Exterior Alternatives Inc

See above <br />

Howard Hampton -Exterior Alternatives quoted us for a repair for about 7 window sills or sashes.  He was booked about a month out.  He said it would be a 3 day job which he would schedule for Fri, April 27, Sat April 28, and Mon April 30th.  He showed up on Fri April 30th.  Upon leaving I gave him a 50% deposit.  He agreed to return Sat or Mon depending on rain. He did not show up again until 3 weeks later on May 18th.   Before getting him to return, I had called him over 10 times and advised  I would be contacted the BBB, Angies List and the Attorney General if  the work was not completed.  He worked on the 18th and returned for a few hours on Sat, the 19th, at which time I paid him another large payment.  There were still 2 windows remaining to be fixed.  Again I have called over 10 times.  It is now July 2nd and 6 weeks since his last visit.  While his work may be good, the service level is horrible.  This should have been a 3 day job.  It has now been 9 weeks since the job was started and  still not complete.

I contacted them back in September and then spent a lot of time tracking them down to get them to show up. Most of the work went pretty well, but then the last project, the exterior painting, is still incomplete due to so many issues. I wrote a check on October 14 and they came back the next day, but were not able to address all of the agreed upon issues. I tried to get a hold of them again once the spring came around. He asked me to wait another month and a week. I have an email documenting them saying that the peeling paint would be taken care of on April 17th. He said that they would do whatever it takes to fix whatever the problem may be. He said in an email on April 24 that he contacted the manufacturer of the paint who suggested that it may have rained (it actually did not rain after the paint job) and that he would take care of it regardless of the reason for the peeling paint, but I have not heard back since. <br /> <br /> The quality of the window work appears to be pretty good, however, I would never hire this company for a painting job. Obviously we are very disappointed and frustrated this this experience and would not recommend this company. <br />

I paid Exterior Alternatives $2350.00 for materials to do the job.  This was one half down.  After they cashed the check on April 23rd, they returned to work that day, and that was the last time I saw them until, May 17th.  They have left siding off of my house and my house exposed to the weather for approximately 3 weeks.  Out of the blue, they returned and finished the carpendry portion of the job.  Due to their unresponsiveness during the previous three weeks I elected not to have them paint my house and I hired another contractor to finish the job. <br /> <br /> Their window replacement work was fine.  I was very surprised at the quality of that portion of the job.  If you use this company, do not pay them any money down.

I received a mailer about wood repair which looked interesting.  Exterior Alternatives was replacing rotted wood with composite material.  Prices seemed reasonable.  I researched them on Angies list and they had a few negative remarks.   Most were pretty positve. However I did not see the open dispute which is very simlar to the kind of experience I am having with Exterior Alternatives.  <br /> <br /> Howard came out and inspected the property.  He knows windows and identified several items.  His offer sounded quite good.  I do things right, warranty my work, cleaup, paint the windows inside and out as well, only request payment when you are totally satisfied.  He would be hands-on.  Anyway I signed up. Initial work was qouted at around 4000 and included painting the wood part of our exterior home as well as the window work.  <br /> <br /> He and his team came out and started the next week.  First off, he basically doubled the amount of damage to an estimate of around 8500.  Now I get once you dig in you find more, but this guy knows windows.  You need to assume they will find 50-100 more once the work starts.  But I didnt want buy new windows, so we went forward.  <br /> <br /> What became increasing clear as the job progressed was that Howard could not manage this job and other jobs.  He was swapping people, not communicating what was going on.  Not on-site at all.  He was doing the very things he said he did not do.  The quality of the work they did I think was pretty good.  But in my opinion, they did take shortcuts on certain sashes as they were having a hard time completing the window repair portion of this job.  When I asked one part of the sash was not replaced, Howard stated I will warranty the whole window.   He doesn't return phone calls, so I think that warranty is worth nothing.  All the real cool stuff he said he would do during the sales process in the end starting going out the door.  He pretty much would say yes to everything when I reminded him and then just not do it.  <br /> <br /> Anyway we did a walk thru once most of the window repair work was complete.  There were several open items, which I reviewed with Howard and his brother.  we agreed these would be taken care of.      <br /> - paint samples, for 2-3 weeks he promised to bring by 2 or 3 samples and has taken my old paint cans (which he still has). <br /> - painting of the actual windows <br /> - a window lock needs to be replaced <br /> - basement slider needed to be adjusted to close fully <br /> - Front custom window to be replaced <br /> - Basement window pane to be replaced <br /> <br /> The date of this conversation was March 29th.  He was to leave a man behind to paint the windows themselves, so they would not be exposed to the weather and then finish the remainder of the tasks I mentioned above as well as paint the whole house during the week of April 16th.  This a time we mutually agreed on in person.  Based on this agreement I wrote him a check for 6200 of the 8500 <br /> <br /> Anyway April 12 or so we havent heard from Howard, (there was no man left behind to paint our windows) so we place several calls to him to make sure we are on schedule for finishing the next week.  Week of April 16th comes and no Howard.  I call his cell phone about ten times that week.  I receive no response, until I text him on that saturday asking if he does want this work and letting him know I am going to put in my review with Angies list.  His brother responds to his text on his phone and says Howards father in law died and he is out of town, please wait till he gets back..  He is managing his phone.  I give him the benefit of the doubt, although I really at this point have no reason to. Although there are a lot of things wrong with this explanation.  Regardless, a phone call from someone on his crew would have done the trick and I still dont understand why they weren't at my house if just Howard was out of town.  Weeks pass, I finally get in touch with him and ask for a plan to complete the work he has agreed to.  He agreed to come handle the window work on 4/30, really didnt address the painting at all.  Here we are 5/1  and no Howard.  I text him.   He says oh the glass is not in, so he cant start.  I tell him first I have heard of this.  He couldve ordered it 6 weeks ago.  So I ask him to go ahead and get started on the painting then.  he should have the people available as they were planning to be at my house.  Crickets...No response.  <br /> <br /> So I went and talked to my neighbor who also had some work done from Exterior Alternatives.  Very similar story, no completion, no contact.  Unfortunately he is not on Angies list but is filing a complaint with them.  <br /> <br /> These guys have failed to live up to our agreement and been shifty about communicating and a real pain in the neck to try and chase down.  At this point, I am not clear if they ever intend to finish the work, so I am engaging other vendors.  Do yourself a favor and stay clear of this outfit.  <br />

