Reflective Series
Entry-level solar control with a mirror-look exterior, and the volume product. The right answer on straightforward heat and glare work where budget leads and a reflective facade is acceptable to the landlord and the street.
Solar, decorative and privacy
Heat and glare fixed on the glass that is already in the building.
Solar control film, commonly called window tinting, is applied to the glass you already have, as are decorative and privacy film. There is no replacement and no work to the frames. The building keeps operating while it is done.
What the complaints usually are
Desks near the windows run hot while the rest of the floor is comfortable, and glare falls across screens for part of the day. Blinds solve both by removing the daylight and the view, which is what the windows were there for. Air conditioning runs harder to hold a set point, and in Lebanon that is generator hours and fuel. Direct sun fades furniture, stock, finishes and artwork, and glass partitions and shopfronts often need privacy, manifestation or protection from tagging as well.
Choosing the film honestly
There is no single best solar film. There is a correct one for a given building, budget and appearance requirement.
Sputtered SG and SB
Metal sputtered rather than dyed, so the colour holds and the performance is higher than a dyed film of the same shade. Specified where colour stability over years matters.
Nova 70
The spectrally selective top line. It passes 70% of visible light while still rejecting heat, which is the answer when an architect wants performance without a dark or mirrored building.
Solar and safety in one film
Madico Solar Safety at 4 mil and 8 mil carries tint and safety thickness in a single product instead of two layers, where glass retention is wanted as well as solar control.
What can be stated, and what cannot
Solar performance is a property of the film and the glass together, so it belongs in a specification rather than on a web page.
- 99%
- Ultraviolet rejected. This is the fading claim, and it holds across the solar control range.
- 70%
- Visible light transmitted by Nova 70, while still rejecting heat
- Retrofit
- Applied to existing glass. No replacement and no work to the frames.
- Night neutral
- Optivision does not turn mirror-black from the inside after dark
- 12 mil
- Frost Matte, where heavy privacy is wanted
- Sacrificial
- Anti-graffiti films are replaced rather than repaired, and the pane is what is being protected
Heat rejection and total solar energy figures are specific to each product and to the glass it is applied to. They are issued with the specification after the windows have been surveyed, and no such number is published here.
What an installation involves
Survey
An on-site assessment of the windows. Orientation, glass type and condition, pane sizes and access, and which parts of the building actually have the problem. For a fit-out, the drawing or artwork for any manifestation as well.
Specification
The film named elevation by elevation or room by room, with the appearance from outside agreed before anything is ordered, and any safety glass requirement resolved at the same time.
Supply
Product ordered factory-direct from Madico in Pinellas Park, Florida. Grafiks manufactures nothing.
Installation
Supervised installation from inside on the existing glass, floor by floor, out of hours where a floor or a unit cannot be released. The glass stays in place throughout.
After-sales
The manufacturer's warranty on the installed system rather than the film alone, issued through the Madico SafetyShield Premier Partner programme, with maintenance support afterwards.
Pricing is issued after a site survey. The survey is free and carries no obligation.
The Madico solar and decorative range
Everything Grafiks supplies is Madico film, supplied and installed. Grafiks manufactures nothing. What suits a given building is settled at the survey.
Solar control
Heat, glare and fading control on existing glass.
- Reflective Series, RS
- Entry-level solar control with a mirror-look exterior, and the volume product where budget leads.
- Sputtered series, SG and SB
- Metal sputtered rather than dyed, so the colour holds and the performance is higher than a dyed film of the same shade.
- Nova, and Nova 70
- The spectrally selective top line. Nova 70 passes 70% of visible light while still rejecting heat.
- Madico Solar Safety, 4 mil and 8 mil
- Tint and safety thickness in a single product instead of two layers.
Decorative and privacy
Privacy, manifestation and surface protection on glass partitions and shopfronts.
- Optivision
- Night neutral, so the glass does not turn mirror-black from the inside after dark.
- Solution Series, Frost Matte, White Out and Black Out
- Privacy and manifestation on glass partitions, with a 12 mil Frost Matte where heavy privacy is wanted.
- Amber 81
- Part of the Solution Series decorative range.
- Blister Free 600 and AG 600
- Anti-glare surface films.
- Graffiti Free 400 and 600
- Sacrificial anti-graffiti surface films, replaced rather than repaired.
