Custom Exteriors Inc

After a 5 or 6 week wait for the door to arrive, the workmen arrived around 10 AM. I had been told they would arrive between 9 and 10, and was given a call at 9:15 to let me know they were loading up the door. The two workmen focused exclusively on the door installation, working diligently and professionally. My young children watched from nearby and I had no concerns about this arrangement. They finished the installation around 3 PM. It looks very well done. I am still arranging for someone from the company to come stain the door, but everything done so far has been good, and the company is very responsive to both email and phone.

I was very pleased with them. The work went very well. They were very efficient and they cleaned up nicely.

Quality of work was outstanding and work was finished well ahead of time. John Banke and Francisco were both very professional, made helpful suggestions to improve the final results and were very accommodating. Good companies are hard to come by in this business. I would use them again in a flash if the need arose.

We ordered through Costco and they were the dealer for them. They were good. The customer service was really good. They were friendly and helpful. If there was something we didn't like they took full responsibility for it. They would take care of our needs if there were something we didn't like. They were professional and they were not pushy. We would highly recommend them. The pricing was very fair. We just ordered 3 more windows and some more doors from them.

We were seeking to replace 8 windows, 1 sliding door, and 1 exterior door and we needed the work done quickly to take advantage of the tax rebate program. We checked around and were impressed with the number of good reviews that Custom Exteriors received on several consumer review sites so we decided to give them a call. Rob, their sales rep, came to our home and worked with us to figure out the type and style of windows and doors best suited for our house. Rob assured us that the windows and doors could be installed well before the tax rebate deadline. Sure enough, two weeks later our windows and doors arrived, and we scheduled installation for the next day. We were somewhat skeptical they would be able to complete the install in one day as quoted, especially in light of the extra trim work we ordered and the fact that one window required a wall build-up where a previous floor-to-ceiling window stood. The installation crew arrived promptly at 9 a.m. and got right to work. The entire crew was friendly, professional, and took great care to protect our carpet and furniture during the install. By the time they finished at 7:30 p.m. that evening, everything had been completed with the exception of the exterior stucco on the build-up (which required a "stucco" guy who showed up the next day as promised). We were extremely pleased with the work performed and with the new windows and doors. They look great and make our home more comfortable and quiet! We highly recommend Custom Exteriors to anyone seeking new windows and doors. We also have a wired home alarm system, and Custom Exteriors worked hand-in-hand with the alarm company to ensure the new windows and doors were alarm-ready when they were finished.

They arrived on time and were very clean, putting down sheets/towels at entry points to wipe off dirt and vacuumed up dirt as they were cutting (one holding the vacuum at the cutting point to minimize dust). Everything was swept clean at the end, including outside debris and all windows cleaned from stickers etc. They accommodated our request to do a certain room first so that the cat could be locked into the room. However, they did not appear very conscious of animals and the threat of them running away, as we had to block them a few times from opening the doors to the rooms where the cat and dogs were. The main door was left open the whole time, fortunately it was a 60+ degree day, not one of the freezing days. They delivered and installed 2 incorrect windows (we ordered single-hung, they brought XO sliders) and tried to make up an excuse on how the sliders were better, instead of offering to call the main office for a replacement. We accepted the windows, but not because of their explanation. We accepted them because the old windows were sliders and we had been 50/50 with our decision to go with single-hung windows. We are happy with the installed windows, but question the quality control at the factory/warehouse/installer crew, 3 touchpoints where someone should have caught "hey, this is not what is on the original order!". They also took out the 1 window which was not to be replaced, broke the glass yet were fortunate that the glass of one of the other old windows was big enough to fit into the broken glass space, so that they could put the window back in. Apparently this was all a miscommunication between the foreman and his crew member as he said "I told them numerous times not to touch this window". The one who did "touch" it, had an earphone in the whole time while working... It took them 5 hours to complete the job and they seemed eager to leave. This crew came all the way from Tracy and did not display Custom Exteriors on their truck. I did not ask if they were subs or employees, according to CE they do not use subs... We were present the whole time to watch the pets and make sure all went orderly. The crew members were all friendly and we would go with CE again, despite the window mix-ups.

