Can I ask my opposite neighbours to remove their reflective window film?

[fartotheleftside]

any time there is sunlight it just reflects directly into our house and somehow always directly into my eyes :(

would I be wrong to let them know and ask if they can find a different solution? I’ve never spoken to them

We have had these for five years or so. Really great, no issues at all.

Do you stamp your foot and cross your arms when you say "it's not fair" and "how is that fair"

I understand the issue is that putting it on the inside can cause thermal stress and the glass can crack. Might be worth letting them know that.

Just speak to the neighbours and see what they say.

I have the same problem with a neighbour’s window across the road. Up here the sun moves across the sky so the dazzle only lasts 15-20 minutes each day and only for a few weeks in the year.

If your neighbour was aware (so far they are not) and refused to do anything, you do have rights.
If the glare caused damage to your property, they would be responsible.

Nah, she'll just hold her breath until the neighbours do what she wants.

I don't think people are suggesting pull down blinds, but the kind you can tilt, so it's still light but it will stop the glare, I thought most people had those

I think you should mention it but also be conscious that this could be the worst period. It might not be as bad in winter. Even if you don’t own the garden, I’d look to get a pot with something tall in it for outside as there is a good chance you could block the light enough to stop it being an issue with planting rather than relying on blinds.

We have quite expensive thermal honeycomb pull-down blinds

We are in a first floor flat 🤦‍♀️

What you need is a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man.

I'm with you op, it's selfish. I don't have any neighbours with this but once had to follow a camper van with reflective covering against the back window. I was absolutely blinded and had to pull over and wait so I wasn't directly behind it.

Would net curtains work? That way you aren't in darkness, can still see out and they would hopefully block the lightbeam a bit?

You can speak to your neighbours, but if they refuse to remove the film as it benefits them, then you might need to consider things that you can change in your home to minimise the discomfort that this causes you.

If its concentrating the light in this way, it could actually be dangerous. Either to your eyes or to anything combustible in your room. You need them to change it,

Aww, aren't you a peachy neighbour 😁

Finally a sensibile answer. I was going to type something along the same lines but this says it perfectly

😂naw she isnae

Is it fair for them to have to have the light shine into their room all day.

I have a reflective screen on one of my windows because if I don’t it is about 10 degrees hotter in my office. Pull your blinds down and tilt them upward (not downwards) slightly, problem solved.

Have you gone over the speak to them yet?

It's going to be really hard for them to come up with a solution if they don't even know.

I’d ask nicely. And if I were the neighbour I’d look into changing the film.

Have you talked to them yet @fartotheleftside ? As a pp said, you may need to have them around to see what you mean. I am sure they will do something about it if you say the sun is blinding you because of this reflective film. I would......

How much of the day is it blinding you though? The sun moved around during the day, and it moves fairly quickly, so it can't be blinding you for that long can it? Sorry if I am wrong.

Ignore people saying 'get blinds' and net curtains! Net curtains LOL. They must think it's 1992! I haven't had nets in my house since the last century!

Well the Walkie Talkie skyscraper reflected and concentrated sunlight enough to melt cars, so I would say there’s a bit of precedent for mirrored windows causing issues. So I don’t think OP is entirely being unreasonable.

Is there an issue with security cameras (perhaps another neighbour has them) and the film is for privacy? There is another thread on here atm started by someone annoyed that cameras are pointing at her windows, and the film has been mentioned as a solution. Unfortunately, as these cameras proliferate, neighbours aren't happy with being caught up in the surveillance.

I was going to mention that too, if the neighbour is aware of the fire risk they might have liability. However the issue was the curved facade in that case.

To the OP I would say that due to the change of the sun's angle throughout the year, it will probably not be at eye level for many more days, and by August it will be fine. So if the neighbours don't change anything it'll be fine soon anyway.

We get random dazzling light from windows opposite end even cars parked outside sometimes, luckily it's only a short time but it's weird when the room lights up and you look out and it's the windscreen of a lorry delivering a skip or something!