WINDY CITY SKYLIGHTS

It went great from them showing up ahead of schedule to them going the extra mile to make me happy with both the finish work and the level of craftemanship. Well done.

The new skylight not only looks more attractive than the old one but it gives me peace of mind to know that it WILL NOT LEAK again and I've got a 15 year warranty to prove it. I have three other skylights in my home and if either of them ever has any issues I will definitely be contacting Windy City Skylights again. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for skylight work.

It went great. Two guys came out within the time frame quoted me. They had to do a little more construction than expected, as the skylight measurements were slightly off, but I gave them my camera to take pictures of it - there's no easy access to our roof and it was cold out - and what the pictures showed looked great. Our new skylight also looks great from the inside, too! They had to install a wider trim, but they painted it and cleaned up well before they left.

I had a skylight that was leaking, and continued to leak despite repeated patching from roofing companies. The roofing companies kept repeating I should have the skylight taken out. I like the skylight when it doesn't leak, so I called Windy City Skylights. They examined my old skylight and made several technical suggestions, which in order to implement I had to have the old skylight replaced. I am happy to say that the new skylight has been in for more than a year now. It doesn't leak. I love some of the improvements, like the remote control operated shades.

They were very prompt in setting up an appointment, showed up on time and provided all necessary information for me to make a decision. The installation went extremely smoothly (only comment is they were very early for the appointment -which isn't bad, just wasn't ready for them). They cleaned everything up and showed me how to work the blind and ensured I had all necessary paperwork. I am very pleased by the work. The new skylight has dramatically reduced the noise from rain storms (which used to sound like a percussion section) where I sometimes have to look to see if it is even raining. The price is for both the skylight and the blind. The blind is currently covered by a federal tax credit which will ultimately reduce the final cost to me. I have already recommended them to friends.

The salesperson who came out to my home was very rude when I started to ask some serious questions. Maybe if you LISTENED to your customers a bit better rather than push your "15 years of experience" on them, you would HEAR our needs better and respect some of us do our homework BEFORE you show up. Overall, I would say $1300 for an entire skylight replacement, INCLUDING interior drywall work is reasonable. HOWEVER, due to the salesman's rude nature & lack of preparedness, I didn't want to give my money to this company. I went with ZK Roofing who got the same VELUX skylight , did all the same work for $850, minus interior dry wall work.

