Carol S

The Southern California Facilities Expo: Five Best Reasons to Visit!

May 10, 2022 by Carol S Leave a Comment

Just a few of the exhibitors at the Southern California Facilities Expo!

Recently, the Window Works staff attended the Southern California Facilities Expo, at the Anaheim Convention Center. From the SCFE website, “The Facilities Expo provides FREE valuable learning and networking opportunities in a unique format serving the southern California region. Bringing together the facilities engineering, MRO and green building communities, Southern California Facilities Expo attracts a diverse audience of facilities managers, maintenance managers, and energy managers from a wide variety of industries including food processing, government, healthcare, manufacturing, education, wineries, utilities and others.”

Here are some images and highlights from our time at the facilities expo! By the way, we’ve written about other facilities expo’s before. See some of the other highlights here:

Asia Bautista and Kashmir Uppal, from Atlas Copco Compressors, LLC

Seeing friends

We tend to run into some of the same people at facilities conferences, whether we’re in South California, Northern California, or Modesto (Central California). Above, our fearless leader Asia meets with friend Kashmir Uppal, from Atlas Copco Compressors, LLC. Kashmir Uppal is San Francisco Bay Area · CTS Regional Sales Manager for Atlas Copco, in case you were wondering. Meeting long-lost friends is probably our favorite part of the Expo.

Seeing even more friends

We love reconnecting with friends! Don’t you? Here we are with some of our bestest buds, above. That’s Nick MacArthur, brother John MacArthur, and Bobby Slingsby from Graffiti Shield. Since Graffiti Shield is in Anaheim they didn’t have far to travel. And that beer certainly can’t hurt (more on the beer in a minute). Also pictured: Asia and Donna from Window Works!

The Giveaways and Swag!

Look at that cute little promo truck from 1-800-GOT-JUNK, above! McKendry and Affinity also did some top-notch branding with their giveaways. We love having all these reminders of our time at the Expo! They’ll have a special home in our office.

The Happy Hour

The Happy Hour, co-sponsored with Atlas Copco Compressors, LLC, was one of our favorite parts of the Expo! Yes! We had happy hour in our booth which meant we didn’t have to drive home, since we were already there! You know what we mean. But actually we were happy for more than just the Happy Hour–we’re super happy and friendly all the time.

Making new connections

Of course, making new friends is super easy when the reception is in your booth! You can see just a few of our new friends in the photo above.

Did we forget anything?

If you were there and we forgot something, or even if you just want to chat, give us a call! Window Works customer care is at 415.650.5200. Pick up your phone and enter our number! We really are very friendly, and we’ll answer your questions.

Fragment Retention Window Film: Five Reasons You Need it

April 27, 2022 by Carol S Leave a Comment

If you’re a building or facilities manager for a high rise building, you definitely need fragment retention window film. After all, safety is a top concern for most facilities managers. Here are a few reasons you need it.

Prevent glass shattering

You’ve all seen the YouTube videos where glass falls and shatters everywhere, injuring people close by and even bouncing and hurting people across streets. And those tiny shards of glass are difficult to see. So cleanup is a mess. Fragment retention window film helps to keep glass together when it breaks. Glass still breaks, but with this window film it doesn’t explode all over, as it would without the window film. 3M has an article that discusses why fragment retention window film is a good choice for schools. We think it’s an even better choice for high rise buildings!

Keep bad glass from shattering everywhere

For those unfortunate scenarios where there’s globally sourced glass (we’re talking to you, facilities manager on a budget), using the right window film keeps everything together. If you’ve acquired cheap glass, you need fragment retention window film more than ever, since cheap glass is more susceptible to spontaneous shattering. By the way if you’re a facilities manager, we’d love to connect with you at one of the expos or conferences for Facilities Managers, like this one: The Window Works Crew at the Fabulous Northern California Facilities Expo 2021 in Santa Clara.

