How do you seal your window?

[jcsmooth]

Hi all,

I've got a new project coming up and have decided that I want to seal up my window and make things as stealthy as possible. I have basic curtains up at the moment, but wanting to open my cabinets at night makes me a bit nervous because I know the room lights up and people outside can see it through the curtains.

My question is how do you seal up your window?
From the outside I want it to look plain and normal, so I think to start with I would get standard aluminum blinds. Something with a drawstring that moves them up and down. I'd put these as flush as possible to the window, and keep them "closed" all the time. On the inside of this I was thinking of just taping up some black garbage bags, making things pretty light proof. On the inside of the room, I'd put my standard curtains that I have up right now, making those in the room unaware that the window has anything suspicious on it.

What do you think? I'm obviously looking for something cheap and temporary as I'm moving out in 6 months or so.
In the summer time I'd like to put an ac in the window, so I'd just pull the blinds up to accommodate for the ac.

Thanks in advance,
JC

 

[jtwisted13]

my set up.... vertical blinds facing the outside world.... black contractors garbage bag cut to fit window (really thick plastic) taped with black duct tape... then another curtain hiding the bag....

no light outside...

 

[MTF-Sandman]

I did miniblinds next to window, 1" styrofoam board cut to the size of the window and then panda over it all sealed to the walls around the window with foil tape. 100% light proof and it provides a fair amount of insulation to possible IR scans.

 

[BrainOGrefuGee]

bump...how does it look from the outside?

 

[Guest]

carpet..roll it up in the summer

Hi all,

I've got a new project coming up and have decided that I want to seal up my window and make things as stealthy as possible. I have basic curtains up at the moment, but wanting to open my cabinets at night makes me a bit nervous because I know the room lights up and people outside can see it through the curtains.

My question is how do you seal up your window?
From the outside I want it to look plain and normal, so I think to start with I would get standard aluminum blinds. Something with a drawstring that moves them up and down. I'd put these as flush as possible to the window, and keep them "closed" all the time. On the inside of this I was thinking of just taping up some black garbage bags, making things pretty light proof. On the inside of the room, I'd put my standard curtains that I have up right now, making those in the room unaware that the window has anything suspicious on it.

What do you think? I'm obviously looking for something cheap and temporary as I'm moving out in 6 months or so.
In the summer time I'd like to put an ac in the window, so I'd just pull the blinds up to accommodate for the ac.

Thanks in advance,
JC

 

[MTF-Sandman]

bump...how does it look from the outside?

Like a window with mini-blinds

The white side of the styrofoam board is behind the blinds, so it doesn't give any shadows or look out of place in any way. I'd take a pic of it, but that house is about 700 miles away from me (plus the owner might not appreciate it :wink It looks totally normal from the outside tho...

 

[Guest]

Dont use metal blinds!The humid and temps eventually will mishape them use plasic blinds.I use the black plastic available at home depot in the painting section to cover the inside of the window.Use silver tape not duct tape!It'll hold so much better and much longerEDIT Silver tape is also called foil tape and is used in ductwork

 

[Guest]

I do the same exact thing as sandman except I use those really nice wooden blinds from the home de pot.. its pricey but they make your window look good

 

[Japanfreakier]

I don't know if they have them where you live, but I use truck tarps. They are made out of heavy rubber and are made to keep rain out of the backs. They are cheap and light proof and are excellent for windows that are not flat difficult to work with.

 

[jcsmooth]

Hi Japan,

I do own exactly what you're talking about right now
Thank you for the suggestion.
I'm going to have to purchase a set of "dummy blinds" to use them as a first layer. My second will be a lightproof layer (tarp, white poly, cut wood, etc.). Third layer will be the inside of the apartment, and will have hanging curtains.

Sound good to you? Glad to hear about everyone else's success

JC