I'll start with a summary. The job started with TEAM A, who did a very poor job all along the way. TEAM A was fired by me, and they brought on TEAM B. TEAM B was very good at their job, and just unfortunate that I didn't get TEAM B to start with. The teams are independent of management, so management needs to be rated separately. So, manager A that came with TEAM A was a great guy, but really a sales guy with no influence over TEAM A. But to his discredit, he kept claiming that TEAM A was "Their best team", issue after issue, when they were so very clearly not (My opinion is that this was just a line fed to me). So after all the trouble and damage to my house, I got the owner Kevin involved. He's an honest guy, and wanted to make good on the job. But he only showed up when I was raving mad, and didn't oversee the job as I expected (and specifically asked for), nor did he push to finish the details of the job out in a timely manner. The job that was a one month job drug out to be three months in the end, and left us believing we were just a "small job" and only worth a little attention. The job started off horribly with TEAM A. They were careless during the demolition work of the stucco, and did needless damage to our front door and interior walls. During the demolition of the chimney, the did nothing to protect the inside of the house, and the hole house, top to bottom, was covered in soot and ash. They knew they did this, and took off, leaving us in this mess of a house, that was not even safe to occupy. We staid up cleaning until 3am after realizing how bad it really was. I explained how this was effectively a "fire damaged" house now, and that it would require professional restoration cleaning, and that they were NOT TO CLEAN themselves. They ignored this and cleaned the house themselves after I left for work. I came home to a soaking wet house, with all my new furniture sitting on sopping wet carpet (the wettest carpet I've ever seen), and the house was closed up tight, it felt like a sauna. All the soot was just driven into the carpet. My new wood arm chair (expensive) was left outside to get wet by sprinklers and weather. I exploded, and they finally hired a restoration company (great company, I'll review separately). They had to clean our house twice to get it cleaned up, largely because of the first failed cleaning attempt by TEAM A. First time the cleaners came it required a team of 7 people a full day to wipe down ceilings, walls, every surface of the house, all the kids toys, etc. After this, my faith was destroyed, but I let MANAGER A talk me into a another chance for TEAM A. They started work again in a similar manner. TEAM A left things like boxes of razor blades laying in my yard, and rarely did a good job cleaning up at the end of the day. My 1 year old walked up to me holding a hand full of razor blades(she didn?t get cut, or there would have been Dr. bills involved as well). I alerted them to this, and the next day still found razor blades in my kids play area. Details of the job were horrible. Sockets were not replaced as planned, soffit vents were not put in before the scratch coat was put up, electrical outlets were stuffed with stucco, stucco was left on yard lights, in the lawn, covering my phone and cable boxes. Plywood went up ok. They hammered on the lath instead of stapling it up, so grout work was damaged in the house as the hammering knocked it out. And every part of the details of the job I asked for (and was promised) was ignored. The weep screed was not up against the foundation. Power lines for the AC compressor were not sufficiently accounted for, and would have been permanently damaged/shorted (fire risk) the way they went about it (and they NEVER fixed it after repeated requests). Then the stucco when up, and it was bad. Badly mixed, badly applied, put up on a 100 Deg day and not kept wet, so it didn't cure properly and was falling off the wall (called ?soft? cure). So I had a new struggle to convince them to remove all the stucco work and have the job done properly. Livermore permit inspectors were in agreement with me, so that helped. The problem is, that the owners and mangers do not know these jobs themselves. So they could not come inspect and tell for themselves if the job was done well or not. I consider this a HUGE gap. If I owned this company for all those years, I'd know the job well enough to tell for myself when a job was done correctly or not. Luckily, I've been around construction much of my life, so I knew the job was bad. Your average home owner would have not known, and would have gotten a very bad job that would have started to crack and fail in a few years. I very much have to wonder how many bad jobs TEAM A had performed before. They clearly lacked training and pride in their work. Enter TEAM B, after much frustration and hard fighting by me, I got a great team. All went well and smoothly. They listened to the details that I wanted to see in the job and got them done. Well. With pride in their work. And they did it quickly, even though my job was more of a side job for them. But they knocked it out in great time (I got lucky as it fit in between bigger jobs for them). The team members were more professional and friendlier as well. They finished the big part of the job and left. Finishing details of the work was left to other teams, and that seemed to drag on and on. So, in the end, you MUST INTERVEIW THE WORK TEAM. Managers are just quoting the work and them farming out the work to independent teams. The teams are paid for the job, so the faster they work, the better their pay. You have to meet the team and find out if they are who you want. IF you get the right team, you'll get the right job done. The management does not really know, other than feedback from customers, who the good teams are. And most customers don't know construction, so bad work does go unnoticed, and the managers don't show up on sight to inspect the details of the job, and don't know the work themselves. You can make a pretty wall, and have it be structurally unsound. And unfortunately, one of the most critical parts of a stucco job is not inspected by inspectors. So after the scratch coat is done, CALL THE INSPECTORS IN before they do the next coat. The scratch coat is the most important layer. Have the inspectors tell you if it looks good. If there is any doubt, you can hire an independent company to measure samples of the stucco, and they can tell you if there is a problem very accurately. They measure the mix, hardness, and can even tell you if it cured too quickly (problems on hot days, like I had). TEAM A rated an F, and TEAM B rated an A. Therefore the overall C rating. Price, they were the highest, but they also promised the best job, and the sales guy convinced me all the details that I was concerned about would be done. So I opted for the most expensive. After all the issues, and that they didn't kick my job into high gear after all the issues, bothers me. But they can absolutely claim that they fulfilled all their obligations. They also took the necessary hits by having to hire external cleaning teams without any hesitation (but I did have to insist on it). In the end, the job I got from TEAM B was good, management support was what they had to do from a contract and liability standpoint, but nothing beyond. I gave them more support and cost breaks (not having to replace carpet, pay for clothing sent to cleaners, damaged photographs, supplying hardware, cleaning up details of the job, etc.) than managment gave me. I gave more, and expected more. TEAM B responsiveness and quality are A. All the issues with TEAM A and having to hassle to get a good job drug the overall rating to a C. Management only reliably responded when I was raving mad. And did not respond to other communications at all, and would not provide any hard time lines for work to be done. So responsiveness is a C due to management. TEAM A responsiveness was great. And in the end, management was simply relying on them (and luckily it was safe to do that, but for a customer you gave so many headaches to, it would have been better to not take this approach). So, if I had to do this again, I?d hire a company that specializes in stucco specifically to do the stucco work. And simply because the guy quoting the work, can oversee the work, and may very well be doing the work. So there is a direct connection between quality and who you need to talk with to verify the quality.