If you have large glass windows, they will be more susceptible to stress

Tornadoes, hurricanes, and weird weather are becoming more common

We don’t have to tell you that the weather is changing. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’ve had all sorts of heat waves, droughts, and downpours. We’ve even had the occasional tornado, if you can believe that! If you’re somewhere that has tornadoes, hurricanes, or even bomb blasts, fragment retention window film can help. When your big windows get hit by bad weather, you want your glass to stay together and not explode into a million pieces.

It’s easy to install

What is that old saw about an ounce of prevention versus a pound of cure? That applies here. The window film is your ounce of prevention. Also, since it’s easy to install (for us, that is), you don’t have to spend days, weeks, or months remodeling. Right now, you may hear from your contractor that building material is stuck on ships or impossible to get.

Size Matters

If you have large glass windows, they will be more susceptible to stress. So if you’re in a high rise, those large windowpanes are at greater risk of shattering from temperature fluctuations, especially during the spring and fall when temperatures tend to change more. For those large windows that are more at risk, use fragment retention window film, in case one of your large windows shatters. Read Bob Vila’s article about the drawbacks of thermal pane windows.

Call us for more reasons!

If you have questions, call Window Works customer care at 415.650.5200. We really are very friendly.

We work all over the greater San Francisco Bay Area, from San Jose to the East Bay to the Peninsula and Marin!

Central Valley Facility Expo: Five Best Highlights

April 6, 2022 by Carol S 1 Comment

The Hills in the Central Valley | Central Valley Facility Expo

Recently, some of us traveled to the Central Valley Facility Expo in Modesto, California. As they say on their website, the Central Valley Facility Expo “attracts a diverse audience of facilities managers, maintenance managers, and energy managers from a wide variety of industries including food processing, government, healthcare, manufacturing, education, wineries, utilities and others.” We had boatloads of fun chatting with everyone at the Expo and here are some highlights! By the way, we love visiting the facility expo, and we’ve written about it before here: the 2021 Northern California Facilities Expo (that’s the one in Santa Clara!).

The drive up and back

We choose to live in California for a reason. Or maybe for 100 or 1000 reasons! It’s a beautiful place to live, and spring could be the best time to visit! Driving over we saw green fields, which might not be green for much longer since we’re in a drought. We haven’t had much rain, so everything is already starting to turn golden. And the hills stay golden until the rainy season starts back up in the late fall.

Educational seminars

From renewable energy to creating a safe environment to LED lighting, there were seminars for everyone! We didn’t have a lot of time to attend the seminars, but we got a kick out of talking to people as they went to the seminars. Of particular interest were the seminars on emergency planning and lighting. Here’s a full list of educational talks. (Did you know that generators are vulnerable to failure because of infrequent operation?)

Asia Bautista, Kashmir Uppal of Atlas Copco and Lisa Nagel of the Facility Expo (from left to right)

Meeting people

Sometimes when people stop by, they just have a quick question, so we’re super polite and friendly to everyone. At the beginning of the first day, people really wanted to talk about heat reduction window film, since Modesto gets scorching hot in the summertime. We really enjoyed meeting the facilities coordinator, Lisa Nagle. That’s her, above.

Donna, extolling the virtues of blast retention window film

Hobnobbing at Happy Hour

We know you’re thinking that maybe hobnobbing is the same as meeting people, but hobnobbing is a little more! For one thing, there could be beer or wine involved. Speaking of which, we co-sponsored the Happy Hour with our friend Kashmir Uppal, of Atlas Copco, a manufacturer of huge air compressors. We tried to get the facilities people to put the happy hour bar into our booth, but no luck! Oh, well. There’s always next year! Some of the exhibitors have had booths at other facilities expos before, and we’re always happy to see them again! For instance, the guys at Sunbelt Rentals really seem to get around! They’re a friendly crew!

Banana Tension Grip Thingie was our favorite swag!

The swag

There was all the usual swag, such as pens, Post-it notes, hats and tons of candy (why is there always candy?). But we’re talking about the Advanced Swag(tm). You know what we’re talking about! The swag you keep forever, like the banana tension grip thingie we had to trade to get.

Five Reasons You Could Be Arrested for DIY (Read this!)

March 24, 2022 by Carol S Leave a Comment

Don’t get arrested for a DIY window film project!

