Garage Door Window Tinting Alternatives (Lowes, windows, curtains, paint)

[Solere]

I have a common tract house garage door with six small 17"x14" windows that already have some sort of a black factory tint to them. I would like to somehow apply a product that would block people from going up to the window and looking inside, while also being sort of "invisible" to the HOA tattletales. What is a clever alternative to window tint in this situation?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Happs

garage door with... black factory tint to them.
...would block people from going up to the window and looking inside
while also being sort of "invisible" to the HOA tattletales.

Paint will do it.
Something solid hung in front of them (sheet rubber? sheet metal?) will do it.

[blazerj]

Put up little curtains on them or blinds. Surely that can't be against any rules.

[luv4horses]

There are non-adhesive window coating films that you can apply to the insides of the windows, perhaps a frosted pattern. They are available at places like HD and Lowes. Easy to apply and easy to remove if necessary.

[HWTechGuy]

I'd just add more tint... Get some of that mirrored tint film. It'll go on the inside of the glass, so the HOA snoops wouldn't really be able to tell.

[rrtechno]

There are liquid "frost" coatings that go on the inside. You can swirl,dab, or streak to whatever your heart desires. Our son did it on the windows to his garage that he converted to an office and they came out very nice.

[KittenSparkles]

You can buy Privacy Window Film - here is one site among many that sells it- Privacy Window Film from Window Film and More.com

When I lived in an apartment years ago that had a window facing the parking lot, I used this ... it worked out great.

[mkarch]

"clear" contact paper. It's cheap, easy to apply and makes it impossible to see through the window while still letting most of the light through.

[goldengrain]

Originally Posted by mkarch

"clear" contact paper. It's cheap, easy to apply and makes it impossible to see through the window while still letting most of the light through.

I tried this, but over time it started peeling off at the corners but the rest was very hard to remove. I think the sun melted the glue so it bonded with the window (almost).

I would go with spraying some sort of coating on the inside of the windows. If they look black from the sidewalk while walking by I would do black paint.

I have also used the frosted spray on which makes windows look acid etched. I like the look, but you might notice, from the street view, that the windows look different from your neighbors.

I think paint would be easier to scrape off if you had to.

[rrtechno]

I know they aren't all like this, but this is the reason we told the realtor helping us look for a house that we weren't interested if there was an HOA.