Champion Windows and Home Exteriors of Chicago

Very well. The 2 installers were very professional, courteous and hard working. They showed up on time and cleaned all areas, inside and out, thoroughly when they finished. The caulking for one of the doors wasn't exactly the right color but instead of just putting it on without telling us (we would never have known it was a different color), they offered to come back the next workday and do it with the right color. All in all, we were very satisfied with the work.

I was very pleased with the quality of the work and the professionalism of the installation team. The installer noticed that one of the casement windows had only one lock while the other had a double lock. It took two tries to get the new window order correct, but the company took full responsibility for the delay (I enjoyed the "wrong" window in the meantime) and without question accepted that I withheld a portion of the payment until the correct window was installed. The company also followed up with a village ordinance issue after the initial installation and replaced one of the window sashes with tempered glass without any prompting.

I used them again because I was impressed with them the first time. They were very good. He was very pleasant and he explained that someone would come out to do exact measurements. I was told that the window would take 4 weeks. They called and said they would be here at 9:00 a.m., and they showed up on time and it didn't take very long. They cleaned up and everything was good. They did excellent work and the price was good.

They were pretty good and helpful. They took a picture of the house, put the color of the siding on the house and e-mailed me the picture. It was helpful. I did not like the color after seeing it. I don?t know what their workmanship is like. We had a bad experience with the company that did the windows. I would consider using their services in future.

Champion windows did two separate projects for us last year. One project (see separate report) was for rehabbing our patio room was flawed, but OK. The other was building an attached mudroom/storage room using their patio room system, which went very badly. Problems started with getting permits--which took several months due to incompetence of the engineer they assigned to this task. Then the subcontractor they used to pour the cement foundation and replace the sidewalk did poor work. (see separate report on these problems) Foundation wasn't even and has settled. Interior floor surface is so rough that our contractor who was supposed to install floor tile refused to attempt it. Their own people did a mediocre job of installing the walls and roof--which aren't plumb. After reading other reports, I see that it is a good thing that we elected to use our own roofer--who did a competent job of installing flashings and a tar membrane system that stopped the leaks we were having. But our roofers couldn't install the gutters and downspouts as originally planned because the room had been constructed so that instead of sloping gently to the west in an even plane, it has a slight ridge that causes some of the water to drain to the northwest and other water to drain to the southwest. The roofer attempted to overcome this by sloping the gutters to the south, but we had problems over the winter. We just had the roofers back to put in a second downspout on the northwest corner to eliminate water from collecting there. The room was supposed to have a windowed door that opened to the outside, but we kept getting stories about how the factory hadn't shipped it. The entire project was halted for two months while we waited for our door. In the meantimer, all of their extra parts and equipment sat in our garage and we had to park outside. Electrical work wasn't done to code, so we hired our own electrician to finish the job so that we could get our use permit. Worst of all, they tried to make a 32" wide fire door they found in their inventory, fit into a 30" wide opening. Truly looked awful. We paid another contractor to replace the door with one of a proper size and restore the door jams. Fortunately, we had a hold back and had managed to get our own use permit, and settled with Champion by deducting the cost of replacing their botched door work from the remainder of the price. A warning to anyone who buys their patio "system." The exterior of the roof panels are covered with metal. Even though we had two layers of a tar roofing system placed on top of it, the noise of rain is extremely loud, even in mild rainfalls. The noise would not be acceptable if we were using the room as a four season patio room. My impression is that even though the company tries to look "big" the Elmhurst branch is very understaffed with only one or two two-person work crews, and a permit getter and manager who pitche in to do hands-on work when staff is short. 10/30/14 Update: We continue to have problems because the walls aren't plum. The outside door they installed is sagging, and light comes in through the gaps. The plastic threshhold cracked. Most of their electrical work had to be redone by a profession. Sure, I could have called them to make good on their warranty, but since they couldn't do the work right in the first place, I had no confidence that they could make it right. Plastic exterior panels are growing mold. Some of the plastic door molding has turned yellow. So far, no leaks. But I credit our excellent roofers for that outcome, and not Champion. Only good thing I have to say about Champion is that their work was cheap compared to the alternatives. It amazes me that they continue to send me letters asking for more work, and to refer friends.

