint on the side windows only. The tinting is cut back about 1/8 inch from the edge. No problems. Sure is nice here in Florida for sure. Tom
 
I had the back and side windows tinted by a quality shop a couple of years ago, I liked it when it was first installed, now, a few years later, I like it even more :) it's cooler (not that I ever get out in the boat in the summer anyway) it looks cooler and it affords a bit more privacy.
 
My CD25 has tinted windows. I had them installed within the first year I owned it, 13 yrs ago. Lighter on the side windows, darker for the rears including the bathroom window, none on front windows. During the daytime it is hard to see into the cabin from the outside, nice on inside. The downside, as Dr. Bob pointed out, is visibility while running at night, I just open the window if I need a better view, then close it again.

The tinting was done by an auto-tinting shop, they had a variety of films, guaranteed for life. They still look great today, there is a very small seam where the film stops, 1/16" average.

I chose tinting over curtains because didn't want the hassle of putting them on, taking them off, storing them, etc. Plus can look out at a moments notice, even at night, to check things out while at anchor. It does cut down on the solar heating effect during the summer. Another reason was I slept late one morning at a marina, had several "interested people" peering into my cabin from the dock, that doesn't happen anymore... :-)
 
Hi Ken!
A pro tint job helps tremendously with heat for Florida boaters. We had the whole TC255 including door done in 2013 for under $1000 cash by the same very experienced guy who did our house windows. Some cheap versions interfere with VHF handheld radio transmissions, which you may have to do from inside a boat. He was also aware of the need for good visiblity for night piloting (which we studiously avoid). He used 3M PR-50/40 with 3M lifetime warranty and it's great.
It's not so dark that you can't see inside the boat; we have custom interior opaque white window covers for that ($428) , plus Bob's mylar bubble insulation for the front (which faces the setting sun in our marina).

Call Joe Williams at Solar Control, Ocean Springs, MS 228-872-0805 and bring the boat over to explore Gulf Islands National Seashore barrier islands including Cat Island (anchor in Smugglers Cove), West Ship Island (anchor at west tip), East Ship (anchor on Sound Side of east tip, and best of all Horn Island (15 miles long). Petit Bois is too close to the Chevron and Navy industrial sites for our admittedly snobby tastes...the lights interfere with stargazing, even on the Gulf side.
PM me with anything I can help with.
Happy Shopping!
John
 
IMG00059_20090418_1136.sized.jpg

We liked our window tint job. We did not ask for it the dealer that lost his floor plan had already done it. The front windows were left clear all the rest got tinted including the rear cabin windows and the back door. I have no idea how well its held up as we sold the boat a few years ago.
D.D.
 
My 16 and 19 were both tinted . The 16 I did 20% film on the sides and left the front unchanged. On the 19 I did 35% film on the sides and front.

The 20% film looks great and cuts out a lot of light but you can forget about boating at dusk AND definitely not at night. Lol. The 35% is considerably lighter and night time navigating is possible but still a bit tricky.

Im not adding any window tint to my 25. I need all the visibility I can get ! But Im not in the Sunshine State.

My album has pics of my tinted boats.
 
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