Dogpatch Window Film for Condos, Galleries and Cottages

Window Film for New Dogpatch Condos on Third Street and Indiana Street

Most of the new housing in Dogpatch sits along Third Street, Indiana Street and the blocks between them, in mid-rise buildings with large windows and balconies. Units face each other across narrow streets and courtyards, and the T Third line and busy sidewalks run right under the lower floors. Privacy is usually the first request, followed by heat and glare in units facing south and west.

Frosted or gradient film on bedroom glass and light neutral solar film on living room windows cover most of what residents want. The glass in these buildings is almost always coated dual-pane, and the HOA usually has rules on how film can look from outside. We check both, send the HOA specs if needed and use interior films rated for that glass.

UV Window Film for Dogpatch Galleries and Studios

Dogpatch has become one of the city's art districts, with galleries clustered at the Minnesota Street Project and studios and showrooms in the old industrial buildings. Artwork on paper, photographs, textiles and paintings are all vulnerable to UV, and galleries often have big street-facing windows or skylights that put daylight right on the walls.

Clear UV film blocks nearly all ultraviolet while leaving color and brightness essentially unchanged, which is what curators need. Where sun falls directly on a hanging wall for part of the day, adding a light neutral film reduces visible light and heat as well. Skylights are worth treating, since they deliver sun from directly above for hours.

• Clear UV film on gallery windows and skylights
• Neutral solar film where sun hits display walls
• Frosted film for studio privacy on street-level glass
• Security film on doors and ground-floor panes

Window Film for Dogpatch Makers, Breweries and Workshops

Old warehouses and industrial buildings along Third Street, Tennessee Street and toward Pier 70 now house breweries, distilleries, food makers, design firms and fabrication shops. Their windows are typically large multi-pane steel units, sometimes with wired glass. Inside, people need daylight to work by but not glare on screens and machines.

For these spaces we look at the glass type first, since wired and older annealed glass have limits on heat-absorbing film. A light solar film or a clear UV film is the usual choice. Tasting rooms and shops facing the street often want frosted or decorative film on part of the glass, along with security film on doors and low panes.

Window Film on Dogpatch's Historic Cottages

The older part of Dogpatch, on Tennessee and Minnesota streets and around 20th and 22nd, has rows of Victorian-era workers' cottages and flats, and much of that area is a designated historic district. Interior film does not change the exterior of the building, which is why clear and light films are generally the right choice there. If you are planning anything tinted or reflective that shows from the street, check with the Planning Department first.

These houses tend to have modest windows facing the sidewalk. Frosted film on the lower sash gives privacy, and UV film protects floors in south-facing rooms. Older cottages often have single-pane wood windows, and a low-E film can also help them hold heat on windy evenings when the breeze comes off the bay.