Brookside Home Improvement

Co never responded

It went well

Good job. Very professional.

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When the windows were ready, Eric's crew were very professional and knew their job well. Everything was done in the day, and looked great. However, I was unhappy about a couple of things, which I brought up to Eric. First, I decided I liked having a clearer view of the sky/outside in two of the rooms. After the fact, I wished I had ordered half screens, so that the upper half of the window had no screen to peer through. (I never had full screens previously) Anyway, Eric ordered these for me, and I had to pay the extra price. This was 100 % my mistake, and I just did not think about that reason for which screen to order. The other item for my unhappiness was the fact there were no handles on my double hung windows. Another company had it included on their quote, yet it was not listed on Eric'c proposal. Eric explained that many people do not want handles due to their window dressing - shades/curtains/whatever. Anyway, I definitely wanted handles, and these had to be ordered. As Marvin does not ship windows with the handles installed, this was a minor inconvenience. Eric ordered the handles for me. Then, things started to not go right with the paint company. They were great until it came to staining / varnishing the new windows. I first noticed all the vertical jambs had varnish / stain on it, which Marvin instructs you to keep clean, or they will become brittle over time. Although the paint company did a good job cleaning the jambs, there was enough damage to just replace them. Eric helped me work with the local Marvin distributor, and a Marvin service person came out and replaced them. The paint company agreed to pay for this cost. At the same time, I noticed a bunch of small spots over all the windows, this being from the stain / varnish work. The paint company then cleaned the windows of these spots. Well, on the Saturday the Marvin service person was replacing the jambs, it was sunny, and other damage to the windows was noticed. Except for one room, there were all these light scrape marks along the outside edges of the windows, and the Marvin service person told me this is from not properly cleaning the window after staining/ varnishing. Ouch! The only way to repair this was to repalce these expensive sashes. I immediately called the lady paint company owner, and she was not available. Here is where Eric got involved, as he helped co-ordinate the Marvin distributor manager to come out and meet with me and the painter. This gentleman confirmed all the damage, and that one sash(inside mark), was Marvin's fault. The paint lady owner was there with her crew chief, and fully agreed all the scratches were her companies' fault, and that she would contact her insurance. Since then, she has not returned any e-mails or phone calls. I will write her story when it is fully over. The Marvin manager mentioned he had a stain/varnish specialist who would stain your windows at their business.

Very responsive on the phone. Punctual and professional when making proposal. Came out and remeasured an additional time to ensure all windows would be perfect. The caulking around one window was poorly done and Eric promptly sent an employee back out to redo that portion of the work without any dispute. Pricing was significantly lower than competing bids. Clean up was adequate despite the start of rain as they were completing the job.

For energy efficiency and safety, we wanted to replace all of the windows in the original part of our home. This involved 10 windows of varying sizes. We received estimates from 4 companies, all "A" rated Angie's List firms. Brookside came in with the best estimate and provided the most information. Eric was very responsive to phone calls and juggling scheduling to meet our needs. The installers were here early, stopped only for lunch and cleaned up everything before leaving. No surprises - just excellent service all around. Would highly recommend.

I chose Brookside from Angie's List based on their reports and they came to my neighborhood. I had done a lot of homework on siding and window cost, and was impressed when Eric's quote came in virtually on the dime. He was very thorough in going through the house and telling us what to replace (and what should remain), and in helping us choose siding colors and door styles. He has the patience of a saint - we were very indecisive. He also had to wait while we refinanced which took longer than expected. Once everything was decided and money secured, we had another wait - the Marvin windows took a few weeks to come. Once the crew got going, the work went amazingly fast and efficiently. A gigantic dumpster arrived one day, and practically the next day it was almost full. What a sight to see the house stripped to the planks - sometimes a foot wide. Our 2 man team, Bogdan and Pawel, were both VERY hardworking and meticulous. I think they even stacked the dumpster neatly! Everyday except Sundays they were there before 8am, and often didn't leave until 6pm. (Well, Pawel took off one day to be with his wife while she had their first baby - congrats Pawel!) They spent at least 45 min. each day cleaning the job site - never a mess. My gardens were left virtually intact. When inside the house, they were very quiet, efficient, respectful. Our sunporch turned out to be almost completely rotten, bad foundation, improper roof (all beams were wet), so an additional crew was brought in to do the repairs. They too worked very well and carefully - showing us everything that was needed which included pouring new footings - they practically rebuilt the entire thing. Now it not only looks great but it is secure and stable. The colors we chose turned out great - Bogdan had several recommendations regarding detail on the house that were always the right thing to do. He really knows his stuff. The entire house is not only sealed and warm but looks amazing. Eric always kept us up to date and informed on progress. Our payments were minimal at the beginning, a mid payment of about 1/2, a payment at completion of porch rebuild, and final payment upon completion. A small issue with the Marvin windows was corrected, and a Marvin rep came out and is making them perfect, so we are fans of theirs too. Overall, we could not have asked for a better company to do the work. They are all really great, and so nice too - not pushy, not unhappy! Really nice guys and extremely hardworking. Our next door neighbor was so impressed with the job that he is getting a quote for his house! Please note - "higher than estimate" only due to unexpected porch rebuild cost. Main job was right on.