Have you ever gotten partway through a DIY project only to discover that you’ve bitten off more than you could chew? Or have you ever been stopped by the Window Film Police ™ because they’ve seen you trying to either install your own window film or remove someone else’s window film failure? If you’re a DIYer (or thinking about installing your own window film), read on. You’re likely to recognize yourself in some of these paragraphs. If not, well, consider it a cautionary tale. One that could easily happen to you.

Why is it a bad idea to install my own window film?

We do hear this question from time to time. There are many reasons why, actually. First of all, people hardly ever measure twice and cut once. It’s more like they sorta-kinda measure using an old magazine as a yardstick or a broken app on their phone. Or they use their arms because they saw someone do it on a YouTube Video! Then they guesstimate how much film they need. Eventually, they use their phone for its original purpose (phoning). Do you remember using your phone as a phone? It happens sometimes. Anyway, when people get around to calling us, they’re often embarrassed. Or crying. Or their friend or partner calls us in hushed tones when the guilty DIYer has left the house for a few minutes, begging us to come over. But what is that DIYer thinking? That no one will ever find out? By the way, we’ve written about how to prepare for window film installation before. You might like that article.

Removing the old film myself–what could possibly go wrong?

You already know the answer to this because you’ve probably tried removing some old film at home, despite the warnings not to. Using an old hair dryer and some rags from the Dollar Store, you’ve attempted window film removal. You start earlyish, leaving time for snack breaks and possible shopping trips. It looks pretty good until you touch the surface and realize there’s still glue all over the window! And all over you, too! Oh, no!!! Now what? If we had a flow chart, we’d go back to the part where you end up calling us. There could be crying.

Because of the last time you did a DIY

Do you remember the last time you tried something and it didn’t work out? Remember when you bought that broken-down dresser at that yard sale and decided to antique it and turn it into a combination bar/desk. It looked so easy on Pinterest, right? But then you were all covered in paint, paint remover, and again there were tears. Also, lots of cursing. And you’ll never get those jeans back. Those $300 jeans that you used to love. The Window Film Police would just love to hear about this!

Your friends know you and your past

Your friends have seen you looking at those pix of sleek remodels, and they know how your mind works. They’ve witnesses that optimistic squirrel brain thinking that you can do anything up to and maybe including flying. They know you like to take shortcuts when you DIY, and they’re embarrassed and scared. Which is why they could make a citizen’s arrest.

You don’t have the time or patience

Remember that full-time job you have? By the time you get home and change and watch 10,000 YouTube videos on how to install window film, you’ll be tired. So here you go: the Quick Residential Estimate. Simply fill it out and send it. Easy peasy. Really! You don’t have to do it yourself! And also: Window Works customer care is at 415.650.5200. Pick up your phone and enter our number! We really are very friendly, and we’ll answer your questions.

Stay out of trouble

We work all over the greater San Francisco Bay Area, from San Jose to the East Bay to the Peninsula and Marin! So stay out of trouble and give us a call!

Women In Construction 2022 Virtual Celebration – March 9 at 12:00 noon

March 3, 2022 by Carol S Leave a Comment

Our celebration is **March 9, 2022 at 12:00 noon PST**. Join us!

WIC Virtual Gathering

We’re meeting online via Google Meet on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 12:00 PST Noon. Here’s an agenda and how to join us!

How to Join us!

We’re curating who can join to help prevent trolls. To receive a calendar invite, please send an email to wicweek@windowworks.co. We’ll send you the link after you send us your details!

In your email, please include:

Subject Header: WIC Week
Name
Title
Company
Email

Agenda

We’ll be starting and ending exactly on time. We appreciate your arriving on time!

12:00 Meet and greet. Introductions. Tell us a little about yourself!

12:07 First topic (ice breaker) What’s the last great TV show or movie you watched? Of course, it doesn’t have to be about construction!

12:12 If you could learn one new professional skill, what would it be?

12:17 The zombie apocalypse is coming! Which 3 tools would you need?

12:22 Favorite new tool that you recently learned about? If you have it with you, show us!

12:30 Where do you like to spend your time, social media wise? Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or where?