They did a great job. The work turned out excellent and we are very pleased. We would highly recommend them.

They were good and I was very happy with their work. They were on time and did what they said they were going to do. They also explained what they are doing and cleaned everything after the work. I would recommend them to others.

Terrible! The work was defective and poorly supervised?walls and part of the roof had to be torn down and rebuilt?workers arrived late, left early & some days didn't show up at all?supports are not plumb and I had to notify the supervisor of a missing structural beam. Wooden elements were left exposed to the weather for two months resulting in delamination causing structural concerns. The room was supposed to be completed in four weeks but took four months to enclose and still leaks 2 years later. The product design and installation seems flawed causing the windows and the vinyl clad aluminum framing to leak. Excessive gaps at the window interlocks, an over dependence on caulking, lack of flashing and insufficient drainage continue to produce leaks that Champion has been unable to fix. Champion insisted that the room was finished and water tight and we could install the finished solid oak floor. Within two weeks the floor boards started warping and the entire floor had to be ripped out and destroyed. Their insurance paid for the floor replacement but not our time and aggravation. Now they are claiming the waiver we signed to get reimbursed from the insurance company applied not only to the flooring but to their faulty workmanship on the patio room. Champion consistently denied problems including extensive mold growth. This caused great concern as my wife is a liver transplant recipient. They distorted facts to avoid responsibility and blamed us for their mistakes. They falsely claimed the pergolas and decks built by another contractor were the cause of leaks which is impossible because the leaks started months before the pergolas were built. Responding to the complaint we filed with the Attorney General, Champion falsely claimed the pergolas were attached to the patio room. They threatened us saying if we didn't make the final payment, they would put a lien on our house which is a violation of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act and they wouldn't fix the leaks. They attempted to void our 15 year warranty (violating the contract) claiming that putting a deck and pergola on each side of the patio room caused leaks which occurred months before the decks and pergolas were erected while advertising patio rooms with the same deck construction that they say caused the leaks. The BBB was of little help, and the Good Housekeeping Warranty they advertise is worthless and we feel fraudulent as they informed us they will not honor their warranty of our Champion patio rooms. Numerous attempts to fix problems failed each time. We do not understand why some of Champion's installations are fine and others like ours are nightmares. HOWEVER, WE COULD NOT RECOMMEND CHAMPION AS WE FEEL THEY ARE NOT TRUSTWORTHY. If you have had similar problems with Champion please contact me regarding a possible class action law suit or other remedies at jksilva94@comcast.net.

The salesmen (one was in training) came to our house late. Bad mouthed many other companies and then put us on the defense for considering to get quotes from others (for quite a long time!). They went as far as showing us the printouts of the bad BBB rating reports of other companies. They stayed for at least 80 minutes (after being late for 15 minutes), and I had a hard time trying to get them to leave. Their price was the highest of the 4 estimates that we received. Overall, they left a very poor taste in my mouth. By the way, they do not have evening or weekend hours for doing estimate.

They were professional and on time. The price they quoted me was what I ended up paying. They did a great job and cleaned up after themselves. I would highly recommend them. I would hire them in the future if needed.

It s really tough getting anyone to come out for a small amount of windows. I really called around a lot. They were the only people who were willing to do the job because it was so small. They haven t put them in yet. They had to delay it because of the big storm that we had. So far I m happy with them. It s not a completed job though. They are very pleasant and well priced. I called three or four different companies.

