So while I’m out in Greece sipping on ouzo, I thought it would only be right to talk about the conservatory window film installation we did just before I went away.
This one stuck out to me in particular, because it highlighted why I love what I do — and why I like to do things the way I do.
Walking in and knowing straight away
When I first arrived at the property, I could of course feel the heat as we stepped into the space, despite the fact it was later in the evening.
I’m pretty used to this at this point, so I knew straight away what the customer’s problems were.
As for the conservatory itself, it was pretty straightforward. All the units were toughened, other than the smaller panes, which were annealed glass — something we find a lot.
Why I test the glass instead of trusting the drawings
Now, I could have just gone in and asked for the drawings like she had. But I didn’t, because drawings can be sneaky and not tell the full picture.
So I tested the glass, identified where all the low-E coatings were, and broke down some film options for the customer.
Thermal stress, annealed glass, and an answer I didn’t expect
Once they’d chosen the film they preferred, I explained that the smaller panes would be considered a medium risk of thermal stress, because they’re annealed. That meant they’d have to sign a risk awareness form.
Their response surprised me.
They said they’d leave those ones. I thought that was strange, but I thought, why not.
“The triangles aren’t doable” — their words, not mine
Another company had told them the triangles weren’t doable, as they were too thin.
I understand where they’re coming from, but they’re also wrong, to an extent. Because we did them. And despite the fact they aren’t easy, they’re definitely possible. We just tend to price in the extra labour required to do so.
If something isn’t doable, we’ll know almost 99% of the time during the survey. If people are quoting online, they hardly know what they’re looking at most of the time until they get there.
Anyway — I gave them a price when I got back, got a date booked, bish bash bosh, we were on our way.
The film they went for: Dual Reflective 25
If you were wondering what film they went for, of course it was Dual Reflective 25. Our customers love that stuff.
The install — two days, one sore back
Monday club for the labourer, so I cracked on, because I knew it wasn’t going to get done otherwise.
It was all pretty straightforward, apart from the triangles, which always break my brain when I’m cutting the rectangles to fit them. The trims weren’t running very straight on the lower panes either, which made things harder to get looking right.
By 2pm on the second day I was extremely knackered and my back hurt. But we got it done.
The result
I’ve been able to get these conservatories looking the nuts recently. The customer thought so too, and was pretty chuffed.
Get your conservatory sorted
If you want to reduce the heat coming into your conservatory — the one you could probably slow cook a brisket in — and you’re based in Essex, Suffolk or the surrounding areas, get in contact with us to book a survey or get a free online estimate.