12:35 Tell us about a favorite YouTube channel you’ve found (could be a great how-to channel for learning construction skills).

12:40 What motivated you to get into construction?

12:45 What would you tell another woman who wanted to get into construction?

12:50 What would you like us to add to next year’s Women In Construction meetup?

12:55 Wave bye-bye!

How to Prepare for Your Window Film Installation

February 23, 2022 by Carol S 1 Comment

Preparation for window film installation is a multi-step process

You might want to read the steps first, then call us. We can do most of these steps for you. And, of these steps, the first one (removing the blinds, drapes and window treatments), is probably the one easiest for you to do yourself.

Remove all blinds, drapes, and window treatments

Please remove all blinds, drapes, and window treatments prior to install. All furniture, fixtures and items must be moved four feet away from windows to give our workers space to move around. Window Works technicians do NOT move items without a fee–which is $150.00 per hour base minimum.

Window Works is not responsible for glass breakage due to improper glass installation, scoring from previous film install, existing damage, seal failure or other. When you sign our proposal, this indicates your acceptance/approval of all Terms & Conditions.

We use a water-based micro spray solution in your installation, so any water-sensitive items must be covered or removed before install. Window Works assumes no liability for items left which might be damaged. We want your installation to be as beautiful and perfect as possible, so please give us your cooperation!

Window film removal

If you have old window film covering your windows, unless you can do a superb job (as in you used to be a window film installer and had that job for ten years and won some prizes and stuff), the best thing is to let us do it. Usually what happens is people remove some of the film, but not all of it. They do some of the work, then get tired and bored. Then there are margaritas, and in some cases, whiskey. The removal gets mangled in some way, or the glue is still there. It turns into a big sticky mess and costs you more than if you just let us do it in the first place. So please don’t help with the window film removal because it will probably cost you more if you do! Plus you’ll have a hangover and who knows what else will happen?!

When measuring your windows measure twice, cut once!

Measure your windows

Measuring your windows is a lot like baking: you need to be exact and not stray from the recipe. If you took up baking during the pandemic, you know what we mean here. When you measure, take the width first. And remember the old adage: measure twice, cut once. Accuracy counts. Don’t round up or down–tell us the measurements accurately. If you need help measuring, we can do that. In fact, that might be a better idea for those of you who aren’t too accurate. Like if you substitute baking soda for baking powder in your cake recipe because they’re both white we’re talking to you!

Again, if you help but goof it up, it’ll cost more.

Need a quick window film estimate for your home?

Sure you do! We already have the form online for you to fill out. Here’s the Quick Residential Estimate. Simply fill it out and send it. Easy peasy. Really! But if you have questions,call Window Works customer care at 415.650.5200. We really are very friendly.

We work all over the greater San Francisco Bay Area, from San Jose to the East Bay to the Peninsula and Marin!

How to Choose the Best Window Film Installer?

February 4, 2022 by Carol S Leave a Comment

If choosing window film is overwhelming, how are you ever going to choose a window film installer? Aren’t there hundreds of installers available? Do you use your Magic 8-Ball? Flip a coin? No! Here are some ideas.

Check out their website

If you’re looking at a website, can you see clients, and do you know any of them? That is, do you recognize any businesses there? If so, you might take a look at the actual-in-real-life window film installations and see how they look! Some may be easily accessible. For instance, not to toot our own horn, but we have quite a few companies that you’ve (probably) heard of who’ve had window film installed.

Ask friends and neighbors

You could ask your neighbors if you want residential window film. Or you could go to social media sites. Personally, we like Google, and our Google site is here: Window Works. What do people say on those sites? Here’s a review we really like:

“These guys are really great. We live in San Francisco with windows all round on the second floor. Great views but it can become a greenhouse, especially as the climate warms. Window Works applied Prestige 20 to all our windows and it made a huge difference in the amount of heat retained. The staff was courteous and competent, Asia is extremely knowledgeable.”
~ Amir Najmi
Google Reviewer

By the way, sometimes reviews can be fake. We’ve seen quite a few on Amazon. And there are signs of fake reviews that you might already know such as really bad grammar, no profile pictures, or one-word reviews. How a company deals with negative reviews can tell you a lot, too. Here’s an article about Amazon Fake Reviewers by Business Insider.