UPDATE: 5 August,. 2011: Bill Eichel [hope the spelling is correct] the owner of Windy City Skylights called me and left me a voice mail message on my cell phone on Friday afternoon, 4 August, 2011, stating that he "been kind of monitoring the situation the last couple of days about getting your skylights installed . . ." ". . .it feels like, from my side, we did . . . , we bent over backward . . . in many different ways, to help you out, and not only do you want to cancel your contract, but you blasted my company on Angie's List, and I think, I will be candid with you, your review is completely out of line. . ." "As a side note, if you want to cancel your contract, there is a 25% cancelation fee of the entire contract, we need to get that straightened out." "I'm really beside myself that you would blast us so hard and I feel like we tried very hard to get you taken care of when it looks like we did everything possible to get you taken care of as quickly as possible with all the skylights that were leaking across the City and it feels like you responded by just completely blasting and trashing our company and it's really disturbing to me. . ." Well, Mr Eichel, lets review the facts: 1. No one called to CONFIRM the installation date and time after I signed and faxed back the contract and called your office to make such a request; 2. I requested, per the advise of my insurance company, an ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE showing me, and the property address, as a NAMED INSURED on your insurance policy. This is a very common occurrence and these requests are made hundreds of thousands of times every day. It does not cost you anything except a phone call to your insurance company, they enter my name and address into their computer, print the certificate, and drop it in the mail. 3. Photo copies of your blanket CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE are no longer valid because as they can be too easily forged. and do not protect me against accidents, property damage caused by your workmen, or any liability which might be created by your workman when they are on my property. I am only protected if I am a NAMED INSURED on the certificate of insurance showing your LIABILITY, WORKMAN'S COMP, and HAZARD INSURANCE policies. 4. I made the request for the CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE with ENDORSEMENT via the SALESPERSON, at the time the contract was written; via the young lady who answered the phone when I called to verify that the contract had been received by your office; and AGAIN, a third time, when I returned a call to Jeff Kasivo to schedule the appointment - again leaving a message with the young woman in your office - after Jeff left me a voice mail message indicating that he had two different possible dates during which he could schedule the replacement of my skylight; 5. Since you failed to deliver the CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE an endorsement showing me as a NAMED INSURED, the contract is no longer a valid. 6. Because you failed to provide us with the requested CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE, listing me as a NAMED INSURED, we will not be paying you a 25% cancelation fee for work not performed because we canceled a contract when you failed to provide the requested CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE showing me as a NAMED INSURED and will now notify both the City of Chicago and the office of the States Attorney of the State of Illinois of your failure to provide the certificate and demand for payment. My review of Windy City Skylights stands, as both originally written [below] and amended above. ==================================================================== ORIGINAL 3 August, 2011: Summary: My experience was, with the exception of the Sales person, Mark, extremely disappointing and I would not recommend that anyone use Windy City Skylights. I contacted Windy City Skylights on approximately 11 July, 2011, shortly after Chicago's microburst hail storms took out a skylight on the second floor bathroom of our home on the west side of Chicago. The salesman., Mark, called and setup an appointment to come and see the damaged skylight. He came out on 13 July, 2011 and was courteous and prompt. He wrote an estimate for $940.00 for a 22" X 22" replacement Velux Curb-Mounted skylight and flashing. Mark explained it would take less than a day to do the work and they were running about two weeks behind right now because of the weather related storm damage. I responded with the fact that I would have to schedule the work when I could take time off work to be home and would contact him. Mark called several times during the next week to verify that I still wanted to have the work done. I said, "Yes, but I am trying to find a window of time so I can schedule with you." On Friday, 29 July, I faxed back a signed agreement for the work to be done and called the office for Windy City Skylights. The young lady who answered the phone thanked me for sending back the signed acceptance and explained that she would have someone call me to schedule the appointment. At that time of my call to Windy City Skylight I also indicated that I needed a FIRM DATE AND TIME, as I had to take time off work so I could be at the house. I also indicated that I needed an ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE, with me being A NAMED INSURED on the certificate MAILED TO DIRECTLY TO ME BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY. I indicated that FAXED, PHOTO-COPIED, or E-MAILED certificates of insurance were NOT valid because it was too easy to forge them. She paused for a few seconds and indicated that they would take care of the certificate of insurance and someone would call me to schedule an appointment. for the installation. On 29 July, 2011, at 15.10 hours, Jeff Kasivo called me and left a message on my cell phone stating that Windy City Skylights had two openings for installation dates: one on Wednesday, 3 August, 2011, and one on Friday, 5 August, 2011. I called the office back and asked for Jeff. The young lady who answered the phone indicated that Jeff was not in the office and I then told her he had left a message on my cell phone, indicating the available dates, and that I could take off Wednesday, 3 August, 2011. I asked her to have Jeff call me to CONFIRM the appointment and, stipulated five [5] items regarding the appointment: I needed someone to CALL AND CONFIRM the appointment DATE; The appointment needed to be as EARLY AS POSSIBLE so I could schedule someone to be at the house once the work started and I could go to work; I needed a CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE with me as the NAMED INSURED. The CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE must be an ORIGINAL and issued to me by their Insurance company - that faxed, photo copied, e-mailed, or PDF files were not valid copies of original Certificated of Insurance because they are too easily forged. Once again she paused for a few seconds; I would require a RELEASE OF LEIN for the items installed prior to payment for the new skylight and flashing. - NO ONE EVER CALLED BACK TO CONFIRM THE APPOINTMENT DATE OR TIME. - NO CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE WAS RECEIVED FROM WINDY CITY SKYLIGHTS INSURANCE COMPANY. This morning, at 08.21, I called and asked to speak to Jeff to find out if someone would be at my house to replace the skylight and also asked him WHERE my CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE was. The young lady who answered the phone said she would try to get him on the phone for me and came back to tell me that she could not reach him. Just before hanging up, she told me he was calling and asked me if she would like him to call me. I said, "yes, please have him call me." At 08.40 hours, Jeff returned my call from his cell phone. He said the installers were on the way but he did not know when they would be here because he could not reach them - they were not answering their cell phones which were going directly to voice mail. I then asked Jeff why he did not call me to verify the appointment after I returned his voice mail message on Friday, 29 July at 15.10 hours and he said he always calls his customers to confirm the appointments. I told him I have no record of the call in our call logs - all automated, showing all incoming and outgoing calls, number called, duration of call, etc. I also told him I had not received a certificated of insurance with an endorsement naming me as the named insured; that Angie’s list recommends getting such a certificate and my insurance company specifically stated that I should receive an ORIGINAL, not a photo copy, faxed copy, e-mail copy, or PDF copy as they are way too easy to forge. He then said he was not aware of such a requirement and did not know why the certificate of insurance had not been issued. I then indicated that I had told his office that this was a requirement and needed to be sent directly from their insurance company, BEFORE any work would be allowed. He wanted to argue about the validity of my request for an original certificate of insurance and kept insisting that he had called and verified the appointment for this morning. I told him that I was canceling the job. If Windy City Skylights could not respond to a simple request for an ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE, showing me as a NAMED INSURANCE and Windy City Skylights could not CONFIRM an appointment in advance of the work and keep the scheduled appointment - ON TIME, they would not get any business from me. ALWAYS MAKE CERTAIN YOU HAVE AN ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE WITH AN ENDORSEMENT SHOWING THE PROPERTY OWNER AS A NAMED INSURED ON THE CONTRACTOR'S INSURANCE POLICY BEFORE YOU ALLOW ANY WORK TO BEGIN. Failure to acquire a certificate of insurance, naming you as a named insured, can result in your being held responsible for any damage or accidents caused by employees of the company doing the work on your property.

