We fit window film to the flats, timber and masonry houses, detached houses and small commercial premises of Zasulauks - a Pārdaugava neighbourhood by the railway, between Āgenskalns and Imanta. We come from another part of Riga, and measuring and quoting are free. Prices from €25/m², film and labour together.
Here the order is almost always about one flat or one house. Not about six identical flats in a single stairwell, not about a whole façade - about the two or three windows you can't sit near in the afternoon, or the one pane people look through from the footpath. Zasulauks is a small neighbourhood with no uniform housing estate, and that scale governs almost everything else: how we plan the time, how we work out the figure, and why the €75 minimum order is a question it is only fair to raise in the very first conversation rather than after the work.
The work itself is straightforward. We apply the film to the glass already there - the window stays where it is, the frame isn't touched, and a typical flat is completed in a single visit. Three things change: the room gets cooler, the dazzling brightness goes, or nobody can see in from outside any more. In Zasulauks all three are often needed at once, just on different windows within the same flat - and that is precisely why, when measuring, we go through each window separately rather than picking one film for the whole house.
The building stock here isn't from one era: on one street you'll find a pre-war timber house, a masonry tenement, a later block of flats and a detached house. Behind us are 15 years and more than 400 completed properties in Riga and within a 50 km radius, so the difference between a thin pane in an old window and a large terrace glazing panel doesn't surprise us. Measuring and quoting are free, and we don't charge a call-out within Riga. The price covers both film and labour - from €25/m², excl. VAT, with a €75 minimum order. We have no office or branch in the neighbourhood; we come from another part of the city, and with the railway in between, the shortest route on the map isn't always the right one.
In a small neighbourhood most orders are small, and that is worth discussing before the work rather than after it.
The minimum order is €75. At a base price from €25/m² that means roughly three square metres of glass. Two medium-sized room windows usually clear that threshold. One small kitchen or bathroom window doesn't always. In the large housing estates this question almost never arises, because there people order a whole flat, or several flats one after another, at once. In Zasulauks it comes up regularly, and we say so openly in the first conversation.
In practice there are two sensible ways to deal with it. The first is to combine windows into one order. If you are already having the bathroom pane frosted, it is worth deciding at the same time about that bedroom window you can't sleep behind on summer mornings. The second is to have a word with a neighbour. Two flats in one stairwell, or two adjoining houses on one street, are a single visit, and we prepare a separate quote for each.
Neither of these is compulsory. If you only need one window, we'll do it - the sum will simply be €75 anyway, and you'll know that in advance. The full price list is on the prices page.
One street can hold a pre-war timber house, a masonry tenement, a later block of flats and a detached house. In each of them a window behaves differently.
In the oldest Zasulauks stock the windows tend to be divided into several panes, with original timber frames and thin, in places slightly uneven glass. It isn't difficult work, but it is slow work: every pane is measured separately, the film cut separately, and water with cleaning fluid mustn't run into the joints of the timber frame. In the quote that shows up as a high pane count against a relatively modest total area - which is exactly why, on properties like these, the area in m² and the working time don't line up the way you'd expect.
In houses like this we generally don't recommend a strongly mirrored film across the whole street façade. On an old timber house a mirror effect on the street side looks alien, and in many cases frosted film on just those panes where privacy is genuinely needed is enough.
In blocks of flats the briefs are closer to the everyday: an overheating south- or west-facing room, sun falling directly on the television and computer screen, faded furniture, and ground-floor windows that passers-by look into. The top floors under a flat roof warm up more than the rest, and there heat rejection film makes the most noticeable difference.
Where the windows are relatively small, a dark film makes the room gloomy - especially in winter, when Riga has little daylight to spare. In practice a lighter film with higher light transmission gives the better result in such cases. That is decided at the window, during the survey, by holding a sample against the glass.
If the building has a managing agent or an owners' association, it is worth checking whether there are any restrictions on altering the appearance of the façade before choosing a strongly reflective film. That applies across Riga, not just to this neighbourhood.