Ask a few questions

Does the window film installer know their stuff? What kind of film would they recommend for your particular windows? Ask about heat retention of the window film, and ask about the staff, too.

Read their blog posts and check their social media

Is the window film installer you’re poised to go with active with their blog posts? Do they have social media and are they active there? Those are some good signs that you’re dealing with a reputable company. If they aren’t active, that could indicate a number of things: They might be too busy or too small to deal with their website/blogging/social media. Or they might not know how and want to get to it later. You could ask them when you call!

Trust your gut

What is your gut telling you about the company you’re about to hire? Have you ever known before that you shouldn’t hire someone and hired them anyway, and then regretted it? Same here! And you shake your head and say “I shoulda known!” Right? We’ve probably all had that experience!

Give us a call!

Call us and ask a few questions, as we’ve suggested above. We really are very friendly. We work all over the greater San Francisco Bay Area, from San Jose to the East Bay to the Peninsula and Marin! Call Window Works customer care at 415.650.5200 for pricing and more information.

Why Not Use Window Film for Patio Privacy?

January 20, 2022 by Carol S Leave a Comment

Recently, walking along the beach, I noticed a lot of balconies and patios surrounded by partial glass enclosures. Maybe people don’t realize that they could use window film to block the view people have into their patios or balconies? It seems like such a simple and elegant solution. After all, do you really want a bunch of strangers peering into your home while you’re having a barbeque?

Patio privacy on second floor balconies

If your patio set up is on a second floor balcony, using some window film to block the view can give you an extraordinary amount of privacy. Imagine the glass on the balcony above with window film. Not only would the view into your home be less cluttered, more importantly, you would not be so visible from outside. Here, as in many parts of the Bay Area, people can walk right up to the house and look into the windows. In many homes, there are no curtains or anything to keep prying eyes from looking inside and seeing everything you own. We’ve talked about privacy before: What Are the Best Window FIlms for Privacy?

Heavily trafficked areas

With all parts of the San Francisco Bay Area growing, there’s more and more reasons to look for ways to secure more privacy. You can hide your valuables, protect your family by making them less accessible to the eyes of strangers, and simply be less visible. After all, don’t you want to be free to say what you want and wear what you want while you’re relaxing at home? Do you really want a messy patio visible to the entire world?

Less goldfish bowl

We’re all visible more and more via social media. Everyone has a camera built into their cell phones now. And you’re likely to appear in many places, even if you don’t want to be featured in a video. People hardly even bother to ask any more if you want your picture taken, do they? While you might not want a completely curated existence, having more privacy allows you to control who sees what.

Here’s a patio enclosure we worked on (with window film!)

Don’t be a statistic

You might have seen the Google car driving around taking pictures of everything. If you live in the Bay Area, chances are you have! Your home and everything in it is on display for all the world to see. But you can exercise a little bit of control with window film. Nobody needs to see what you ate for breakfast or what you’re watching on your laptop while you’re on your own balcony. You probably also want to protect your kids from prying eyes.

It gets even easier!

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, we can offer suggestions. We work throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, from San Jose to the East Bay to the Peninsula and Marin! Call Window Works customer care at 415.650.5200 for pricing and more information. We’re very friendly!

Why your New Year’s Resolutions should include window film installation

January 5, 2022 by Carol S Leave a Comment

If your New Year’s resolutions don’t include window film, you’re doing it wrong!

You’ve heard about the usual New Year’s resolutions, all the ones you write down and promptly forget. But what about creating some New Year’s resolutions which are easy to keep and require very little work from you? What about those resolutions? Here are a bunch of reasons you ought to include window film installation in your list of resolutions. Not that we’re telling you what to do. But stick around and maybe we’ll convince you!

