Creative Horizons International Inc

My wife and I just bought our first home in Lake Zurich and realized we had major moisture/mold and water problems, especially in the crawl space. A cursory examination of the gutters showed them to be badly in need of replacement, and before we had the crawlspace done we wanted to eliminate the gutters as a source of water. I knew I wanted seamless gutters, and through various research and using Angie?s List I zeroed in quickly on Creative Horizons International (C.H.I.), a small, Palatine-based company run by Craig Grossman, that had far more reports than anyone else and nearly 100% ?A?s. My wife met with Craig for the estimate and was singing his praises from the get-go, citing his astonishing thoroughness in giving her as much information as possible in order to make an informed decision. We got estimates with a couple other companies, but both of us wanted to go with C.H.I. After some time had passed getting estimates on everything else that was needed on the house, and needing to get the gutters done first, I called Craig late Sunday afternoon and left a voice mail asking him to call as soon as he was able. He called me back that evening after doing other projects all day, and I told him we wanted to get the gutters done. Unfortunately he was backlogged for the next five weeks solid: a stunning testament to just how much C.H.I. is in demand (they also do siding and windows). Once I told him that we needed to get the gutters replaced within the next week, Craig went to great lengths to find a way to fit us in on such short notice. After checking with his foreman Andy that scheduling would allow it, Craig had his crew in to perform the work on Tuesday morning, a day and a half after I had first called him! Craig not only thoroughly explained how the Alside perforated cap system on the gutters works to prevent buildup of water and debris in the gutter buckets more effectively than other leading brands (Alside is the only brand he uses), but brought samples when we met on Monday night to finalize everything for Tuesday morning so I could see how the system works. Fortunately Tuesday was a beautiful day with nary a cloud in the sky, and installation went without a hitch. In addition to finding a corner where the old gutters had not met up and fixing that, they also custom-built a small piece to close off a gap where the slope of the roof changed that flowed perfectly with the house. Although I asked for extensions and he could have simply said ?Of course,? Craig advised me that I could get them at Home Depot much cheaper, to save us money. We appreciated that. They worked nonstop until the job was finished, and then carefully picked up everything around the house related to the install. By 3 p.m. they were gone. Thanks to C.H.I. and their willingness to fit us in rather than risk losing a new customer, we were able to get brand-new seamless gutters and meet our timeline for getting everything else done with the house. Eventually we will need to get new windows and siding, and when we do, we plan to call C.H.I.

Home maintenance and repair is hard enough when you have a general idea of what is wrong and how to fix it and even more challenging when you must rely on ?experts? to explain and resolve the issues. Adding to the complexity is the differences of opinion these ?experts? will give as well as prices they quote for the fix. However, Craig Grossman, President of CHI, breaks the mold and sets the bar. Rather than push for an unneeded replacement or upgrade of our existing exterior siding and capping, Craig listened to our issues and suggested practical and cost-effective alternatives to the problems. Additionally, when his team (Andy) found additional trouble areas, Craig communicated with me and addressed them fairly and to my complete satisfaction. While Craig and CHI won?t necessarily be the cheapest solution, their price is more than justified by their honesty, integrity, professionalism, communication, and craftsmanship. I would highly recommend CHI to anyone who understands the value of great work at an honest price. I definitely plan on using CHI again.

He met with me at the time I requested, spent more time "selling" his company and pointed out two other potential problems involving my siding. He gave me a verbal estimate that day but declined to provide a written proposal. His price was considerably higher than another contractor who I am using. I downgraded him on professionalism because of his unwillingness to provide a written proposal.

I called Craig for a free estimate on our window replacement project. He showed up exactly on time. The first thing he asked was why we needed new windows! It's not everyday that a salesman tries to make sure you really need their product. As I was explaining the background, we got to talking about our storm door and how I was planning to potentially replace that as well. In great detail, Craig explained that the door we had was of excellent quality and that a new door was not really required. He spent 15 minutes that day and about 30 minutes at a later date re-aligning the door so that it shut completely (which, needless to day, it was not doing before). He also installed new closers on the storm door. He could have easily sold us $4000 worth of services by talking us into replacing the door. The fact that he did not speaks volumes to his honesty and integrity. And I should add that he did not charge us for this labor. He spent more than 2 hours that day doing a detailed study of the windows and explaining all aspects of the job. He encouraged any and all questions and answered them to our satisfaction. Over the following weeks, he was constantly in touch via email - his response times are fanstastic and he often got back to me much before I expected an answer. On install day, his wonderful crew - Doug, Greg and two others (whose names I unfortunately do not know) - showed up bright and early, set up in the garage and started work right away. I cannot emphasize enough the professionalism and courtesy that his crew handled the job with. It was plain to see that they take great pride in their work and customer satisfaction is top priority. Doug has wonderful carpentry skills and he custom-made the casings on site and installed them in no time. Greg took great pains to align the windows just right given that some of the walls were not completely straight. The windows look and feel wonderful. We noticed their effectiveness the very next day in our MBR - it now stays much cooler than before and we can turn the A/C down a bit. A wonderful experience overall.