I had hired Champion to remodel my sunroom and liked their construction materials. I also wanted a shed, and their salesman agreed to do the shed as a second job. The results look good now, but only after 8 months of aggrevation and paying two other companies to correct poorly done installation work. The first problem was getting the building permit. The happy-go-lucky person assigned to do this waited several weeks to start the process. Then he misrepresented to the Village that there would be no regrading as part of the project-which was totally wrong because a major purpose of the project was protecting our basement from stormwater runoff from the McMansion next door. Then he changed the building design to make the windows larger in response to a Code requirement. Which was OK, except that he should have asked first and this radically changed the pitch of the roof so that it needed flat roof coatings instead of the Class 3 shingled roof he told me I should have (wasting a lot of my time shopping for materials I couldn't use), and required removal of the downspout from the garage roof above the shed. Five months after I paid the down payment on the room, we finally got the permit. Next problem was the concrete work done by their subcontractor. See separate report on Bell Concrete. Construction started, but 3 days later the installers stoped coming because Champion hadn't delivered the exterior door for the room. They did send an electrician to wire the room, but the work was poorly done, didn't include a 'kill switch" for the hard-wired heater, and they put the room's circuit onto the breaker switch for another circuit. Had to hire a competent electrician to get the work done right so I could get a use permit. For 2-1/2 months their materials took up space in my garage while we waited for the exterior door. When it came, it wasn't the door I ordered. Also, they were supposed to replace the 30" wide wooden door into the garage with a steel one that met Code. Their installer attempted to put a 32" wide door in the space, and in the process ruined the door jams and trim. There were gaps all around the door, it was hard to open and close, and it looked awful. It wasn't worth complaining to Champion because their installers weren't capable of fixing the mess. I had to hire a competent workman to install a replacement door at considerable expense. While installing shelving systems, I learned that the walls aren't plumb. My roofer couldn't install the gutters to direct water to the rear yard as I wanted, because the roof was "cantilevered" to direct water towards the garage. Hadn't realized how noisy it would be under the metal roof of their building system.

Champion's system and materials are great. However, the installation process was very frustrating. I would have installers for a couple of days, then they would disappear. Had to keep chasing Champion to get the project finished. The subcontractor they used to take out the old windows and reinforce the concrete pad to meet Code requirements, left glass and metal shards all around the project, plus when they cleaned their cement-laying equipment, they dumped the dirty water onto the soil adjacent the sunroom, turning it to "stone." This had to be dug out. The quality of the initial installation work was disappointing, and Champion's installers had to come back to rehang the door so that it was straight, and caulk a lot of spots they missed. The installers tried to cover up the conduit for the electric lines with some plastic strips, but the strips overlapped noticeably and didn't go all the way to the ceiling. As a result, the room looked awful. I paid a third party to tear out the strips and put in plasterboard soffits, which fixed this problem. I am satisfied with the resulting room. The casement windows work beautifully, and thanks to all of the insullation included in Champion's construction system plus the insulation I paid a third party to pump into the ceiling, the room has been very comfortable for the last three months with only minimal use of the HVAC unit. I liked Champion's practice of carrying the construction debris away in their trucks, so that it wasn't necessary to park a dumpster in my garage or on my driveway. Before hiring Champion, I had tried to work with an architect, but decided I couldn't afford his taste. He wanted to tear out the existing sunroom (including its roof and pad) and start over, using traditional balloon frame construction and designer windows. Champion delivered a workable room at less than a third of the cost of what the architect recommended.

Everything went great. Champion has a very responsive and professional team every step of the way. The salesperson (Angelo) arrived on time, knew the product and did a great job explaining everything. The scheduler arranged for the measurements to be done within a week of the sales call. Tony arrived on time and took accurate measurements. The windows were installed about three weeks after the measurements were taken. The installation team arrived on time, did a great job installing, and cleaned everything up around the house. I highly recommend Champion.

The overall experience was good. They were on time and they called back quickly. They got the work done quickly as well and there were no problems.