Product level performance figures are issued with a specification after a survey, because they depend on the glass the film is applied to. No performance table is published here.
Decorative and privacy
All of it is Madico film, supplied and installed. Grafiks manufactures nothing.
Solution Series
Frost Matte, White Out and Black Out for privacy and glass partitions, and Amber 81. A 12 mil Frost Matte where heavy privacy is wanted.
Optivision
Night neutral, meaning it does not turn mirror-black from the inside after dark. For occupied offices and homes where the reflective look is objectionable.
Anti-graffiti and anti-glare
Graffiti Free 400 and 600, and the Blister Free 600 and AG 600 surface films. Sacrificial by design, so a tagged or scratched film is replaced rather than the glass.
Combination products
Solar or decorative performance added to a security thickness, so a single film can carry more than one property. Useful where a partition also has to satisfy a safety glass requirement.
Written for three readers
The films are the same. What each reader is trying to fix is not.
Commercial buildings and offices
Building owners, facilities managers and office managers.
- Heat gain on the elevations that get the sun, and hot desks near the windows.
- Glare on screens, solved without removing the daylight and the view.
- Air conditioning load and running cost, which in Lebanon means generator hours and fuel.
- Fading of furniture, stock and finishes, with 99% of ultraviolet rejected across the range.
- An appearance that stays acceptable to the landlord and to the street. Nova 70 and the sputtered series exist for exactly that.
- Installed floor by floor, out of hours where a floor cannot be released.
Architects, interiors and retail
Architects, interior designers, fit-out contractors and retail clients.
- Privacy without building walls, on glass partitions that were put there for the daylight in the first place.
- Manifestation on full-height glass, which is a safety requirement as much as a design decision.
- Branding and wayfinding on glass, changed when the tenancy or the identity changes, without touching the partition.
- Anti-graffiti protection on street-facing glass, so a tagged film is replaced rather than the pane.
- Decorative film combined with a safety thickness where a partition also has to satisfy a safety glass requirement. Worth settling at specification stage rather than after.
- Applied on an occupied site, with the glass staying in place throughout.
Homes and villas
Homeowners who want the house cooler and more private without losing the view.
- A room that is too hot in the afternoon, and it is often the room with the best view.
- Floors, furniture and fabrics losing their colour where the sun reaches them.
- Privacy from a neighbouring building or the street, at a window where a curtain would waste the light.
- Optivision where you do not want the glass turning mirror-black from the inside after dark.
- Nova 70 where you want the heat dealt with and the house not to go dark or mirrored.
Questions we are asked
Will the building look mirrored?
Only if a reflective film is specified. Nova 70 and the sputtered series exist so that a building can get solar performance without going dark or mirrored. Say at the survey how the building has to look from the street and the specification follows that.
Can it go on the glass we already have?
Yes, that is the point of it. The survey confirms the glass type and its condition, and what can be specified on it.
How much heat will it actually reject?
That figure depends on the film and on the glass it is applied to, so it is issued with the specification after the survey rather than quoted from a page. Publishing a single number would be guesswork.
Does it stop fading?
It reduces fading. 99% of ultraviolet is rejected, and ultraviolet is what film can address. Visible light and heat also contribute to fading, so no film eliminates it.
Can a pattern or a logo be cut from the film?
Manifestation and branding are produced from the decorative films listed above. Bring the drawing or the artwork to the survey and the specification will state what can be produced in film and at what size.
Does frosted film satisfy a safety glass requirement on its own?
Not on its own. Where a partition has to meet a safety glass requirement, the decorative finish is combined with a safety thickness, and the specification states which.
Does the office or the house have to be empty?
No. Work is done on an occupied site, out of hours where a floor or a unit cannot be released. The films are also removable later.
What does it cost?
Pricing is issued after the survey. Pane sizes, access and the film specified all change it, so no rate is published. The survey is free and carries no obligation.
Request a site survey
The site survey is carried out by a certified installer. A specification and a price come from the person who saw the windows.
Pricing is issued after a site survey. The survey is free and carries no obligation.
- WhatsApp +961 71 969 974 Usually the fastest route
- Phone +961 71 969 974
- Email info@grafikslb.com
- Location Beirut, Lebanon
Enquiries are handled in English, French and Arabic.