I paid him in full for their service.  He said he would come back on Monday to finish the work up, he never showed on Monday, I called him and he said he would be out another day and still did not show, now he does not even answer my phone calls.  Now I have to hire someone else to finish the work.   I just want my windows and siding painted.

They take the whole window out, and rebuild the wood around. Then they put the window back in.

From the start of first contact on Monday, completion of estimate, and completion of the job was within a week.   For that kind of professionalism and quality of work, I was lucky to get them.   The mailbox looks brand new; the trim near the garage door was done right for the first time (including original builder) and hallway trim is back to looking new.  Use these guys if at all possible, you will be very glad.

We received a postcard in the mail from Exterior Alternatives advertising services for the repair of rotting wood windows. Earlier this summer we already spoke to a company that is a makeover specialist who provided us an outrageous estimate. After speaking with Howard Hampton and receiving his on the spot pricing, we realized something was wrong. Either the Makeover specialist was outrageously high or Exterior Alternatives was extremely low. So we did what Howard suggested, called two more companies out and called the references provided by Howard. Night and day. After reviewing the estimates, it was very evident that we would be going with the non franchised company. The Guru and Makeover specialist were almost twice the price. In fact, Howard provided his rot free process at no additional charge. The other companies wanted to charge us 30 % more. We saved over $15,000.00 by going with this process instead of full replacement units.

The carpenters from Exterior Alternatives Inc Company did a good job.  My experience with their work went well.  I think we just had a timing problem in getting them out here.  We also had to reschedule because of the weather here because obviously they had to do window work.  I think they did great.  They were nice and pleasant people.  They stayed late to make sure that they finish the project on time.  I would use them again in the future.

I like everything about them.  It was absolutely wonderful.  I was able to watch them.  I was able to learn to ask questions and they responded very nicely without being irritated with my questions.  The craftsmanship was amazing.  I was amazed by how they went about doing it.  They were able to give information.  They were courteous and nice.  They did a nice job and cleaned up.  They were honest and did all the good stuff.  They finished the job in one day.  They were right on time.  It is an individually owned company.  Two brothers run the company.

The carpentry work was very well performed with attention to detail.  The carpenters were very polite and arrived on time. There was a minimum of mess and they were very careful entering and exiting the house.  Howard made a follow up phone call after the work was done to make sure we were satisfied.  Their clean up at the end wasn't quite as meticulous as it could have been--some caulk needed to be wiped clean and there was sawdust on the interior window sills--but it was late in the day and there was a threat of rain .  However, their craftsmanship was excellent and I would hire them again.

We were very happy with the job. We had gotten something in the mail, which we usually don't pay any attention to, but it was very pertinent because we didn't want to replace the windows because they were not fogged up or anything We just wanted to take care of the bad wood. We really did not do a good job of comparing between 2 or 3 vendors. It seemed like a fair price and we were willing to pay it. We found out about the painting after they came out here. We were going to have them paint the wood they replaced and then we asked if they would do the whole house painting and they said yes so we let them do that. The house is mainly brick. They did a good job and they did it in two days and they were out of here.

Great experience!!!!!!! We had rotting wood windows around our home. By using a composite material they have guaranteed My Windows will never rot again........ Thank you very much Exterior Alternatives.......

These fellows are superb carpenters. The damage to a few of the windows actually penetrated all the way into the house. Would recommend as an alternative to a full replacement unit. Total savings versus new windows was 75%. <br /> Thank you......................

We live in the Geist area and like all our neighbors we have rotting wood windows with fogging glass. After receiving a card earlier this summer for a window special from Exterior Alternatives, we contacted Howard. He set a date and arrived on time. He gave an estimate on the spot and a list of references from previous customers in our neighborhood. After contacting a few other companies, that were almost twice the price, we contacted Howard and set up a time. The day the work began, Howard and his workers arrived. They were all very courteous, covered the floors with tarps, took shoes off and completely cleaned the work areas before they left. AWESOME EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Howard and crew arrived, provided estimate & completed work on time as promised. They did above and beyond what we expected. Can’t even tell where repairs were made. And, the price was about 15% of what 3 window replacement companies quoted.

Wonderful experience overall.......

Wonderful Experience

We received a post card in the mail advertising wood window restoration. We all have this problem in the Windermere neighborhood. I called Howard about 6 months after receiving his advertisement. We scheduled an estimate date and he arrived 5 minutes early. He passed the first test. Punctuality is a big deal with me. After walking and talking with Howard about our issues you could tell that he had done this type of work a million times before. After leaving we received the estimate that he assured would promptly arrive. WOW... He beat the competition by almost 40% so we were a bit leery. So we called Howard and asked for a few references and he not only provided a three, but they were all our neighbors. So we called Howard and scheduled the work. By the way. No deposit required. The other company wanted 50%. A red flag for us. So Howard and his brother and uncle showed up on time and ready to work. Boy did they. It was like watching a Swiss time piece work. Flawless. No mess and completed on time.

EXCELLENT PRICES, VERY RESPONSIVE. THEY CAME BACK QUICKLY TO CORRECT AN EQUIPMENT ISSUE OVER THE HOLIDAYS.