We fit window film to the blocks of flats, new-development apartments, offices and retail premises of Zolitūde. The most common reason here is the low evening sun from the west, which drives straight in through the window and heats the room not at midday but in the evening. Measuring and quoting are free, with prices from €25/m² - film and labour together.
At around six on a summer evening the sun in Zolitūde is no longer shining from above - it stands low over the open ground to the west and comes in through the window almost horizontally, right across the room to the far wall. That is the moment most people here pick up the phone. Not at midday, when the steep rays mostly stay on the sill, but in the evening, when the light falls exactly at eye level and exactly on the screen. Blinds deal badly with that angle: to stop it they have to be closed completely, and then the room is dark at an hour when it is still fully light outside.
Film works somewhere else - on the glass itself, before the heat and the brightness reach the room at all, and the window stays see-through. We apply it to the existing architectural glass: windows aren't replaced, frames aren't taken out, and a typical flat is completed in a single visit. The window openings in Zolitūde's later building stock are often wider than in the older quarters on the east side of the city, with one larger plane of glass per room, and that works in the job's favour - fewer joins and a more even result across the whole opening.
Measuring and quoting are free. Prices start from €25/m², covering both film and labour; prices are excl. VAT, with a €75 minimum order. We work on flats, new-development glazing, offices, shops, salons, clinics and educational premises - anywhere there is architectural glass. Behind us are 15 years and more than 400 completed properties. We have no office or branch in the neighbourhood; we drive out from another part of Riga along Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve. If there is already old, yellowed or bubbling film on the glass, we remove it as separate work - in system-built blocks that comes up regularly, because some of the flats were tinted many years ago.
Zolitūde is one of the later large housing estates built in Pārdaugava, and that shows both in the buildings and in the way the sun falls on them.
The backbone of the neighbourhood is its Soviet-period housing estates, but these were built later than the 1960s and 1970s districts on the eastern side of the city. In practice that means the window openings and the way the frames are divided aren't quite the same. The opening is often wider, the division simpler, and a room may have one larger plane of glass rather than several narrow ones. For film work that is an advantage: fewer joins, less offcut and a more even result across the whole opening.
At the same time, it has to be said honestly that nothing can be assumed. Blocks of different series can stand side by side within one quarter, and in some flats the windows have already been replaced with PVC double-glazed units with an entirely different reveal depth and a different distance to the glazing bead. So we measure every pane individually rather than working from the building series.
Alongside the older stock there are also newer developments with larger glazing, and retail and public buildings with shopfronts. Those are the technically simplest jobs, and it is precisely there that film makes the greatest measurable difference, because the area of glass per room is far larger.
The neighbourhood sits on the western edge of the city, and some of the buildings have no dense, tall development in front of them on the west side - beyond lies more open ground towards the railway and the airport. That means the sun's path in the afternoon and evening is long and unobstructed. No neighbouring building blocks the western sun, and it shines right through to sunset.
A low sun behaves quite differently from a midday one. When the sun is high, the rays come into the room steeply, and part of them is held back by the window reveal and the sill. In the evening the sun comes in almost horizontally - straight through the window, across the whole room, to the far wall. That is why in Zolitūde the complaint is most often not “it's too hot at midday” but “from five in the evening you can't be in the room”.
It also creates a second, less obvious effect. The low sun falls exactly at eye level and exactly on screens. Many enquiries come from people who work from home, or whose television sits opposite a west-facing window - there the nuisance isn't the temperature but the glare.
Against a high sun, screening works well - tilt the slats and the rays are caught. Against a low evening sun it works badly. To stop an almost horizontal ray the screen has to be closed completely, and then the room is dark, the view out is gone, and the lights go on at exactly the hour when it is still light outside. What's more, a curtain or roller shade sits on the inside of the glass: the heat has already entered the room and is simply accumulating between the fabric and the glass. Film works on the glass itself, before the heat reaches the room, and the window stays see-through. This is one of the rare situations where film has a clear practical advantage rather than being a question of appearance.
Ground-floor windows in blocks of flats look onto courtyard paths, playgrounds and parking areas, so there the main question is privacy, not heat. In flats like these we usually fit mirror film for daytime privacy, or frosted film on specific panes such as the kitchen and bathroom windows. The top floors under a flat roof are the opposite end: there the heat comes both through the window and from the roof side, and on a summer evening the difference between the ground floor and the top floor is easy to feel. Film removes the part that comes in through the glass, and that is what we promise - no more.
The most common order for west- and south-west-facing windows. Reduces evening heat and glare at once while keeping the view out.
For top floors under a flat roof and large planes of glass in the newer developments, where the main complaint is temperature.
For ground floors facing a courtyard path or a playground. Nobody can see in during the day; at night, with the lights on inside, the effect reverses.
For bathroom and kitchen panes, stairwell windows and glass office partitions. The light stays, the view through does not.
When the western sun falls every evening on the same arm of the sofa, the same parquet or the same bookcase. Helps reduce fading.
For ground-floor windows, shopfronts and entrance-door glazing. Holds the shards together if the glass is broken.
If it isn't clear in advance which option suits, it doesn't have to be decided over the phone. We usually bring samples to the survey and hold them against the actual glass. In Zolitūde the best time to do that is the afternoon, when the sun is already low - you can then see immediately how much brightness each option takes away and whether the room becomes too dark. Prices for every type are collected on the prices page, and there is a comparison of film types in the services section.