I called Windy City Skylights the morning after a hailstorm to replace a skylight in one of my apartments. Jeff K., the general manager, was swamped with calls but he squeezed me in that morning and came out to give me an estimate. The skylight was so old the whole frame had to be replaced because it was bent and rusted. Jeff was knowledgeable and explained what type of skylight I needed. He showed me the catalog and explained that my skylight had to be custom made because it was an odd size. They installed it three weeks later and it looks nice. The only negative I experienced was that they don't take credit cards and they didn't tell me that when I called. I wish they had told me that upfront. After I met with Jeff I had to go home, write a check and go to the post office to mail it because I needed it done ASAP. But I appreciate them getting it installed so quickly.

UPDATE: Mr. Eigel and/or Mr. Culbertson, This review was neither entered in error, nor submitted maliciously against Windy City Skylights without basis on an actual event. Perhaps you should discuss this matter with your Residential Salesperson, Mark again. Mark came out to my home on Tuesday, June 7, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. Ironically, Mark contacted me within 48 hours of submitting my initial report to Angie's List. At that time, he discussed a product I was adamant about NOT wanting when he came out to give the initial estimate. Mark went on to assure me that he would fax and email an estimate. I have not received that estimate via fax or email. Mark contacted me again yesterday, July 18, 2011, with yet another estimate containing the correct product information, that was to be faxed and emailed. I have yet to receive that estimate as well. Please note that Mark confirmed both email address and fax number. While I have made attempts and was promised an estimate SEVERAL times, I have yet to receive one. I do, however, have phone records to prove any communication to date. While Windy City Skylights may service more than 850 residential customers every year, it is obvious that I am one that "slipped through the cracks". I left messages with Amber at Windy City Skylights twice before receiving a call back. Once the appointment was set, Mark came out to give me an estimate for 3 skylights located in the foyer of my home. I was told since my skylights were not Velux, and outside of the "standard" sizes of residential skylights, they would need to contact the manufacturer for a price. I was assured an estimate would be presented within a few days. I have yet to hear back from anyone at Windy City Skylights. Yes, I received the red flag trying to make an appointment. However, the reviews here on Angie's List swayed me to push forward anyway. How can I possibly utilize services of a company that is non-responsive? I will continue searching for a professional company to repair my skylights.

We saw Windy City Skylights at a local home show. We also talked with several roofers for replacing 4 aging acrylic skylights with 4 Velux skylights. The quote that we received from Windy City was far and above the highest bid. After talking with both Jeff and Mark it became obvious that these two guys know more about skylights than all of the roofing companies combined so we scheduled the job to Windy City. Two guys showed up at 8am for the one day install. By the time they finished it was 8 pm, so figure two guys at 12 hours is 24 hour labor. They were very professional. The day looked like rain so they said they would operate in rain safe mode. Instead of taking all of the old skylights out at once, they would complete them one at a time to limit the exposure. Good thing. Throughout the day it switched from sun to rain at least 4 times. Plastic was put down in the house and sunroom to protect the interior from debry and water. 95% of the work was done on the roof. They even installed the finish trim and painted from the roof. Throughout the day they kept working even during the rain. The result is an extremely professional looking installation. I'm confident that if I choose a lower priced install team I would end op with a poor fit and finish.

I will not use this company. Their website promises one thing and their practice seems to be completely different.