For the most part well. The exception was the replacement in the shower window. When the job was being sold I emphatically stated that if they want to replace the window in the shower, IT MUST BE WATER PROOF. I even stated that I can have a glass block window installed from another company. I was assured the window would be water proof. The installation went well, but some of the windows were very difficult to open. Around March, the windows were still hard to open. I put that info on a survey from Champion and the contacted me. Someone came out to investigate and based on measurements ordered slightly smaller windows. An installer showed up with 9 replacement windows that were smaller. He did not use them all however, he stated that some of the windows were not installed correctly. After he was done the windows opened more easily, like butter. I also complained about the shower window. It leaks from the inside out. Water hits the window and comes out the weep hole. I was told nothing can be done about this. I was seriously disappointed. Why was I told that this window would be water proof??? In addition they used plastic trim around the window (water proof), and drove it in with metal nails (not so water proof as nails will rust. I am no contractor but how about water proof adhesive?) I have to give them credit for fixing the issue with difficult to open windows, I have to give them a few demerits for my leaky shower window. If he had told me, "Shower windows are not our specialty.", I would have fitted glass block windows like many of my neighbors.

Overall it went very well. The original siding had was mostly horizontal painted cedar siding. In the front there was a nice board and batten vertical stripe. I had requested that they keep that look. The installers attention to detail regarding the vertical white siding along with the horizontal brown colored siding looked GREAT! The caulking was superb and all the details were perfect. They even repaired (without even being asked) the garage siding which they had not installed. This shows that they take pride in their company. The garage siding was already in place, but was the same color as the new siding on the house. I assume that they did not want anyone to think that their company had botched the garage siding.

The doors did not fit at first. So they spent seven months readjusting (I was never without a door and I never had air leaking into my house), without us having to call or have them ask for payment until they installed new doors. They kept working on everything until it was perfect and now everything fits. I have a house that is built in 1905 and to have them be able to fit the doors was wonderful. They did excellent work! Their workman were pleasant, accommodating, and there was never a mess. They even re-plastered around the door where it needed to be without having to ask. They are wonderful and reasonably priced.

Champion did an outstanding job. Initially during the sales estimate, it looked like we were going to need windows that were smaller than the existing screen openings. When the final measurements were being taken, Champion said we could go with an Oriel style window (upper sash larger than lower) and not lose any of the existing open space and for the same price. The two installers did an excellent job. The experience with Champion was outstanding overall.

We have no complaints at all. Everything went smoothly from beginning to end. Sales person was very knowledgeable. Installation was great. Clean up was perfect. Service was terrific and timely.

1st came the 3 missed appointments to have the windows measured so they could be ordered. The installation was going good and than they broke an old window removing it. After they left we noticed glass all over the carpet and glass all over the grass outside of the window, which was in my backyard. To top the whole thing off we had a 4 pane bow window installed in our kitchen and 3 days after it was installed one of the panes cracked top to bottom. We called them and they informed us it would be another 4-6 weeks for them to get a replacement and than another week or two to get some one out to install it. After a considerable amount of phones calls to their office and the district office amazingly they we able to get the replacement and have it installed in less than 3 weeks. We wrote the district office with all the details, dates, names etc. of what went on with the windows and siding and never received a response and that was over 2 months ago.

We made contact with Joseph Fetter of Champion through a home improvement show in Libertyville. Mr. Fetter was polite and knowledgeable during the in-home presentation. Windows were installed about 8 weeks after the contract was signed. The installation was done within 8 hours of the same day. Quality of installation was good, and the cleanup was good.

The initial quote was around 9000, but the company rep told us that the quote is only good until "Sunday" and that we need new frames. Then called back several times, first that we actually don't need the frames and lowered the price, then again called and gave us a lower price, again "good until Sunday". (the new price came as low as about 6000), but decided not to deal with a company rep whose price is only good for 2-3 days. Felt like a car dealer experience.

Employees were very polite and cordial, knowledgeable and performed excellent workmanship. Project completed timely, and was reasonably priced. The sun room was built in accordance with the specifications. The windows are as advertised, they help keep the heat from the sun's rays out. Overall, I am very pleased with the finished product, and would highly recommend Champion.

Generally good work - there was a bit of communication problems with the workers but the quality overall was excellent