From the original meeting with Craig to the final window installed the experience was superb. Craig explained everything clearly and the final job exceed my expectations. I can tell anyone looking for windows DO NOT waste your time with the sales guys that tell you they have a one day sale or are doing a job down the street and the price is good only today. Craig and CHI are so up front and honest that he would not even let us sign a contract the first time we met. I met with 5 companies to get quotes and almost had to call the cops on half of them they would not leave my house and just flat out lied about pricing. There are also a lot of companies (including many advertising on TV) that will tell you their windows qualify for the tax credit and do not. Craig made it very clear that the windows we bought do qualify. He was very careful during installation and even rescheduled our original install date due to bad weather. There were a lot of issues with our old windows and everything was completed to the highest level of detail. I look for many happy returns to Craig and his crew to our house for future jobs.

He knew what he was doing and believed in his product. We went with him because he seemed to know his stuff. His workers were good because they were creative and came up with something that would work for me. His price was in the middle of some of our other quotes.

We sought out the services of Creative Horizons because of its reputation for doing excellent work.We were not disappointed.From the start to the end dealing with this company was a very positive and worthwhile experience.Motivated by a desire to please and meet our expectations and to excel in his endeavors,Craig Grossman was painstaking in his efforts to meet these goals.Craig's commitment to excellence was evident throughout our interactions with him.He was not only very thorough in explaining our options and the advantages of using the products he recommended but also in shepherding the completion of the work.In terms of the latter,he visited our home every day to check on the progress of the work and to ensure that we were satisfied with it.Further,his crew that did the work was outstanding.They are hardworking,skilled individuals who take pride in their work which is of high quality.We are very pleased with their results.

We had this done at the same time we had the siding replaced and things went very smootly. The windows look great, make such a huge difference. The install for all the windows took only 1 day. Craig (the owner), had measured and remeasured several times to make sure. The windows we had installed qualify for the energy tax credit, so we should get $1,500 back next year on our taxes, nice bonus.

I have a whole "new" house. Craig, the owner, was very attentive and honest the whole time. He called and/or came by the house everyday that the work was being done. I had siding, windows and roofing done all the same time. We had some unexpected wood rot when the old siding was removed and Craig informed us right away and Andre rebuilt several areas on our house and garage. The guys cleaned up every night. Andre and his crew were very respectful and works so hard. Andre installed new exterior lights that I had bought. I cannot explain how much I love my "new" house. Overall, things went very smoothly and I felt like Craig took care of all the details and cared about us.

The roof looks great! Peter and his crew did a wonderful job. I have had a chronic leak and no one could fix it. I had part of the roof replaced 6 years ago in an attempt to fix the leak-->did not work. Peter and his crew found where the leak was coming from and fixed it. We have had several good rain storms since the roof replaced and no water!! We did have more wood rot than expected and it was replaced. They did a great job!!

Craig's company did some work on our house a few years ago and we were very pleased with him and the work so we called him when we decided to replace the garden window, which was installed by a different company in 1990. He carefully measured the frame several times and told us that he would send one of his crew to do the work while they were in the area for bigger job. Andre took about three hours to remove the old window, install the new one and clean up quite well inside and outside. We are happy with the work.

Craig came out and gave a great demonstration on the windows he sells which are Alside. He was the last of three companies to give an estimate and after talking to him I felt the most comfortable having him work on my house. We ordered the windows and they were delivered and installed three weeks ahead of schedule. The installers were very professional and did a great job installing the windows. I would highly recommend Craig to anyone looking for windows.

