Many people have been making investments in their homes in these past several years as they are planning to stay put with interest rates soaring. With the investment in home improvement, it only makes sense that you would want to protect against sun damaged floors and furniture. This article is designed to explain the true causes of sun damage and why window films retrofitted to your existing windows can be a good solution.
If you don’t want your new floors or furniture to end up looking like the floor above or to the right, check out the information below.
What Causes Sun Damaged Floors and Furniture
First, let’s discuss what causes this type of fading and sun damage. A common misconception is that the sun’s UV rays are what cause sun damaged floors, furniture and furnishings. While UV rays are certainly the largest component that causes fading, as the chart below illustrates, they actually only account for 40% of the total.
Solar heat, or the heat you feel passing through your windows and the visible light streaming through are also major contributors. These factors account for an additional 25% each of the causes of fading. The last factor accounts for the remaining 10% and is listed as “other”. It is comprised of a variety of things that are harder to control like interior lighting, humidity, etc.
One thing this chart might help you realize is that you cannot “stop” fading completely. The facts are that unless the items you want to protect are placed in a dark, climate controlled room, they will typically fade over time. However, most of us plan to have the flooring and furniture in a place that will be exposed to UV, heat and light. This being the case, the most you can do is attack these major contributors of fading.
By significantly attacking these contributors, you can slow down this fading process and extend the life of floors and furnishings. With that in mind, one of the best ways to attack these primary causes of sun damage and fading is with window films.
Why Are Window Films a Good Solution to Fading?
As mentioned above, you cannot completely stop fading and most people do not want to “close-up” their home in an effort to stop the damage from occurring. So, assuming windows will not be covered, you need to attack these fading factors before they enter the home. Window films are a great option because they attack all 3 major contributors of fading before they pass through the glass and enter your home.
Most professionally installed window films will block 99%+ of the UV rays, so that is nearly 40% of the factors removed. In addition, many window films can significantly reduce heat coming through the window, so that eliminates part of that 25% piece. Finally, it is possible to block up to 60% of the visible light coming through a window without noticeably darkening the window.
When you combine the overall reduction in these 3 fade factors, you can take a significant portion of the fading pie shown above. The best part is that this protection can be accomplished while continuing to retain the open feel of your home through the use of window film.
We hope this article has served to shed some light the factors of sun damaged floors, furniture and furnishings and how utilizing window film can be one of your best options to address this issue. If you would like more information, click HERE and contact us today by calling (708) 485-8468 or emailing us at
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. We can provide you with a free, no obligation assessment and estimate on the work you are considering. We proudly service Chicago, ILand Dallas, TX and the surrounding areas.