In private houses the planes of glass are larger, there is often a glazed terrace or roof windows, and trees grow around the house whose shade shifts through the year. In spring, while the leaves are not yet out, a south-facing window takes far more direct sun than it does in July. So during the survey we generally don't propose one and the same film for the whole house - one solution for the sunniest planes, and often none at all for the north side.
Along the main streets there are small shops, offices and local service premises with shopfronts and glazed doors. There the most common briefs are two: reduce the solar load on stock and screens, and decide how much of the interior is visible from the pavement. A partly frosted band across the lower part of the shopfront often solves both without closing the display window entirely. Logos and printed graphics on glass are quoted individually.
The railway line with Zasulauks station runs through the neighbourhood and effectively divides it in two. That changes two things in our work: how we reach the address, and what happens with the windows facing the tracks.
Access. You can only get across the tracks in certain places, so the most direct route on the map is rarely the right route. Kalnciema iela and Jūrmalas gatve are the main approaches by which we enter the neighbourhood, but the last hundred metres are usually along a smaller street or through a courtyard. We bring rolls of film, a water container and tools that have to be carried by hand, so it helps to say in the enquiry which side the entrance is on, whether the courtyard is closed off and how close to the building we can pull in. Two minutes of explanation beforehand saves a quarter of an hour on site.
Windows facing the tracks. Here it matters to say what film does not do. It does not stop noise - it is a thin layer on the glass, and it doesn't change sound insulation. If train noise is the main problem, film is not the right answer, and we say so straight away.
What film does change is two other things. First, the view - on lower-floor windows facing a platform, a footpath or a level crossing, frosted or reflective film restores the sense that the room is enclosed. Second, the strength of the glass: safety film holds the shards together if the glass is broken, which is why it is sometimes chosen for ground-floor windows and for door glazing along a corridor. The third, less obvious point - along the railway and the main roads the glass gets dirty faster, so preparation before fitting takes longer on such properties than in a quiet courtyard.
The most common answer for flats with south- and west-facing windows. Reduces heat and brightness at once while keeping the view out.
For top floors under a flat roof, glazed terraces and roof windows in private houses, where the main problem is temperature.
For bathrooms, stairwell windows and individual panes facing a footpath or a neighbour. The light stays, the view through does not.
For daytime privacy on the lower floors by the street or a pedestrian route. At night, with the lights on inside, the effect reverses.
For ground-floor windows, door glazing and small shopfronts. Holds the shards of glass together if the glass is broken.
For parquet, timber finishes and fabrics in older houses, and for rooms where the furniture sits right beside a sunny window.
If it isn't clear which option is the right one, there is nothing to decide in advance. We usually bring samples to the survey and hold them against the actual glass - one and the same film looks noticeably different on a large detached-house window and on a finely divided old pane. There are also fully opaque films and decorative films with a pattern, if you want appearance as well as function. Prices for every type are collected on the prices page.
1. Enquiry. Fill in the form with the street, the type of property and the main problem. If the windows face the tracks, or the house is an old timber building, mention it straight away - it changes what we recommend.
2. A call within 5 minutes. We get in touch and talk the situation through. Often that conversation alone makes clear which type of film is the right one, roughly what it will cost, and whether the volume reaches the minimum order.
3. Free on-site measuring. We come out, measure every pane, look at the frames and the access, and show you samples. This step often also settles which windows need no film at all.
4. A fixed price. The quote covers film and labour together, excl. VAT. The price doesn't change afterwards as long as the scope of work doesn't.
5. Installation. A typical flat is finished in a day, often by lunchtime. We wash the glass, cut the film on site, protect sills and floors, and clear everything away behind us. The film takes a few days to dry out fully - during that time you may see slight haziness on the glass, and that is normal.
Tell us the street, the type of property and the main problem - heat, glare or privacy. We'll call you and talk you through the quote.
Zasulauks is a neighbourhood many people drive through rather than drive to. That means the main approaches - Kalnciema iela and Jūrmalas gatve - can be slow at the busiest hours of the day, while the residential blocks behind them are quiet and clear. Driving times in Riga depend on the time of day, on roadworks and on the specific address, so we don't promise arrival at a given minute - we agree the time on the phone and let you know if anything changes.