Craig gave a very detailed presentation on his windows about which he is very passionate and knowledgeable. I had heard a few other window presentations and liked his product. As soon as the windows came in, he set up an installation date. Everything proceeded smoothly. I had a question about one window and Craig came out promptly and put in some extra insulation for me. He also checked all of the other windows to make sure everything was OK, which I appreciated. I am very pleased with the pricing, the product, and the service.

I left messages for 3 companies requesting estimates for new gutters. I placed the calls on a Friday, not expecting to hear back from anyone 'til Monday. On Saturday Craig Grossman from Creative Horizons called me and left a message saying he was out of town, but would be back in his office Monday and would try me again then. When he called back I questioned how to discern between needing new gutters or merely repairing them. He walked me through a very simple test -- simply putting a magnet on the downspout. That revealed them to be galvanized which meant they hadn't been updated in a very long time and needed replacing. Craig came out to measure and estimate the job within a few days and emailed an estimate very quickly. In a subsequent phone conversation he had told me how proud he was of this business which his father had started in the 1960's. It was very obvious that he was service-oriended, knowledgeable and had a superior work ethic. For these reasons, I hired him for the job, although his bid was not the lowest. The scheduling was postponed several times due to weather, and each time, Craig not only left me voice mail update, but also emailed me with the new projected start date. His workers and replaced all gutters and downspouts on a large 2-story house in less than 2 days. They probably would have done it faster had it not rained. The installers were considerate, neat and clean. After the job was completed, Craig came and pointed out an extra downspout that had been added at no charge, because it was needed. I was extremely pleased with the work and the level of service. I would use them again on future projects.

We looked at several window companies thinking they were all pretty much the same. We knew we needed new windows for the house and with the 50% off discounts that were being offered, the timing seemed right. The first time we had Craig come over for a demo of his windows, he explained all of the things to watch out for when buying replacement windows and sold us on the Alside windows. Researching a little more confirmed the sales pitch. Craig is passionate about what he does and it shows in the customer service he provides. His estimate was competitive with the other companies that we looked at, but the quality is much higher. He walked us through every step of the process and we never had to wonder what was going on. We even had to purchase additional windows for a different project after the replacements windows had been delivered and Craig was able to expedite the delivery of the new windows to meet the schedule of the other project. We were extremely happy with the customer service and the quality of the windows and work performed by Creative Horizons. We would not consider replacement windows through any other company.

Wonderful experience. We were very nervous about getting new windows. There are so many products and the prices really vary. We did our research and then interviewed 3 companies; no one compared to the Alside product and the customer service from Craig is just amazing. He really took care of us and made the experience enjoyable. We really have noticed a difference in the heating in our home. Our children's rooms used to be the coldest in the house and now they are the warmest. We can't believe the difference. Also, the noise reduction on the main level of our home is much appreciated. Finally, in our old home I had windows that flipped in to clean but it was very hard to do. These windows are so easy to operate and clean. Last night I was cleaning the window over my sink and my sister in law could not believe how well the window functioned. She was really impressed. We are completely satisfied with the entire process, the ordering, the time it took for the windows to come in, the delivery, the installation, and working with Craig; he really is dedicated, dependable, and honest. How refreshing! The installation crew was great as well; they were easy to communicate with, respected my home and got things done early. We will hire Craig to replace the siding on our home when we are ready. I completely trust him and know that he carries a great product. I want to add one additional thing: we really wanted beige windows and Craig really worked with us on this. It was important to us so he made it important to him. We had to pay a little extra but we wanted it to match our home. I highly recommend the beige - we love it!

It was a total pleasure to do business with CHI and its owner, Craig Grossman. He made his presentation (low pressure) of the products that would be used to replace windows and side our home. I checked out other lines of windows and siding, and his quality was superior, to all other products I checked out, plus their guarantee of lifetime seals on the window seals could not be better. The windows are all made to order, as not to require changing or modifying the room moldings, and were all installed from the outside. The work was completed in the time span promised, every night before leaving they removed all ladders and picked up all materials. The crew could not have been better even doing some extra nice touches (like custom address over my garage door). Everything was done to perfection, at quoted price, one of the best companies I ever dealt with. If, you use them you won't be disappointed.

Everything was on schedule and as promised. We received an estimate the same day we called, and we were informed when the window arrived and when it would be installed. The installation went smoothly. Clean-up was thorough. We got three estimates for this job. Creative Horizon's price was about the same as another company offering an inferior product and considerably less than the third company.