Responsive at first but not very professional as far as setting up appointments. They were working in the area and wanted to swing by one day. The one day he called to stop by I wasn't home. He didn't return my call after that. I called him two weeks later and we set up an appointment. He arrived late but called to let me know. He turned the estimates around in about a week. What he didn't win points with me was this: I wanted the deck clad in cedar and the understructure needed to be built in pressure treated lumber code in our town. He insisted that I should use pressure treated for the whole thing. I told him no and then on his estimate he still insisted that we use pressure treated. I felt like he was "chicking me." Ultimately we went with someone else that was more responsive and gave us a better price. This company gave me the highest price out of three and it was considerably higher twice to a third as high as others. I don't think this is a bad place they do a lot of work rebuilding front porches in our area and the work is good. They just weren't a good fit for me.

It was a great job. They were on time, when they said they'd come. They were courteous and respectful. I thought the price was reasonable, exactly what they said it would be.

The quoting process went very well. They were very responsive to all of our questions and concerns regarding the product, their services and the contract. Work will begin in about 2 months.

I felt this was very unprofessional and it took him 2 to 3 days to return my call.

I called Eric and he met me at the property the same day. I told him what I was looking for. He measured the door and told me that the install/removal would take several hours. He told me they would remove the old door, and when installing the new door would put insulation around the outside, caulk inside and out and then cover the outside with metal cladding to finish it off. His crew arrived on time. They were very careful to not damage anything. Put down drop cloths. Did the job. They were very meticulous, cleaned up the work area and even washed the glass and removed any fingerprints. When they installed the latch they said it should be smoother..it worked ok to me, but there was a little binding in it. They told me they would notify Eric. The next day a technician came out from the manufacturer to adjust the latch so it worked perfectly. It just doesn't get any better than this. I am planning on having some more work done in my kitchen and Eric is the first person I'll call.

They did an excellent job and their price was good compared to the quality. They were quick to get there and remained till the work was done.They cleaned up after them selves well.

We sought a number of bids through Angie's List and were not as happy with the responses (or lack thereof). Nyberg was more expensive and Sitko was very inexpensive without any of the details included in the bid (i.e., a roof as opposed to the materials being quoted). The professionals at Brookside were responsive to our needs as homeowners and the needs of our neighbors. They cleaned up daily and were polite and courteous to our neighbors as well as us! We would certainly hire Brookside again.

Eric the owner came and gave me an estimate ( I got five) and his was the lowest. Upon pressing him for the type of window he would put it in - (he didn't give me any details about it, compared to the other salesmen, who had brought sample mini-windows) he told me the were locally manufactured windows in Chicago. He doesn't have a showroom, which keeps his costs down, so I went to the Chicago showroom for the windows and saw that they were pretty cheap. So he gave me a quote on better windows, Alside, and his price was still $280 cheaper than another company for the same windows. If I hadn't been able to check other reports on Eric from Angie's List I don't know if I would have gone with him, but they were all positive. He also was able to install them almost a month sooner than the others -about three weeks after ordering them. His two guys arrived and did the job as described above. The windows look great, and transform our sunroom porch, which previously had completely sealed up windows.

We were very happy with the work performed by Brookside. They provided good advice throughout the decision making process, and were responsive to all our calls and questions. The actual work was completed well within the time frame promised. We are very happy with the finished product.

