Monday, February 28, 2011

How To: frost a window and add an angle door viewer

I was going to title this post How To: frost a window and add a peep hole, but I thought that sounded a little bit creepy. Like I was some weirdo teaching you to install a peep hole in the boys/girls locker room. Don't worry friends we aint that kind of blog!!!

Isn't that what its called though? A peep hole in the door? Well apparently, according to the package, its called an angle door viewer...but I digress. We have been living with our door looking like this for the past 3 1/2 years


It was supposed to be a temporary fix. When you come down the stairs you pass the door, and for the sake of everyone passing by, we felt like we needed to cover the window. So we were going to order a new window pane for the door, when we came across the window frosting at Lowes. It was only $18.00 and comes with 6 ft of window frosting! All you do is unroll the window frosting, measure it to fit your window, and cut it 1 inch larger than your window on each side.


One you have cut out your piece of window frosting you are ready to attach it to the window. Note: Clean your window before you apply the frosting!
You don't want to have all the dirt trapped between the window and the film for all to see!

Now I am sure you could just use water, a credit card and a razor blade to apply the frosting to the window, but for $8.00 we just bought the kit.


Here is a little trick that we learned. The backing on the film is almost impossible to get off! I am sure it probably gives you directions on how to get it off in the instructions, but we just used tape. Simply place tape on both sides of the film and pull in opposite directions. Viola! You are now able to separate the 2 sides


Next, spray the back of the film with your solution, and also spray the window you are applying it to. We learned that if you get too much liquid on the window the film will slide all over and it will be difficult to get it in the right place.


You then use a credit card, or the included tool, to get all of the air bubbles out. Start in the middle and work your way to the edges.


Next you will need your cutting tool. Use your credit card as a guide, and cut off the excess film, so that it fits to the exact size of your window. The corners can be a little tricky! So, grab a pair of scissors and cut off the loose pieces on the sides before you get to the corners.


Congratulations! You now have a frosted window, and now the neighbors will not be able to see you walking by in your underwear!

Victory!

until you realize that you now can't tell who is at the door...am I the only one who likes to see who is there before I open the door? Now it is time to add your peep hole angle door viewer. We found ours, again at Lowes, for $5.00


Next you need to decided where to place the hole. We just marked on the door with a pencil. The problem was that Tyler is very tall, and he thought that it should be much higher than I thought it should be. See the top mark? I couldn't even reach it on my tip toes. Tylers suggestion was why don't you just get a step stool? Seriously? No I am sorry my friend you are going to have to bend down a bit. We settle on the lower line, which btw I still have to stand on my tip toes to see out.


Next you grab your 1/2 inch drill bit and make a hole.

Note: make sure to keep the bit level when drilling. Otherwise you may be stuck viewing your visitors shoes instead of their face.


Last step is to screw the two pieces of the viewer together in place, and you are finished!


Here is our new and improved door...


I like that the light is still able to shine through, and that nobody can see in. I have been debating about whether or not to paint the inside of the door black...the jury is still out on that one!

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