Builder Specialties

Great sales experience. Price was a lot better than some other estimates for the same thing. Not so great that it took more than 2 weeks to get the door. Installation was as scheduled. Results were excellent. Communication could have been improved... seemed to have a lot of subs involved in the process, which is OK as long as the "home office" knows about the status as it changes and communicates with the client. In this case I had to call the office, leave a message, no response for a couple days, then called my salesman, he found that the door was done and ready for installation, and I think he triggered the office to call me and sched installation. All in all, a good experience, just the one communication glitch.

unknown

My Clopay brand garage door was originally purchased 13 plus years ago from The Home Depot. During my current research I found little had changed with Clopay garage doors (which I have been happy with), but the nearest authorized sales and service center was in Kennesaw Georgia (129 miles from Columbus). Since Home Depot would have subcontracted my job out to Builder Specialties of Kennesaw I cut Home Depot (the middle man) out of the equation and easily shaved a few hundred dollars off the job. Since I already knew what I wanted and needed by speaking with the Home Depot staff I began my telephone consultation a couple weeks before Thanksgiving with Kurtis Craig, a sales representative from Builder Specialties. Kurtis quickly understood that I had done my homework and that same day before I could get home from work he had emailed me a quote for the replacement panel. The next day or so I contacted Kurtis again to confirm I did in fact receive the quote and that I wanted him to proceed with ordering the panel (since I chose a slightly thicker version of acrylic windows this was a special order). Kurtis proceeded to tell me he would put the order in but unfortunately specialty orders were beyond their control and in light of the Thanksgiving Holidays people (including himself, various office staff, suppliers and even myself) were taking vacation time. Builder Specialties notified me that my panel had came in around November the 29th and offered to schedule my install for which I chose my next day off 12/07. The installer, Robert called me about 45 minutes prior to arriving at my house, and was so precise and quick with the install that I thought I was watching someone from a NASCAR pit crew. Robert was very professional and explained everything he was going to do and the steps he needed to take to get the job done. At the end of the install he cleaned up after himself and asked if I had any questions or concerns with any other parts of the door or opener. Two things came to mind. 1. The garage door had always seemed to come down faster than others I knew having garage doors, and I told him I thought it should automatically reverse if while coming down it struck an object not within the safety beam. Robert quickly got his ladder and advised my torsion on the opener was set far too high and lowered the setting. This not only made the door run quieter but also allowed the door to reverse when tested by allowing to strike some of the packing cardboard while closing. 2. The second thing I told Robert about was the wall switch for opening / closing, and turning on the overhead light. This switch had a small red light built in but had I had never seen it illuminated. Robert quickly advised me that he was not familiar with the opener switch but asked if he could pop the cover off to take a look. I quickly approved and within less than a minute he stated that he thought the switch wires were reversed. Robert stated it was not a danger because the voltage was so low but asked if he could switch the two wires. I quickly agreed and within less than another minute he had the cover on, and the never before seen light was shining bright. Robert was quick to provide professionalism and ensure 100% customer satisfaction.

The house we bought (a foreclosure) had a few things wrong - one of them being a very damaged garage door. Looked like someone backed into it hard and buckled as many panels as possible (perhaps angry at being thrown out for non-payment??). Anyhow, it was VERY damaged. We received estimates from 4 companies, and decided to go with Builder Specialties because someone we knew recommended them (her husband is a builder and uses this company for his new builds). In addition to the recommendation, their price was lowest. On the original estimate (over the phone, assuming an 18' wide x 7' high door, normal conditions), the estimate was $995. After he came out to look at it before the install date, the clearance required a special track that would be an additional $150. Since this was still lower than the other 3 quotes we received, we went ahead and scheduled the work for the day after our closing. The installer arrived promptly, and got the door in and running without an issue. He showed me how to use everything, and that was that. The work was done correctly - the door works great. It will probably even save us some money in heating and cooling costs since it is an insulated door instead of the original non-insulated door that was present. I would definitely recommend them to others.