Based on the excellent reviews here and elsewhere I scheduled a visit for an estimate. This would be a rather large job in scope and price as we are looking to replace all windows, doors and siding. Setting up the appointment was very easy and they came across as professional - unfortunately got a call at noon same day as the visit was scheduled saying that they would have to cancel as the estimator had extended his Xmas vacation. Later the GM called me and apologized profusely. He offer to have another estimator over the next day. I appreciate the commitment to rectifying their mistake and focus on setting things right.

The foreman, Manuel, showed-up right on-time and began work immediately. They were polite and attentive to detail. Excellent quality installation; perfect clean-up afterward; clear explanations of what they were doing. We love our new windows and doors because they open and close effortless, our house feels more comfortable, and they look beautiful! A thing of beauty is a joy forever! To all those looking for an honest contractor for new windows, doors, roofing or any stucco work.....Custom Exteriors is second to none! They were the best home improvemnent experience I have ever had. They installed on time, they were professional from begining to the end!!! They have fair pricing and great people. They should be named contractor of the year!

I had three estimates and Custom Exteriors was the middle one. Jeff Kendall worked with me to choose the appropriate windows. We used one brand in the living/dining areas that was more expensive to keep out the heat in the afternoon, and another type for the bedrooms that was less expensive. The work was done efficiently in two days and clean up was quick. I would definitely recommend this company.

They did a very good job. I had one window where the glass was scratched. I called them up and they ordered a new one, replacing it with no problem. This impressed me.

I had investigated this company and its products several years ago. I was impressed then by their responsiveness. I asked for an estimate . They got back to me immediately. The bid was reasonable compared to others. They resolved permit issues with the city. They provided an estimated date to start and were ready o begin within a couple of days.of that date. The showed up for work when they said they would and completed the job in the estimated time (2 days). The workers were diligent and professional. The foreman showed up regularly to supervise. A widow segment, broken in transit, was replaced promptly. A very satisfactory job.

We had a fantastic experience with Custom Exteriors right from the first day we stepped in to their showroom. We got quotes from two other vendors but it was easy to pick Custom Exteriors based on pricing and the professionalism exhibited by their staff. Their salesperson patiently provided us with all the options without overwhelming us. The installation went very well and the staff got the job done in quick time. They were thorough and their attention to detail was commendable.

They did exactly what they said they were going to do, and everything went pretty smoothly. They had good follow through, and I have had no complaints. Their sales people were good, and their price was fair. We did get another bid, and they came a little bit less than this other bid we had. I wasn?t there to see them do the job because it was in a different city than where I live. I think they were on time. I used them for another rental unit as well. I have just been very pleased with them. I would rate them highly and would definitely use them again in the future if necessary.

