Safety & Security

Distraction Markers for Safety, Privacy, Branding, & Aesthetics

2021-02-28T18:12:57+00:00

Distraction markers are bands of frosted or patterned film used to enhance commercial buildings. You’ve probably seen these markers at eye level on glass partitions or glass walls without taking special notice. But rest assured, they’re there for a purpose, working subtly in the background. Here are the four main benefits they provide: safety, privacy, branding, and aesthetics.

Distraction Markers Promote Safety

While clear glass elevates buildings and makes them feel more modern, the transparency of glass poses safety hazards. If people aren’t paying close attention, they can suffer from injuries when they collide with glass. Simple distraction markers subtly call attention to the glass, so it’s easier to see. They can be in virtually any shape or design, from thin lines and stripes to intricate logos. What’s important is that these markers can reduce the risk of accidents or injuries involving glass surfaces on building exteriors and inside.

Glass & Privacy Can Coexist

Open floor plans are popular because they promote collaboration. However, they often leave employees feeling like they’re on display. Meeting rooms with glass walls, for instance, can make occupants feel like they’re in a fishbowl. Distraction markers provide targeted office privacy. Add them exactly where privacy is needed without affecting natural light as blinds and other privacy solutions often do. Applied in the middle of the glass at eye level, it provides privacy and prevents onlookers from seeing into the room. Yet, it doesn’t cover the bottom and top of the glass, so rooms still feel open and airy rather than dark and closed in.

Opportunities for Branding & Aesthetics

With a little help from decorative film, you can transform any glass surface into branding and advertising space. Promote sales, special offers, events, and more right on glass storefronts, windows, and doors. Convert passersby on the street into brand new customers and build brand recognition by sharing information about your business to build interest and intrigue.

Distraction markers also beautify boring glass surfaces with interesting colors, patterns, and textures. Create a beautiful design that looks like real, high-end etched glass at a fraction of the cost. Or, enhance a plain glass meeting room with a strip of geometric shapes or cutouts of your logo.

We’ll cut the decorative film into wide or thin bands or into lettering for custom messages. We can also die-cut it into custom designs that are 100% original. A car dealership, for example, might feature car cutouts on the floor-to-ceiling glass walls of their storefront. A company that makes coffee might display a pattern with coffee mugs on the glass partition in its reception area.

There’s even a dry-erase film. It’s perfect for adding writing surfaces in glass-walled meeting rooms without bulky and expensive whiteboards. It’s an affordable, inexpensive tool for promoting collaboration, teaching, recording notes, brainstorming, and more.

The options are virtually limited only by your imagination. Of course, we’d love to speak to you if you need more inspiration. We can help you take your ideas and turn them into a truly unique multi-purpose creation.

Learn More About Distraction Markers

Carolina Solar Security is a 3M™ Authorized Prestige Window Film Dealer in Wilmington, NC. We have been providing North Carolina homeowners and business owners with window tinting solutions since 1985 and never stop working to bring our customers the best products paired with the most skilled window film technicians. Reach out to us for your free quote today! 

Distraction Markers for Safety, Privacy, Branding, & Aesthetics2021-02-28T18:12:57+00:00

Take Care of Your Business with Safety & Security Window Film

2020-11-30T16:36:51+00:00

With all that’s been going on in America this year, many small business owners are taking extra precautions to protect their offices, buildings, and other facilities. Adding security personnel and security systems can be effective but also come at a hefty price. 3M™ Safety & Security Window Film can add an extra layer of protection to glass windows, the most vulnerable feature of any commercial building, without breaking the bank. Glass windows and doors reinforced with this thick multi-layered polyester film help to protect buildings from intruders, vandalism, storms, and even explosions.

If you need it in a hurry, professionals like Carolina Solar Security can install security window film quickly with little disruption to your business operations. Additionally, this security solution works without obstructing views, blocking healthy natural light, or changing your building’s appearance. In fact, no one will likely even notice the film is there.

4 Scenarios to Show How Security Window Film Can Protect Your Business

1 – The Intruder / Smash-and-Grab Burglar

A burglar wants to get into your building. They see a side window and think it’s an easy entry point. The burglar isn’t aware that the building’s windows are protected with 3M Security Window Film, so they hit the glass with an object expecting the window to break easily. To their surprise, the pieces of fractured glass remain adhered together. They realize that the commotion they’re making may alert someone, so they abandon their break-in attempt.