New Year’s resolutions should be easy

Seriously, when was the last time you had an easy resolution? Are you really going to lose weight in January, a time when every cell in your body is screaming at you to eat all the cupcakes and binge-watch Netflix? NO! And are you going to battle the gym right now, what with the new Covid restrictions? Are you going to triple-mask so you’ll feel safe? NO! But guess what? (If you were here, you’d say “What?!”) Window film installation is super easy!

New Year’s resolutions should improve your health

You might already know that window film reduces UV rays coming through your windows. And that those same UV rays are what cause skin cancer. If not, you’re hearing it here first. Window film can improve your health! It’s like having sunglasses on your house or office! But don’t take our word for it–check out the Skin Cancer Foundation’s excellent article Not All UV Rays Stay Outside: How Window Film Can Help Protect You.

Use window film with dots, patterns or stripes to make your office look snazzier

New Year’s resolutions should lower your heating and A/C bill

With Thinsulate window film, your temperatures will even out. That is, your place will be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. So your heating and cooling bills will be lower. And doesn’t everyone want lower power bills? By the way, we’ve written about Thinsulate before because we love it so much! Why Use 3M Thinsulate Window Film: Five Good Reasons You Need to Know.

New Year’s Resolutions should make your home or office look better

Did you know that window films have improved a lot over the past years? There are many decorative window films that can add to the easy glamor of your place, with gorgeous designs that will make you the envy of your neighborhood. Take a look at some of our decorative window films here: Decorating with Window Film. 3M Fasara window film comes in a variety of designs. There are patterns, dots, and stripes.

So easy a kid could do it!

If your kid can pick up the phone and find us, and you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, you could be done with your New Year’s resolutions! That’s not to say you should make your kid call us! All we’re saying is it’s that easy. We work throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, from San Jose to the East Bay to the Peninsula and Marin! Call Window Works customer care at 415.650.5200 for pricing and more information. We’re very friendly!

The Jungle Gold & Glam Window Works Holiday Party

December 21, 2021 by Carol S Leave a Comment

Everyone really enjoyed themselves, getting all dolled up for this holiday party at Morton’s Steakhouse in San Francisco. As you can see, lots of people wore RAWR (jungle prints) from their shoes and jackets to their hair scrunchies and dresses! And there was a LOT of gold, too! And in case you haven’t seen enough of either RAWR or the Window Works crew, here’s what happened last week: What Happens When the Window Works Crew Gets Together for Christmas.

Karaoke Galore

Although it’s tempting to post the drunken singing that happened, we’ve been sworn to secrecy on who sang the loudest and most out of key. There were a lot of renditions of Christmas songs, from Jingle Bells on out. Michael Jackson had a strong showing, too, as his songs are easy to sing. And there was some controversy, but supposedly the best and easiest karaoke song is Tequila, since there’s only ONE WORD to remember! And still some people would not sing! But we won’t embarrass them by calling them out.

The Ladies of Window Works

This year, we had problems deciding if the ladies or the guys had the better outfits! There were some fantastic shoes on both the ladies and the guys! But Asia and Donna definitely had more RAWR per inch (RPI), so because we made up that term and we’re the only ones voting, the ladies WIN!!! Sorry, guys! Besides, we had all the best shoes, too!

Then there were shoes

Yes, the ladies also win because we froze our toes off in the frigid December San Francisco night. And we wore heels while doing it. Debbie had the most sparkly shoes (she’s in the middle with those sparkly bows!). You needed sunglasses to look at Asia’s shoes (the gold heels on the end).

The Guys were very glam and also quite RAWR!

We had a great time comparing RAWR outfits and competing with the drinking and singing–sometimes at the same time!

Between the jacket, the shoes, and the balloons, he’s most RAWRful!

Honorable mention

This gentleman, above, was stopped in Union Square for his outstanding RAWR! Can that possibly be Brian behind that mask?

The Food!

Geez, the food was so good, but people didn’t take too many pix of food! The appetizers were all on individual plates, and SO DELICIOUS!!! As was the steak, the wine, the many drinks, the potatoes, the green beans, the bread, and the desserts! Oh, and the salads, too!

Gang Signs?

What’s easier? Making a sign that says “Live long and proper” or making Ws for Window Works? We’ll leave that up to you!

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