Window Film in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco

Anti-Graffiti Window Film for Haight Street Storefronts

Haight Street from Masonic to Stanyan draws visitors from all over the world, and its storefront glass shows it. Stickers, marker tags and scratched initials on door and window glass are a constant maintenance job for shop owners. Scratches are the expensive part, since etched glass cannot be cleaned and usually has to be replaced.

Anti-graffiti film puts a clear protective sheet on the street side of the glass. Stickers and marker come off it more easily than off bare glass, and when it does get scratched, the damaged sheet is peeled away and a new one goes on. The real window is never touched. On doors and the lower few feet of display windows, where most of the damage happens, that is a worthwhile trade.

UV Window Film for Vintage Clothing and Record Shops on Haight Street

A lot of Haight Street's shops sell things that cannot be replaced: vintage clothing, old band posters, record sleeves, rugs and printed fabric. These fade in a sunny window faster than new stock does, because many older dyes are less stable. Haight Street runs east to west, so shops on the north side face south and take sun through most of the day.

A clear UV layer screens out almost every ultraviolet ray without altering the look of the glass, which matters on a street where storefronts are part of the attraction. It is the simplest way to keep a display window in use without rotating stock out every few weeks. Shops can use it alone or with anti-graffiti film.

• Clear UV film on south-facing Haight Street displays
• Anti-graffiti film on doors and low glass
• Security film on front and rear windows
• Frosted film for back rooms and fitting areas

Window Film on Haight-Ashbury Victorians and Stained Glass

The side streets, from Ashbury and Clayton to Page and Waller, are lined with Queen Anne and Stick-style Victorians, many with original wavy glass, curved bay windows and stained or leaded transoms. Owners want to protect what is inside from sun without changing how the house looks from the street.

We fit clear film to the inside of plain panes and leave stained and leaded glass alone, or protect it only with care, since film can be hard to apply across uneven lead lines and old colored glass. Curved bay glass takes extra time, since the film has to be worked gently onto the curve, and we tell you up front if a pane's shape rules it out. Before any work on original glass, we inspect for cracks and loose glazing and tell you which panes we would rather not touch.

Privacy and Safety Film for Haight-Ashbury Flats

Many Victorians in the neighborhood have been split into two or three flats, so bedrooms face the street at sidewalk level or look across a narrow gap at the next building. Frosted film on lower sashes and side windows gives privacy without curtains and lets daylight in. Renters should get landlord approval first, and we use removable films for rental units.

Safety film is useful on the large ground-floor panes and on glass doors leading to back gardens. It keeps a broken pane together, which makes a break-in slower and noisier and reduces the risk of injury if glass breaks during an earthquake. On houses split into flats, the owner and tenants can decide together which doors to treat.

Glare Film for Homes Around Buena Vista Park and the Panhandle

Houses on the slopes around Buena Vista Park have views over the city, and apartments along the Panhandle look into the trees. On the upper floors, west-facing windows catch late afternoon sun on clear days, which can be hard on screens and fabrics. A light glare film takes care of that while keeping the view and the light.

Top-floor flats on the higher blocks near Buena Vista Park are the most exposed. For those, a slightly stronger neutral film handles the late sun, and clear UV film elsewhere in the flat protects floors and furniture. Both keep the exterior looking the way it always has, which matters on streets of matching Victorians.