Windows with 3M Security Window Film may take up to 2 minutes for intruders to penetrate. That’s because the strong adhesive that adheres the film to the glass holds the glass fragments together. As a result, the unexpected struggle is a strong deterrent for an intruder who thought they’d found an easy, fast way to get inside. After all, the criminal does not know that window film reinforces the window because of its high optical clarity. The additional time it takes them to gain entry gives those inside valuable time to seek help, hide, or flee.

2 – The Severe Storm

A severe storm with heavy winds is brewing. Small tree limbs and other debris fly through the air, hitting against your building’s exterior; thankfully, your windows are fortified by security window film. This added protection makes it harder for debris, tree limbs, and other items to puncture windows during the storm.

If a window breaks during a severe storm, the film helps maintain your windows’ structural integrity. It holds glass intact to minimize injury from flying shards of glass, and it helps to keep out water and debris that can damage furnishings, equipment, and inventory.

3 – The Vandal

A vandal is looking for an easy target to make a lasting impression. They pick up a rock or a bottle and throw it from afar, then run. Fortunately, your windows strengthened with security window film deflect the airborne object.

Depending on the force with which the vandal throws the object, the window’s glass may still shatter. However, the film will bond the glass fragments together to reduce the chance that the thrown object will penetrate the glass and cause injury or further property damage.

4 – The Explosion

A gas leak in the shop a few doors down from yours causes an explosion. The force of the blast breaks your neighbors’ windows, and the glass panes actually unhinge from the frames and fly into their stores, damaging inventory and injuring employees and customers. Your windows, however, remain intact. They are bolstered by 3M Safety & Security Window Film and an Impact Protection Attachment System.

Window film is so strong that it can minimize the risk of glass-related injuries and damage to your business from bombs or accidental explosions. The strong adhesive and Impact Protection Attachment System that anchors the film to the window frames work together to prevent glass spraying inside your building if explosions occur nearby.

Learn More About Safety & Security Window Film

Carolina Solar Security is a 3M™ Authorized Prestige Window Film Dealer in Wilmington, NC. We have been providing North Carolina homeowners and business owners with window tinting solutions since 1985 and never stop working to bring our customers the best products paired with the most skilled window film technicians. Reach out to us for your free quote today!

Take Care of Your Business with Safety & Security Window Film2020-11-30T16:36:51+00:00

How Window Film Can Protect Windows from Storms

2020-08-17T17:11:32+00:00

Hurricane season is underway and we are having frequent thunderstorms. We thought it was a great time to explain how window film can protect windows from storms. The official 2020 hurricane season began on June 1st, and so far it’s been a tumultuous one. Nine tropical storms formed prior to the beginning of August for the first time on record. Combine the hurricanes with the intense thunderstorms that typically occur on a regular basis during summer, and there seems to always be some kind of storm to worry about this time of the year through the fall. After all, hurricane season isn’t over until November 30th.

Can Window Film Really Protect Windows from Storms?

Not only can window film protect windows from storms, but it can also protect the people inside your home or business as well as your property and belongings. Premium window film in the 3M™ Ultra Series of Safety and Security Window Film, for example, performs much better than standard polyester films in blast and impact events. This premium film features alternating micro-layers of super-thin film and adhesive that are tear-resistant. It makes windows stronger against threats like tree limbs, flying debris, and wind.

Windows protected with premium window film hold broken shards of glass intact upon impact. This helps protect occupants inside from shards of sharp flying glass, one of the most common causes of injuries and fatalities in storms.  Premium 3M window film has a strong bond that holds glass fragments together even if a window cracks or breaks. For optimum strength, Impact Protection Attachment Systems anchor the glass and film to the window frame. This helps prevent the glass pane from dislodging and becoming airborne due to changes in pressure and strong winds. 3M™ Ultra Series of Safety and Security Window Films were tested at simulated wind speeds up to 170 mph.

Window Film Helps Protect Your Property & Belongings

It’s heartbreaking to see TV footage of people’s homes and businesses that have been damaged during storms. Sometimes they lose everything. Windows film effectively reduces storm damage by holding windows intact and in the window frame even if an object like a tree limb breaks through the glass. This helps keep water, wind, and debris out of the home or building.

While we’re not saying that window film can prevent all damage from catastrophic events, it certainly adds another layer of protection to your home or business that protects your windows and the people and belongings inside. Unlike plywood window coverings that you must scramble to install before each storm, window film provides a passive means of protection. Additionally, it’s a much more affordable option than installing high-impact glass or storm shutters. Contact Carolina Solar Security for more information about how window film can help protect against storm damage.