Pulling up at the building tends to be easier than in the centre, but the courtyards here vary: some open, some gated, some reachable only from one side because of the railway. We carry materials by hand, so it helps us to know the floor, whether there is a lift and whether someone will let us in.
If the job is in an old house with stairs and no lift, that is no obstacle - just say so in advance and we'll plan the time accordingly.
Most people remember solar film in June, when the room is already hot. That is understandable, but not the best time: in spring and autumn the diary is freer and the work can be scheduled within a few days. Privacy jobs - frosted panes, ground-floor windows - aren't seasonal at all and can be done at any time of year.
If there is already old film on the glass, yellowing, bubbling or tearing at the edges, we remove it separately before applying the new one. In older flats that is a common enough situation, and during the survey we tell you at once how much of the old film has to come off and how that affects the total.
See also all the Riga neighbourhoods, the service area and the list of film services.
The most typical jobs in mixed-age building stock by the railway, with starting prices.
The price includes both the film and the labour. Prices are excl. VAT, with a €75 minimum order. Measuring and quoting in Zasulauks are free. The full price list is on the prices page.
Zasulauks is a small neighbourhood, and it borders several other areas on the left bank of the Daugava. In the same direction we also work in Āgenskalns, Dzirciems, Imanta and Šampēteris, as well as Torņakalns and Iļģuciems. We have no branch in any of them - they are simply part of the area we cover and drive out to.
In practical terms that means we often schedule several properties close together on the same day. If you have two properties in different Pārdaugava neighbourhoods, or if you have talked about the work with a neighbour from the next street, they can be submitted in one form and scheduled as a single visit. The full list is on the service area page.
It is, with one caveat. The minimum order is €75, and at a price from €25/m² that means roughly three square metres of glass. Two medium-sized windows usually reach it; one small kitchen window doesn't always. In Zasulauks most enquiries are about exactly one flat or one house, so we say this openly during the phone call rather than leaving it as a surprise on the invoice. If the volume is smaller, the sum is still calculated as €75.
Yes, and in a neighbourhood like this it is one of the most sensible things to do. If two or three flats in one stairwell book a single visit, the minimum order stops being a question and we work without breaks, because the tools and materials are already on site. In that case we can prepare a separate quote for each flat. One form is enough, with one contact person and a note in the description saying how many flats are involved.
Partly, and it is only fair to say what it doesn't do. Film does not stop noise - it is a thin layer on the glass and doesn't change sound insulation. What it does change is the view and the strength of the glass. On first- and second-floor windows facing the tracks, frosted or reflective film takes away the feeling that the room is open to the footpath and the platform. Safety film, meanwhile, holds the shards together if the glass is broken, which is why it is sometimes chosen for lower-floor windows and door glazing.
With your help. The railway line divides the neighbourhood, and you can only cross from one side to the other in certain places, so the shortest route on the map isn't always the right route. In the enquiry it helps to say which side of the street the entrance is on, whether the courtyard is closed off by gates and whether someone will be there to meet us. We don't arrive empty-handed - we bring rolls of film, water and tools, so a couple of minutes of explanation beforehand saves a quarter of an hour on site.
In most cases it can, but it has to be decided at the window itself. In the older timber and masonry houses of Pārdaugava the glass tends to be thin and slightly uneven, the panes divided, and the paint on the frame soft or flaking in places. During the survey we check the condition of the glass and how much room there is up to the edge of the frame. Windows like these are priced pane by pane and the work goes more slowly than on one large plane of glass. If film isn't advisable on a particular window, we say so before the work.
Usually one day, often just half a day. A typical two- or three-room flat with four to six windows is completed in a single visit. Older houses with finely divided panes take longer, as do properties where old, yellowed film has to be removed first. After fitting, the film takes a few days to dry out fully - during that time you may see slight haziness or tiny water bubbles on the glass, and that is normal.
Describe the situation in the form - we'll recommend the most suitable film and get in touch with a quote.
We have received your enquiry and will prepare a quote. We will call you on the phone number you provided.
