Window Tinting in Ottawa

Two films, and the number on every one of them

Window tinting in Ottawa earns its keep twice a year: the film that keeps a parked car bearable in a July lot is the same film that cuts the glare off fresh snow on the Queensway in January. Wrap Senators installs window tinting at one studio on Stevenage Drive, with two films and no others, ceramic and nano ceramic. We do not stock dyed film or carbon film, and that is a decision rather than a gap. Dyed film purples, bubbles and fades in time; carbon holds out longer but loses the colour and heat rejection that ceramic keeps. A film that fails is a film we end up apologizing for, so we do not carry the ones that do.

Every film on our wall has a number, and you hear it before you choose. Visible light transmission is the share of visible light the film lets through; we give you the measured figure for every shade we carry, and you can look at both films in the shop before anything is cut. The darkness you pick is your decision. What we owe you is the number and an honest account of what each film does with heat.

Car window tinting is also one of the few upgrades that pays back on the first hot day. Both of our films block 99% of UV, which is what fades seats and greys black trim, and neither contains metal, so GPS, phone signals and satellite radio work as they did before. A quality ceramic film typically lasts 5 to 10 years, less if the vehicle lives a hard outdoor life, and it tells you when it is done: bubbling, lifting edges or a shift in colour mean replacement, not repair.

Ceramic or nano ceramic

Both films come in the five shades on the visualizer below: 70%, 50%, 35%, 20% and 5%. A 70% film reads close to factory glass from the sidewalk; 5% is the darkest we install. Read the two numbers separately. The shade sets the look and the privacy; the film sets how much heat stays outside.

Packages and prices

The table reads across by vehicle: the first column is sedans and coupes, the second is SUVs and trucks, which carry more glass and bigger panes of it. A full vehicle means every side window and the rear glass in the film you choose, cut on digital templates for your make and model. The three rows beneath are add-ons priced the same for any vehicle: the strip across the top of the windshield, a full windshield in ceramic IR film, and a sunroof.

Prices vary based on vehicle size, number of windows, and film type. Always call to confirm before you budget from this table: there is often a better price on the table than the range shown here. Reach us at 613-407-9727.

Most vehicles are in and out in 2 to 3 hours. A full vehicle with steep rear glass, the kind where the film has to be heat-shrunk to the curve before it goes on, runs to the long end of that; a pair of front doors is quicker. Drop off in the morning and drive home tinted the same day. Everything is installed at 2415 Stevenage Dr, in the same building as the person who quoted it.

Removing old tint

Old film comes off before new film goes on; we do not layer one over the other. How long removal takes depends on the age of the adhesive, which hardens with every summer, and on whether the rear glass carries defroster lines. Those lines are worked around by hand, never scraped, because a scraped grid is a broken grid. We quote removal on inspection: a corner lifted in the bay tells us more than a photo does.

Choosing a shade

The number on a film is how much visible light it lets through, so a lower number is darker: 20% lets through less than 35%, and 5% is the darkest we install. Heat rejection is a separate question, decided by the film rather than the shade, which is why a 70% nano ceramic can keep a cabin cooler than a 20% dyed film. A 70% film reads close to factory glass from outside, and it is what many drivers put on the front doors for the UV without a visible change. In the shade preview below, the windshield stays clear, because the tool is for the side and rear glass.

We do not choose for you, and we do not tell you what the law permits. Tint requirements differ by window and by province, and they change; we disclose each film's VLT and ask you to confirm the current requirements where your vehicle is registered before you pick, and the darkness you choose is your decision. That posture is written into our tint compliance note, and it is the reason we can put the number on every film without hedging.

Ottawa and Gatineau

Gatineau drivers know the pattern: cross the river for the shop, cross back with the car done. From Hull, the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge puts you on the 417 eastbound, and Stevenage Drive is a few turns off the Innes Road exit; from Aylmer, the Champlain Bridge and the Queensway do the same job from the west. It is no longer a drive than Kanata makes. Quebec-plated vehicles are welcome, and most tint jobs finish in a morning, so many Gatineau owners wait for the car or spend the hours in Ottawa. If you would rather go home, ask when you book and we arrange the ride there and back at what it costs.

What we do for Quebec drivers is no different from what we do for Ontario ones: we give you the measured light transmission of the film and leave the darkness to you. Quebec's rules on window film live with the SAAQ, and they are the SAAQ's to state, not ours. Check them for the vehicle as it is registered, pick a shade, and we will install it.

What a Tint Install Looks Like

A Tesla Model 3 in our bay: clear glass before, the film going down, the film minutes after it went on, and the shade it dries to. Our own photos, not a supplier's; the last frame is our before photo rendered with the film cured.

Before

Factory glass with nothing on it. From outside, the interior is on full display.

During the install

The film is worked against the glass by hand, squeegee pass by squeegee pass, until every drop of solution is out.

Just installed

Still wet under the film and already visibly darker. It dries to an even, factory-look finish.

Dried and done

The same angle, rendered to show the film fully cured: dark, even, and factory-look. This is the shade the car drives away with.

Why Wrap Senators for window tinting

Fleets, and light-shade UV film

Fleets, work vans and commercial vehicles are tinted on volume pricing, with the same film and the same shade across every unit so the fleet looks like one decision. Rear cargo glass on a van is also a security question: nobody prices tools they cannot see. Tell us how many vehicles you run and when they can be off the road, and we schedule around it.

The light end of either film is a product in its own right. A light shade of ceramic or nano ceramic on the front doors blocks 99% of UV and takes the edge off the heat while looking nearly untinted from outside, which is what a lot of owners want on the two windows they look through most. The rears can go darker, or match; either way you get the number for each.

Read more

We tint across the city; our window tinting across Ottawa page carries the city-wide detail. For the case for film in the first place, read what window tint does for an Ottawa car, and for the difference between our two films and the ones we left behind, ceramic versus regular tint. One clarification we make often: ceramic the film is not ceramic the coating. Ceramic coating goes on paint and sheds brine, paint protection film stops rock chips, and tint goes on glass and stops heat.

Get your tint quote