I called CHI and Craig called back right away. We scheduled an appointment for him to come to our house and he arrived on time. Craig spent a lot of time explaining the quality of the window we would be getting and why it was important. Craig trully enjoys his work and gets excited talking about it. Craigs approach is not high pressure at all and we felt as we were talking to a long time friend. Craig put a proposal together for us, which I thought was very fair. My wife and I were both in agreement that he was the one to do the windows. We signed the contract and gave a down payment. Craig called on a regular basis to let us know how the windows were coming. He called the moment they arrived and scheduled a day for installation. The day of installation the guys showed up on time and got right to work. It was a great installation and there effort of cleaning up after themself's was unbelievable. I would refer these guys to everyone that would listen.

I was able to meet with Craig to get an estimate within a few days of contacting him. He spent a lot of time explaining the types of materials used, why they were ideal and answered all me questions. Craig is a man of integrity and of his word. He did exactly what he promised to do. He answered all his calls/e-mails promptly and followed up repeatedly throughout the process. Craig earned my trust from the beginning because he did not try to sell me new gutters and soffit/fasica in the back when only repairs were needed. He worked with my schedule to find the best days for installation. His crew led by Andre was very hard working, arrived promptly in the morning and cleaned up the site at night. They finished everything in two days. Craig visited each day to check on the progress and followed up a few times afterwards to make sure everything was done to my satisfaction. I am very happy with the end result. My house looks like it got a facelift and I love the new windows (Allside Excalibur) that Craig recommended. I would definitely use CHI again in the future and recommend this company to my friends/family.

I had heard good things about Creative Horizons, so I called them to get an estimate to replace some windows. Craig called me right back and though they don't service my community, he took the time to give me some good pointers on what to look for in a window and the company that installs them. Most would have ended the conversation after finding I lived in too far-flung of a suburb, but Craig answered some questions and even said I could call him if I had additional questions once I had some estimates. Very professional-and a nice, genuine guy.

Craig was very thorough in his presentation of the windows and he was able to answer, in detail every question my wife and I had. His knowledge of building codes and window construction saved us unnecessary expenditures on tempered glass. His installation crew was prompt, professional, quiet, and left things fairly clean, even between the two days of installation. We asked for some small details to be fixed or modified, and Craig was able to come by and fix things on the spot. We are very happy with our windows, and would recommend Creative Horizons to others.

Craig came to our home and laid out our options for replacing our existing siding and gutters. We had originally planned on getting at least one other price quote. However, the good reviews others gave Craig on several referral sites, the good impression he made on us, and his reasonable estimate of the cost of the job convinced us to select Craig without seeking any additional quotes. Within two weeks, after we selected the color and type of vinyl siding, his crew started work on our house. The project started on Monday and was completed Saturday morning. After removing the original siding, several boards on our home needed to be replaced. This was accomplished without any increase in cost above the original estimate. Andre took the time to construct a frame for our house number that we display over our garage door. Around the electrical outlets they added framing which was a nice touch. Finally, they routed the cable TV coax under the siding, which improved the appearance of that side of our house. Andre, the project supervisor, and his assistant cleaned up around our house each day after work, and when the job was completed our yard was cleaner than when the projected started. Both Andre and this assistant were very courteous throughout the job. When he came for the final inspection of the job, Craig spent over one hour determining why a light over our garage door was malfunctioning. There were two items that were not seen when Craig conducted his final inspection with us, but as they were minor we were able to address them ourselves. However, we are confident that if contacted Craig would have returned to correct them. In the weeks since the job was completed, several of our neighbors have commented on how great the new siding and gutters make our house look. Everything Craig said he would do he did, and then some. He visited our home each day and kept in touch via phone calls when he was not present, which included a call on a Saturday when Craig was out of the area. Crag seemed genuinely interested in keeping his customers happy. Overall, we give Craig and his staff our enthusiastic recommendation.

I called them to come replace my front door, however, the gentleman that I spoke to has evidentially been in the hospital. So he will come later but he does have someone who will do the job. But he is recuperating. He is such a lovely man. I am going to have him do it because he is so wonderful.

I think it is a wonderful company. He is an honest man with integrity. He checkup on his men. He listened to what we wanted and gave his input. It was a very good experience.