Carolina Solar Security is a premium 3M™ Authorized Window Film Dealer in Wilmington, NC. We have been providing North Carolina homeowners and business owners with window tinting solutions since 1985 and never stop working to bring our customers the best products paired with the most skilled window film technicians. Reach out to us for your free quote today!

How Window Film Can Protect Windows from Storms2020-08-17T17:11:32+00:00

How to Improve Home Security: 6 Simple Steps

2020-05-27T19:41:29+00:00

Improving home security may not be the most glamorous part of homeownership, but it is important. Why? Because studies show that burglaries occur every 26 seconds. So how do you make your home less appealing to a burglar? And can it be done affordably? Fortunately, the answer is yes, and we’re going to tell you how.

6 Things to Do to Improve Home Security

Here’s a helpful checklist of six budget-friendly security measures to help you improve home security. You don’t have to do everything at once. Identify which strategies are most important to you and tackle them one at a time.

1 – Secure Doors

This is at the top of the list because it’s so important and so easy to do. In a third of all burglaries, the intruder just walked in through an unlocked door. A locked door itself is a great deterrent to most burglars, so lock your doors!

We also recommend that you reinforce your doors with any or all of these low-cost improvements:

  • install a deadbolt
  • add a strike plate
  • upgrade to smart locks
  • install a video doorbell

Furthermore, if your doors have glass inlays, reinforce the glass portions of the door with safety & security window film. This makes it more difficult for the intruder to smash the glass and reach through to unlock the door from the inside. Making your home’s entry points difficult to access will deter the majority of burglars.

2 – Secure Windows

Beyond ensuring that your window locks and latches are strong, there are other measures you can take to ensure that your windows are not an easy entry point for intruders.

Install glass break sensors, plant prickly bushes under first-floor windows, and install window security film. Once the window film is applied to your windows, it adds an extra layer of protection that makes windows much harder to penetrate. Even if a window does break, the broken glass will hold together and is a major deterrent to an intruder’s entry.

Professionally installed high-quality 3M security window film and attachment systems can slow an intruder down for as long as two minutes. Remember, the bad guys want to get in quickly and quietly. Fighting to get through tear-resistant window film may be enough to deter them or alert you to their presence in time to call for help or flee the situation.

3 – Light Up the Outdoors

Criminals prefer to stay out of the spotlight. A low-cost but effective way to deter would-be intruders is by installing outdoor lighting with motion sensors near each point of entry. Make sure to replace any burned-out lightbulbs and put your porch lights on timers. These simple yet effective measures are great ways to improve home security and the safety of your loved ones.

4 – Guard Your Garage

Always keep garage doors closed — even while at home — so thieves are not able to spot items they may want to steal later. You’d be surprised how often thieves decide their targets by cruising through a neighborhood and checking out open garage doors. Lock valuable items, such as expensive bicycles and grills, with a chain and padlock. If your garage is attached to your house, reinforce those entry points as well using the tips listed above.

5 – Set Up Security Cameras

Whether you do it yourself or have them put in professionally, security cameras are an excellent deterrent to crime. They also can alert you of anything out of the ordinary that takes place or any people lurking outside of your home. Cameras with a mobile app feature allow you to see footage in real-time and store it if you need to share it with the police.

Ironically, since a criminal probably won’t know the difference, even a faux camera can be a very powerful deterrent. The same holds true of a dummy alarm or a yard sign that warns that your home is protected by a security system.

6 – Home Automation

A major way to improve home security is through home automation. This can start with an individual programmable device and gradually expand to hooking your whole home up to a smart system. That means you can control lights, appliances, heating and cooling, and security cameras remotely. You can make it look like you’re home when you’re away by opening and closing curtains, controlling lights, and turning on sprinklers from anywhere, all from your mobile phone.

Want to Learn More About How to Improve Home Security with Window Film?

A window film technician at Carolina Solar Security will consult with you and evaluate your security needs. Then they’ll help you choose the right window film as part of your home security plan while working within your budget.

Carolina Solar Security is a premium 3M™ Authorized Window Film Dealer in Wilmington, NC. We have been providing North Carolina homeowners and business owners with window tinting solutions since 1985 and never stop working to bring our customers the best products paired with the most skilled window film technicians. Reach out to us for your free quote today!

How to Improve Home Security: 6 Simple Steps2020-05-27T19:41:29+00:00

Saving Money with Window Film: Is It Really Possible?