I had several quotes, and Windy City Skylight was BY FAR the best price. They even honored the Angie's List online coupon and even added an extra discount. The sales person that came and looked at the skylight was courteous and explained in detail about skylights. Other company's quote gave vague information or not even brochures about the product that was going to be installed and expected me to go find out. From Windy City, I got a complete run down with a packet of information with what skylights I was getting and options for all kinds of skylights. Windy City came out and it appears that they did an excellent job. I can actually see the sky! It gives me peace of mind that they guarantee a 10-year warranty for their work and 15-year warranty on the skylights themselves because I'm not sure how the skylights will hold up over time. Also, I'm not sure if they do the warranty for all their work. They were professional and courteous in general. Customer service and courtesy is the second most important after price, and they were great with both. Thanks Windy City Skylights!

I was very pleased from start to finish. The installer came on a rainy day and managed to install the skylights without anything getting wet. He even replaced the "curbs" which to me looked rotted but were not...and he knew they were not but did it anyway because I ask. The interior was completed finished, caulked & painted. No detail was left undone.

Jeff came out and helped us decide what size best fit the room. Actually talked us out of a bigger size I had in mind. He took his time and made sure we were clear on what this would entail. Chad was the installer and was fantastic. He arrived on time and was very accommodating throughout the project. It took 3 days start to finish. I am impressed with the high quality finish work Chad provided including the finish painting of the entire ceiling. The solar powered light filtering roller shade is really cool!

The cmpany did a great job and I love the new solar light.

After the hailstorm, there were a lot of roofers up and down the street. I had one of them come inspect my roof and he said that I needed to replace my roof, skylights and the siding. They insurance company gave me $4,000 for 2 skylights that I was going to replace anyway. I spent $2,000 or $3,000 on that work. Everything went just fine. They were punctual, good communication and the price was right. The job turned out beautiful.

After calling, the representative came out and looked at the job. We scheduled the job for a couple of weeks later, due to our own schedule conflicts. Thye were able to do the work much sooner. We decided on two 14" Sun Tunnels. The one in the bathroom had to go where the exhaust fan was, so they moved the exhaust fan over a couple of feet. They did not charge us extra for this. The hallway sklylight could not go where we originally were going to place it because of a conflict with electrical in the attic. But it is fine where we finally agreed to place it. I was really impressed when they returned the next day to touch up the ceiling paint. These Sun Tunnels are great! Our interior bathroom is well lit- even in the morning and evening. And the hallway unit even lights up the entire stairway. The only snag was they overcharged us $50 and we didn't catch it when we wrote the check. But we called their office and we had a refund check in under a week - a very satisfactory resolution!

Four years ago, I replace two of my three skylights because a metal strip at the bottom of the skylights caused condensation during cold weather. The company that replaced the skylights four years ago, used the exact same type of skylight and blamed the problem on poor caulking. When the same condensation problem occurred, the company told me that additional caulking was required. During late fall through early spring each year, warm air would rise, condensate and then drip. In early January (2010) I called Bill. Within a few days, he sent Tom to look at my skylights and give me an estimate. He did not oversell. I accepted the proposal the next day. In less than a week, the skylights were installed. There was no mess and they skyoights look great. For the first time in six years, I have no condensation and no dripping. Windy City Skylights was a pleasure to work with - from start to finish. I will definitely work with them again on my next home.

While the install required greater time than usual (given the obstructions identified above) the installer constantly kept me in the loop so that there were no surprises upon job completion. Overall, I am extremely pleased with the total install and the incredible amount of light this sky tunnel provides to a windowless and and what was a very dark master bath. The optional light unit comes in handy during heavy cloudy days and of course during nighttime.

I called them and they came and replaced the skylight. They did pretty much what I expected from them and did a fine job.

They are very good to deal with, from the office staff, the sales rep and the installer. They take their time and do the job the right way. They are very concerned that you are satisfied and will even call you a few weeks later to ask you if everything is ok with their work.

They were good. The windows look good and they work very efficiently. They did the work beautifully and the windows were exactly what they said they would be. They did the work on time and they cleaned up after themselves.

While they were late the first day, they did stay late to meet the estimate of two days to complete the work. They prepped the area very well, worked efficiently and left the area very clean at the end. The work they did was done very professionally and they took the time to fully explain the operation of the new skylights.

Windy City sent an estimator to my house. He was very thorough. He had a question about the electrical work required and brought in their electrician so there would be no surprises. They were very careful to obtain all information about the job so that an accurate estimate could be prepared. We agreed on an installation date. On the day of installation, the installers arrived on time. They took care to prepare the area where they would be working. Installation went smoothly. They tested to be sure everything worked smoothly. One issue arose that has not yet been resolved. The electrician accidentally broke one glass globe on my dining room chandelier. He apologized and has ordered a replacement. It has not yet come in.

These guys were very well priced and all they do is skylights. I paid $925 with them and someone else wanted thousands for the same job. They are very good at communicating and are very professional. They give professional written estimates.