1. Enquiry. Fill in the form. In Zolitūde the most useful details are the floor, which way the windows face and what exactly is the nuisance - evening heat, glare on a screen, or the view in from the courtyard side.
2. A call within 5 minutes. We get in touch and talk the situation through. Often the conversation alone makes clear which type of film is the right one and roughly what it will cost.
3. Free on-site measuring. We come out, measure every pane, look at the frames, the floor and the access, and show you samples. This step often also settles which windows need no film at all - on a north-facing window it usually does nothing.
4. A fixed price. The quote covers film and labour together, excl. VAT. If the scope of work doesn't change, the price doesn't change afterwards either.
5. Installation. A typical flat is finished in a day, often in a few hours. We wash the glass, cut the film on site, cover the sills and floors, and clear everything away behind us. Full drying takes a few days - during that time there may be slight haziness on the glass, and that is normal.
Tell us the address, the floor and the main problem - evening sun, glare or privacy. We'll call you and talk you through the quote.
Zolitūde is within Riga, and the main approach is Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve and the roads towards the airport. Driving times across the city depend on the time of day, on roadworks and on the specific address, so we don't promise an hour in advance; we agree a time window we can keep to. In the morning and evening hours the traffic in this direction is heavier than in the middle of the day, and we allow for that when planning.
In blocks of flats the practical questions are always the same: which floor, whether there is a lift, how the stairwell door is opened, and where we can stop to unload materials. We carry everything by hand, so this information in the enquiry saves time on both sides. There is usually enough room in the courtyards to pull in briefly, though less at midday than in the evening.
Work in a flat doesn't require an empty room. It is enough to clear the sill and a strip about a metre wide by the window. Furniture standing closer we either move aside or cover. If there are windows in several rooms, we work through them one at a time so the flat isn't upended all day.
In a system-built block it is usually not one flat that is in the same position but the entire west-facing vertical stack. If several neighbours are thinking about film, it pays to do it all at once. We handle several flats in one visit, measure them one after another, and everyone gets the same film - which means the façade looks uniform from outside rather than patchy. Uniformity in a block of flats is a genuine argument, because differently tinted windows on one façade are noticed immediately.
In practice it also settles the question of the €75 minimum order. One small kitchen window may not reach it, but three or four flats exceed it without effort. One form is enough, with a note saying how many flats are involved and who the contact is.
The same applies to office space and shops in the neighbourhood's retail properties: where the area of glass is large, the work can be split across days or by sides of the façade so the space keeps running. See also the Riga page and the whole service area.
The most typical jobs in west-facing blocks of flats, 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 Zolitūde are free. The full price list is on the prices page.
Zolitūde borders several Pārdaugava neighbourhoods, and we often plan a trip out to this side of the city together with the nearest properties. In the same direction we work in Imanta, Šampēteris, Zasulauks and around Beberbeķi, as well as further along Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve towards Mārupe. None of these places is our office or a branch - they are all call-outs.
If you have several properties in different places - a flat in Zolitūde and an office elsewhere in Riga, say - they can be submitted in one form and scheduled as a single job with two visits. The other neighbourhoods and towns are on the service area page, and Riga as a whole is on the Riga window tinting page.
Because the neighbourhood sits on the western edge of the city and many buildings have no dense, tall development in front of them on the west side. At midday the sun is high and its rays come into the room steeply - the window reveal and the sill hold part of it back. In the evening the sun drops low and drives straight in through the window, right across the room to the far wall. It is this low, long light that heats a flat the most and makes a screen hard to look at. Film works on the glass itself, so it deals with that angle better than any screening inside the room.
With a low evening sun, usually it does. Blinds and roller shades are designed for light falling from above, and against a low sun they have to be closed almost completely - at which point the room is dark, the view out is gone, and the glass still warms up and heats the room. Film stops part of the heat and brightness at the glass itself, and the window stays see-through. Quite often the outcome is that the blinds stay open all summer.
It can, and that is exactly why we don't offer it as the default. In Soviet-era system-built blocks the window openings are fairly small, and there is little daylight here in winter. Put a very dark film on a window like that and the heat drops, but the flat is gloomy for nine months of the year. In practice we more often choose a lighter film with higher light transmission and fit it only on the west- and south-west-facing windows, leaving the rest as they are.
It has no bearing at all on the question of heat and light, and it is only fair to say so: film is not sound insulation and it does not reduce noise. The effect is different and practical. First, the surroundings are more open, so on the west side the sun's path is long and unobstructed. Second, along the larger roads road dust builds up on the glass faster, so we allow more time for washing before the film goes on - film doesn't adhere well to dirty glass.
We carry materials and tools by hand, so before the visit we establish the floor and whether the stairwell has a lift. If there is no lift, that is no problem - we simply need to know beforehand so the time is planned properly. The top floors under a flat roof are usually where the heat is felt most, because it comes both through the window and from the roof side. There, film helps to reduce the part that comes in through the glass.
Yes, and in a block of flats that is the best-value option. In a single visit we can do several flats in one stairwell, and the façade looks uniform because everyone gets the same film. Several flats together also comfortably exceed the €75 minimum order, which one small window doesn't always manage. One form is enough, with a note saying how many flats are involved.
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.
