Meister Windows & Siding

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In 2014 we moved from Andersonville, Chicago to Arlington Heights for the excellent school district and beautiful neighborhood. We purchased a 2200 sq ft home built in 1965 which required a bit of work. As our home inspector said ?your house has good bones but eventually the big items would need to be replaced? meaning furnace, windows, soffits, gutters and roof. Since we had 5 years left on the roof?the windows, soffits and gutters came first. After reading Consumer Reports window #1 ratings of Simonton we decided to get bids from Home Depot and Olson (located on Angies-list). Working with subcontractors on expensive projects typically spells disaster Olson had a huge advantage over Home Depot. They offered me a fair price with their experienced crew. Unfortunately I couldn?t get myself to love the Simonton windows regardless of Consumer Report. They were economical windows but appeared inferior to other windows that I tested with just opening and closing.I spent hours reviewing Simonton, Marvin Integrity,Gilkey and Okna. I narrowed it down to Gilkey and Okna because of their higher performance and online quality reviews. In the end, I selected the Okna 800/ Enviro-Star because they have highest air infiltration/draft ratings in the industry at .001 and appear to have modern style, whereas the Gilkey appear fortress like thick. Okna windows are manufactured at a modern plant in Bristol, PA. I read they are a major window supplier in the New England area so I felt they could standup against the harsh Chicago winters. Now I just needed to locate a contractor that supported this product. I found 2 installers that supported Okna windows in Illinois and determined Meister Windows and Siding was the best contractor for my job. Meister Windows and Siding is a family business operating by word of mouth since 1963 although they just recently added a website www.meisterwindowssiding.com . Allan Meister and his son Shane are expert carpenters that were taught their skills and integrity from their father/grandfather. This allows them to identify and correct problems. Little glitches typically appear in older homes during installation and in my case were automatically corrected at no additional charge to me. The amazing thing is that Meister Windows estimate was lower than Gilkey for 21Okna 800 Enviro-Star triple pane windows and not much more expensive than the inferior Simonton windows. I must mention the Okna windows also include ThruVision screens and no additional cost. You can?t tell that you?re looking through a screen?just amazing. Since I had room left in my budget Meister Windows and Siding also replaced my soffits and gutters. My gutters are the thicker gauge 6? variety not the 5? standard. My neighbor?s recognized how clean the worksite was kept also passersby?s asked for Allan's number after viewing his work. No one likes to write a large check after just purchasing a home but Allen and Shane Meister made it a lot easier for me. One thing to mention: Yes they do travel daily from the Kankakee area to support the suburbs of Chicago.

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Al and his son Shane did a great job. The worked seamlessly as a team and Al provided everything he said he would in the estimate. I was especially happy about the extra insulation he used in the window frames.

Everything was as expected and great workmanship

Meister Windows replaced a whole house of windows and a sliding patio door with new Okna products. We could not be happier with the way the project turned out. Allen (the owner) and his son actually install themselves, so you aren't getting some 3rd party subcontractor who just throws up some windows and leaves. They did a and quot;new constructionand quot; installation where the siding is pulled back and the entire window removed and replaced. Every other window contractor we looked at suggested the and quot;replacementand quot; installation method where they just cut the old windows out and screw/caulk/cap the new ones. The new construction method took longer to complete (6 days vs 2-3 for replacement), but the results were great and our inside drywall did not need to be cut or capped. We obtained 8 quotes for this job, and although Meister Windows was not the lowest bid, they did make us feel the most comfortable about the work being done and the methods used. Would definitely recommend them for window or siding work.

Meister Windows and Siding have just finished installing 26 windows in my house (July 2014). They did a fantastic job. Their price was half of that of their competition. They also found me very affordable financing (better than their competition). With each window they took care to move furniture and took down window treatments, etc and then cleaned up afterwards re-hanging everything that I had on each window (curtains, blinds, shades, etc...) the way it was before. They were very thorough, professional, courteous and fast. The installation looks great!

At first, I was very pleased by his professionalism (took his shoes off when he entered our home) and his knowledge. The original installment date was in January (2014). After installing several of the windows and going to lunch, we were informed that we would NOT be getting our living room windows or patio door that day. We were told that the living room window (picture window with 2 side windows) was received damaged. We would not be getting our patio door installed either because he told us he measured it wrong. Our second installment date was scheduled for March 1-2 (2014): Saturday for the living room window(s) and Sunday for the patio door. Upon arriving Saturday, my husband was informed that we wouldn't be getting our patio door (AGAIN) because it broke when the company went to load it and ship it. (Really? Twice on one customers order?) I was very upset by this news. Why was there no mention of this to ME when he called me the night before, to confirm our 9 am appointment? After I opened up a discussion with him about my unhappiness over this deal, he restated that the original damage to the living room windows was NOT his fault...nor was the damage to the patio door this time around. He said that only the mis-measuring of the patio door at the beginning was his fault. He stated he 'forgot about the brick' when he measured the opening from the inside and not the outside. ((NOTE: We have an ALL brick home. How does a professional window installer 'forget about the brick' on an all brick home?)) Needless to say this did not calm me down and we negotiated a price reduction. Take 3. Our third installment date was this past Saturday (March 8, 2014). Showed up on time and got right to work. Only flaw today was that we didn't receive our warranty information. At the end of the day, I love the look of the windows and the patio door. I just wish that the over-all experience had been better. I am truly hoping that this guy just ran into some bad luck. Just wish I didn't have to pay such good money to experience it with him.

Exceptional quality and service!

Meister Window and Siding replaced all of our windows and all of our siding. From the initial consultation (no cheesy sales pitch) through the final day they were here, the process was nearly flawless. Al Meister NEVER over-promised, and he worked 10 hour days to get the job done. They added some beautiful finishing touches to our siding as well. One of my favorite things about this company, aside from the results, is that Al and his son do 100% of the work. Al is so particular about how he wants the work done, that he does it himself. They take complete pride in what they do. They are friendly and they are some of the hardest workers I've ever seen. In fact, they worked outside when the high was 32 (and windy) and they worked another day when it was snowing all day. They never made excuses. They made sure we were happy with the windows we chose and they made sure we were happy with the color we chose on the siding. I told my spouse that I would trust them with any job around my house. Great work Meister team! I am proudly displaying their sign in my yard.

we had 5 quotes and this was the best price for the quality level we where looking at, also they where not pushy at all, some of the other company's pushed 'TODAYand quot; only pricing... But not Meister windows, this is a family company and the owner is the salesman and installer..so no middle men to deal with. They turned up on time and completed the work on schedule, a very professional company, would highly recommend to friends and family.

We shopped several window company's. What we liked about Meister Windows was one (1) they where the only company stocking OKNA windows in our area (great windows), and two (2) as a family owned company I was dealing with the owner and installer not a sales person working for commission. Allen he walked us through all the options and gave us a quote, there was no pressure of and quot;today only dealsand quot; as with some of the other companies. When we had finished shopping the rest, we called Allen back, he came out that evening took the final measurements, give us a date the windows would be ready. On the agreed date, Allen and his son turned up with he windows, They were very professional in their work ethics and took pride in their work. I am very happy with our my new windows, the the price and the instillation carried out by Meister Windows and Siding. I would definitely recommend them to family, friends or anyone looking for a good window company at a great price.