2020-03-23T19:05:14+00:00

If you’ve heard a lot of good things about window film and are wondering if saving money with window film is possible, we have some great news for you! Yes, window film is both affordable and provides numerous benefits, many of which can add up to real savings in your wallet. In this article, we’ll cover three of the biggest cost-saving benefits of window film:

1 – Energy Savings:

This is one of the main reasons why a lot of homeowners and businesses decide to install window film. Quality window film that’s professionally installed reflects the sun’s rays in the summer to keep buildings cooler. 3M™ window films, for example, reject up to 60% of solar heat. Window film also helps with insulating windows to hold warm air inside during the winter. These features of window film can result in a significant drop in energy bills as wear and tear on your HVAC systems is reduced. According to the Department of Energy, building owners can expect to save as much as $19 kWh per square foot of glass that’s been treated with window film.

2 – Reduce Costly Damage & Theft:

It can be really expensive to protect your home or business with security systems. Window film offers an affordable alternative that makes it harder for burglars and other intruders to get in to take your belongings. 3M™ Safety & Security Window Films are designed to hold glass intact when windows are shattered. This leaves criminals faced with layers of film and broken glass that are bonded together with 3M™’s proprietary adhesive, making the window difficult to penetrate. It takes more time, effort, and noise to gain entry through windows treated with film. This serves as a deterrent for the intruder and also gives you and your family or employees more time to escape or call for help. Residential and commercial security window films also protect occupants from flying glass shards in the event of storms, natural disasters, or explosions, and holds the glass in place to reduce damage. All these things can save you money through minimized property damage and replacement costs.

3 – Save on Furnishings:

Many types of window films provide UV protection. They block a significant portion of the sun’s harmful UV rays, which reduces fading and damage to furnishings. For instance, 3M™ window films block up to 99 percent of the sun’s harmful rays. The enhanced UV protection extends the life of wood flooring, carpets, furniture, so you don’t have to replace them as frequently. This saves you money in the long run. 

Want to Learn More About Saving Money with Window Film?

Carolina Solar Security serves as a premium 3M™ Authorized Window Film Dealer in Wilmington, NC. We have been providing North Carolina homeowners and business owners with window tinting solutions since 1985. Our team never stops working to bring our customers the best products paired with the most skilled window film technicians. Reach out to us for your free quote today!

Saving Money with Window Film: Is It Really Possible?2020-03-23T19:05:14+00:00

Can Home Security Window Film Reduce the Risk of Break-Ins?

2019-07-26T18:28:28+00:00

Looking for an affordable way to make your home more secure without detracting from its appearance? Home security window film can be an excellent choice. 

Since it’s thin and nearly invisible, it may be hard to believe it can protect your home from intruders. But home security window films, specifically 3M™ Safety & Security Window Films, Safety Series for Residential, make windows significantly stronger and harder to break than windows without the film. 

What Makes 3M Safety & Security Window Films So Strong?

3M Safety & Security Window Films are very strong because of the way they are designed and the materials that are used to make them. The film’s special micro-layered polyester technology and more aggressive adhesive increase the films’ tear resistance significantly.

How Does the Window Film Reduce the Risk of Break-Ins?

Alarm systems will tell you when an intruder has broken into your home. However, window film can actually make it harder for them to get in your home in the first place. Recent testing has shown, for example, that 3M™ Security Window Films & Attachment Systems can deter intruders and increase the time it takes them to get into a home by as much as two minutes. 3M Impact Protection Attachment Systems attach to the frame of the filmed window. They then work in conjunction with the window film for premium protection.

Two minutes may not seem like a lot of time. However, it can be enough time for you or your loved ones to call for emergency help, to seek a safe spot to hide, or to leave the home. In addition, since the intruder faces resistance when trying to break-in, and because their attempts to break the glass make a lot of noise, they may become discouraged or fearful that they’ve been heard. This may cause them to abandon their plans to commit the crime altogether.

Home Security Window Films Have Other Features Too

If your windows are broken by accident or due to an act of nature, like a bad storm, 3M™ Safety & Security Window Films are designed to hold glass intact. That means that while a window may break, the glass won’t spray. This safety feature can reduce or prevent injuries to your family and pets caused by broken or flying glass shards.

3M™ Safety & Security Window Films come in styles and colors that enhance the beauty of your windows and can also be combined with other types of 3M™ film for other benefits. For instance, you can combine them with 3M™ Sun Control Films to keep your home cooler and reduce energy costs.

Carolina Solar Security serves Wilmington, NC as a premium 3M™ Authorized Window Film Dealer. We have been providing North Carolina homeowners and business owners with window tinting solutions since 1985. Our team never stops working to bring our customers the best products paired with the most skilled window film technicians. Reach out to us for your free quote today!

Can Home Security Window Film Reduce the Risk of Break-Ins?2019-07-26T18:28:28+00:00
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