Everything went very smoothly: Paul Mellander came out and gave us an estimate, both for the current project as well as several other window replacements we are thinking about for the future. He was very professional and helpful, clearly explaining our options and listening to our preferences. We obtained the building permit ourselves before the install date, and his team came out and installed the windows as scheduled. Installation was very quick, taking only a couple of hours, and the team was very professional about cleaning up the site before they left. We are very happy with the result.

When they sent the order to the factory, two of the windows were measured wrong. After two months I was stuck with two of the old windows. They are sending the windows soon. What they did put in was done excellently. I'm not sure what happened to the wrong measurements, but Custom Exteriors said the factory got it wrong. They were very accommodating and very neat. They came on time.

It went extremely well. Very professional, solutions oriented people with high standards. Very happy.

Sales rep was punctual, professional, knowledgeable, but perhaps takes the sales pitch a little too seriously. The company has an extensive track record in our area and received good reviews. The quoted price was fairly good, but not the lowest for comparable work. We ended up going with a competitor that seemed equally competent (and proved to be competent), cost less and had a softer sell. However, I would have no trouble recommending this company as an option. It was our second choice out of 4 estimates. Moreoever, based on reviews and prices, there were other competitors that we didn't ask to give estimates. So overall, it ranked highly.

We didn't have them perform any work because we went with someone else.

Overall, the job went well. I have no complaints. They provided good service. The price was good, as well.

Out of 3 companies I called, Custom Exteriors responded first. An appointment was quickly set up for a Saturday and the following week, my husband and I decided to go with them. Pricing is competitive, very professional, and accommodating for those who work full-time. It was a seamless job from measuring, ordering, and installing the windows.

They educated me on problems with finding the proper weather stripping. I was not impressed with the company they referred.

They were very attentive to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. All the people that I worked with were extremely professional. This was one of the best companies I have ever worked with. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to window remodeling. I had 4 other quotes and I chose them and it turned out to be an excellent experience.

We had been referred to Custom Exteriors from a friend who had a good experience with his window replacement. As many of our original 17-year old windows were starting to get condensation in between the panes and since our house needed painting anyway, we decided to replace all our windows with new vinyl, new-construction windows (and also take advantage of the $1,500 tax rebate). From start to finish, I can honestly say that working with Custom Exteriors has been an EXTREMELY pleasant experience. Grayeagle Porter was our sales rep and walked us through the different window choices and dealt with the costs and contract. No surprises, punctual, communicates well, very smooth getting up to the contract signing. After that, Kevin dealt with the final measurements, permitting, and scheduling. Again, very smooth, no problems, prompt, professional. Finally, Francisco and his install team were absolutely phenomenal. They took into consideration a few of our requests, hardly damaged any of our abundant landscaping, worked their butts off, and finished all 24 windows in about 4 days or so. When dry rot around several of the windows caused a failed building inspection, they came out on Saturday to put new siding on the rotted area (at extra cost, of course) and then came back for some final trim work after the inspection passed. Most importantly, the work was done in a QUALITY manner. I'm anal about details and I can say that only had to point out 1 or 2 very, very minor things for them to touch up. Since the windows have been put in, the house is quieter, the heat has hardly kicked on, and I have a happy wife! It is very rare that I don't have at least one or two gripes about a contractor's work, but in this case, I truly have none.

Every aspect of our dealings with Custom Exteriors was first class. They have a wonderful product showroom in Pleasanton. We were considering both Milgard and Anlin windows, and our visit to the showroom and the professional explanations concerning the product differences were both educational and helpful in assisting us with choosing which manufacturer we wanted. Rob, the sales representative who did our estimate ,was very knowledgeable about the products and very thorough in providing us a comprehensive estimate with supporting documentation such as Custom Exteriors Diamond Certification, liability insurance and product warranty. Upon signing the contract, the final measurements were done by Jeff, one of the owners. Jeff was very thorough in explaining the installation process and readily answered all of our questions. He gave us his cell phone number and invited any other questions we might have . Installation was scheduled on a Monday as we had requested, and the installation crew arrived on time. They were very careful to cover our floors with dropcloths and furniture with plastic sheeting. The crew was very professional, worked together in an efficient and knowledgeable way, and made sure that all the finishing touches were done properly. The entire job was completed in less than 8 hours, including insuring that all the floors were vacuumed and any debris cleaned up. Overall, we have never had a more satisfying experience with a contractor, from beginning to end. Their motto is "We want this to be the best Home Improvement Experience you will ever have. Guaranteed.' It was, and we highly recommend Custom Exteriors.