The seven steps between pulling into the bay and driving out with tinted glass, and why each one matters to how the film looks in five years.
Here is what happens to your car during a Pro Tint appointment. The whole thing runs 45 minutes for two windows and up to two hours for a full car, and you are welcome to watch every step from the lobby.
The technician looks at every window with you, checks for existing tint, factory privacy glass, chips, cracks or a damaged defroster grid, and confirms the shade. We hold film samples against your glass in daylight so you see what 35% actually looks like on your car before anything is cut.
The car is washed so nothing on the outside gets dragged inside on a sleeve or a towel. This is also where you get the complimentary wash the package includes.
Your year, make, model and trim are pulled up on the plotter and the film is cut to pattern. Computer-cut patterns match the glass to within a hairline and keep razor blades off your windows and rubber seals.
Rear windshields and curved quarter glass are not flat, and film is. The cut piece is laid on the outside of the glass and worked with a heat gun until it takes the curve as a single sheet. This is the step that separates a seamless rear window from one done in strips, and it is the step that takes the most skill.
The inside of every window is cleaned, scraped with a plastic blade and clay-barred to pull off anything stuck to the glass. Then it is wet with a mounting solution. Contamination under the film is the number one cause of specks and bubbles, so this step is not rushed.
Each piece is floated onto the wet glass, positioned, then squeegeed from the center out to push the solution to the edges. The technician works the edges last and checks each panel under a light before moving on.
Every window is checked for edge gaps, trapped debris and lift. You get an aftercare sheet, your invoice with the shade recorded on it, and a reminder that the windows stay up for a few days.
New tint does not look perfect for the first few days, and that catches some customers off guard. A light haze and small water pockets between the film and the glass are the mounting solution evaporating through the film. In summer they clear in a few days. In winter it can take two weeks.
What is not normal: a hair or speck trapped under the film, an edge that is visibly lifted, a seam on the rear window, or a bubble that has not moved after two weeks. Any of those, bring the car back. The warranty covers it and we fix it without argument. The full list is in our aftercare guide.
Yes. Every shop has a view into the bay from the lobby, and the technician will walk you through what they are doing if you ask.
No. Every install starts with a wash and interior glass cleaning. Just remove anything stuck to the inside of the glass, like a toll transponder or a phone mount.
The film goes on the inside of the glass, so weather does not matter. The car is washed in the bay before the install either way.
No. Patterns are plotted and cut on a machine from your vehicle's data. The only cutting on the car is a final micro-trim at the edges with the blade angled away from the glass and seals.