I was very happy from start to finish with Brookside. Eric is very personable and forthcoming with information about the work to be done. His quote was the best of 3 that I received. He spent a lot of time taking measurements and inspecting the basement door, as it was such an unusual size. Unlike the other companies I talked to, Eric was not at all daunted by replacing the door. I had to postpone the work due to illness and when I called Eric to reschedule he was able to schedule the work within the week. The two men that did the actual work were punctual and professional and did the job relatively quickly. I wasn't able to remove all of the hardware from the window blinds, so they did it without asking and saved them for me, instead of just tearing them down. They removed all of the debris and completely cleaned up after they were done. The new windows and door are exactly what I wanted and expected and they are a noticeable improvement over what was there before.

Every aspect of this project went well, and Eric was great to work with. He came out quickly to look at the job and follow up with an estimate. We received estimates from other top rated Angie s List siding contractors, and they were all comparable. We went with Brookside because we felt that they would pay the most attention to detail and do the nest job of updating our home s exterior while retaining as much of the original character of the home as possible and that is what he and his crew accomplished. Eric had suggestions for color and accents that look fantastic on the finished house. His crew began the job a few weeks earlier than expected, finished the job quickly, and was diligent about keeping the job site clean; something that was very important to us. Overall an excellent experience. Brookside is someone that we would like to work with again for other exterior work.

They did a great gob. We were astounded that they completed the entire project in 2.5 days, including cleanup. His time estimate of start date was right on, and he completed the project in less time than he estimated (2.5 versus 3 days). One minor flaw with one of the windows was addressed and fixed the very next day after calling him about it. So far the window quality and installation quality seem excellent. They even were happy to remove and reinstall our window treatments, and to move some shelving around in our basement to access those windows. They really left minimal trace of their work, besides the great looking windows! Overall, no complaints. Just happy customers.

Very professional. Kept work site clean. Prompt and got the job done. Great quality.

The work went smoothly. We got an estimate from Brookside because two neighbors highly recommended them. We also got an estimate from another top-rated Angie's List contractor, and it came in twice as high as what Brookside proposed. It is a bit difficult to judge the aesthetics because our garage itself is a bit tilty, so there is no way for the siding, soffit, and fascia to be aligned at perfect right angles. But the work is holding up well in the two months since it was completed - through a number of thunderstorms and a tornado. Eric is very pleasant and easy to work with, and only required $50 down. (He also pointed me to another contractor for some smaller jobs, and that worked out well.) The work started within several weeks of signing the contract; given that the siding needed to be ordered, that seemed very reasonable. It was done in a day and a half. UPDATE: We gathered several estimates and were planning to go with Brookside for a new front door. The door would be tricky to install because the opening was a bit off size. After hearing several contractors propose different solutions, we decided on the solution we felt was best (primarily because it would not involve a threshold that would be several inches off the ground, creating a tripping hazard). It would require cutting into the tile floor on the porch. Eric was grudging about doing it that way, but agreed to, so we decided to stick with him since we liked the line of doors he sold and we'd had the good experience in the past. However, he could not be bothered to get us the doorknob we wanted. It was a basic Schlage doorknob, available with all the other standard models on the Schlage website. It must have been a newer design, because it was not in his brochure. (He did not have an extra brochure he could leave with me to pick a doorknob, which is why I had checked the website.) I picked an alternative that was in his brochure, but we decided we really preferred the other one. So, I sent an email asking if we could provide the doorknob ourselves and deduct the cost from his bill. (It was available on Amazon for $40, so it really would not have involved much effort on his part to have gotten it for us in the first place.) Eric sent a terse, one-sentence response noting that he would not install the door! This was very frustrating, after all the time spent choosing a door, and figuring out how to install it. All for the best, though: the door manufacturer referred me to a great contractor (R.A. James) who installed the same door, the way we wanted. (In fact, he proposed that installation on his own, after evaluating the situation.) He charged us less, and he got us the doorknob we liked, no problem - even though it wasn't in his brochure, either!

Excellent workers, on time, polite, wonderful clean-up.

VERY GOOD COMPANY TO WORK WITH. VERY RESPONSIVE WITH EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE.