Independent Window Repair Inc

We purchased a home in Troy with many windows that had wood rot. On a budget, we decided some windows were so bad they had to be replaced and some could be repaired. I had 3 different companies out to estimate and discuss window repair. One estimator, who I understand used to work for IWR said all my windows were shot and I should pay $40,000 to replace all my windows. A second estimator said the windows in the back of the house were fine and just needed to be re-weather stripped and painted. He felt some windows in the front and side of the house would need to be replaced but some could be repaired. IWR drew the same conclusions as the second estimator. I went with them because they had better reviews on Angies List. Both the estimator and the installers were very candid and informative about my windows. They even gave me DIY advice on prelonging the life of windows that should be replaced but were just outside my budget to do so this year. The installers were friendly, professional, and efficient. They answered all follow up questions and gave great advice. I will certainly recommend them. The cost of repairing vs replacing saved us alot of money.

Overall, the process went well. 8 weeks from order to install (first try). Everything was not done the first time due to an error in measurement - so new glass was ordered. Unfortunately, on round 2, the second picture window cracked - but 2 weeks later all done and looking good! As an aside, IWR was on time, the team hustled, and clean up after themselves. Second, 8 weeks was NOT an awful wait for a May order. Any construction firm with no backlog, might not have healthy orders.

The workers were prompt, professional. My only issue was the agent that looked over the windows to the estimate never said that the double hung windows couldn't be repaired but would have to be replaced. I was taken by surprise when the workers came and told me those were not part of the repair. I didn't get that from the estimate either.

I had a positive experience. They are pretty on time and responsive. The cost is good. It's better than the replaced windows. I have no comparison for others. Interaction was pretty good. It turned out good. There were a few minor things here and there, but overall, good.

The price is mid range. It's not the highest and not the lowest. It sounds reasonable. When they do the painting they are also going to power wash. If they find problems, they are probably going to bring their repair guy. There was not much interaction. All estimators for the companies probably gave me the same. It was nothing special, nothing worse. It is about average. They don't give itemized price. The told how many gallons of what kind of paint. It's pretty detailed. The quality is good. They're always on time and very responsive. They are pretty professional. I haven't had the job done yet, so I don't know yet if I'll use them again.

The price was okay. They had to come back and repair it because it wasn't satisfactory. The quality was bad, which was the main thing we were concerned about. They gave us a hard time about repairing it again.

I contacted IWR about a rental house I own because the city inspector had identified two windows that had broken seals and needed to be replaced. I made it clear to them that one window was on the east side of the house, the other on the west side. I had to wait 10 days to get an estimate, but on March 23, they came back with an estimate of $258 to do the job. Their competitor, Henderson Glass, had come back with an estimate of $404 for the same job, so I went with IWR. They did the job on the date and time they said they would, though since I live a long way from the house, I did not see the work myself right away. I was not back at the house until the morning that the city inspector was scheduled to return to do the re-inspection for city rental certification. Upon inspecting the house, I saw that only one window had new glass. Several hurried calls to IWR resulted in them telling me that the estimate they'd given me was for 2 pieces of glass, but just ONE window, since they were double hung windows. The estimate I signed showed 2 pieces of glass, 4 vinyl exterior stops, plus labor and a $40 job fee. Since I told them from the start that there were two windows that needed repair, I presumed the estimate would cover the work I needed done. Before I signed the estimate, I sent this email to confirm that my problem with the inspector would be solved (boldfaced is mine, otherwise it's a simple cut and paste of the email): "This rental house was flagged by the city of Roseville inspector because he saw that these two windows had broken seals, evidenced by the smokey or opaque glass. I want to make sure that this repair will correct not only the opacity of the glass but also the "seal" issue. Moving forward with a repair that did not satisfy the inspector would be a mistake for me. Any insight you can provide on this question will be very much appreciated." Subsequent to this, I was assured by phone by Becky that this would remedy the problem. Obviously, I did not pass city re-inspection the day I discovered this problem. A few days later, I had a conversation with Matthew, the owner of the company. He apologized several times for the "confusion" but still insisted he had to charge me $216 to return to do the other window. He agreed to waive the $40 "job" charge to return. Obviously, when added to the $258 I already paid, the $474 total exceeded what Henderson glass would have charged for the entire job. Matthew said this was "just life" and that for an investment property, "two hundred bucks is not a big deal." Of course, he also insisted earlier in the conversation that there was no way he could absorb $216 because of a "misunderstanding," so I guess it's not much money when it's mine but significant when it's his. At best, this experience showed me that this company is not careful with estimates and not overly concerned with keeping their customers happy. At worst, they are flat out deceptive. Either way, I would never use their services again and would advise anyone to be VERY careful and redundant making sure you know exactly what they plan to do before you agree to have them do work.

The estimator never showed and never called. I called IWR to let them know of this No Call / No Show. They showed that I was on the schedule and were at a loss as to how I could have been overlooked. They also couldn't get a hold of the estimator either. When I asked for the next availability, I was told that it would be another week before that would happen. I would like to point out that the folks who did contact me were friendly and courteous. The scheduler was polite and apologetic as well. However, I would think that as a courtesy, the person who was supposed to come out to my residence within the agreed upon time-frame would contact me to let me know they're running late. Those things do happen in the contractor / repair world and I get that, but a no-call / no-show shows a lack of organization, courtesy, and professionalism.

Contacted provider for a window repair on 10/4, waited until 10/7 and contacted them again. Never heard from them. Perhaps they're out of business.

They're expensive. They'll come out and they're very nice when they come. They're responsive; they make appointments with you. The guys who came were very nice. They showed me how to do the work. They're very professional.

Process was fairly smooth, the technician that provided the estimate called 30 minutes before arriving and he was professional and knowledgeable. He explained the different options available and the costs. We agreed to have them do the job and gave him a deposit of 1/3 of the total. The office called about 10 days later to schedule the installation. Unfortunately on the day of the install the office called about 10 minutes before the arrival timeframe to cancel the appointment. On the rescheduled date they arrived on time and completed the work in about an hour. These were painted windows so there was a little paint that had to be touched up and no damage to the wood trim around the glass. Overall it was a very good experience and I would use them again and recommend them to others.

Ed at Independent Window Repair is phenomenal! He has come to our home twice in the past year to do two different window instillation projects and I would definitely recommend him for his punctuality, quick and efficient workmanship, and professional demeanor. Great work.

Quality work. Jarret was professional and courteous workman

This review is based on a close friend's recent experience that I had also witnessed. IWR quoted a fairly minor job with exterior wood replacement and painting of that replaced wood. IWR was not the cheapest however they had been in business for so long and there was some experience on a minor wood window repair job that it was decided to move forward with them. The sales rep was Nate. The quoting process seemed fine. If all went there was additional business with a door wall replacement too. When I decided to move forward with IWR they couldn't schedule immediately and was several weeks out. The earliest date they could do was a Friday morning (between 7-11) so I decided to take the day off and be there for them. At around 11:30AM after no one showing up I called and left a message for IWR. I called back several times and went to voice mail so I hit zero and shared my frustration and that I took the day off work to meet them. I was told by Dee there would be a $50 credit assessed and that they'd have a crew out to do both wood replacement and paint on Saturday. Saturday they did arrive a few minutes late but they were there. Unfortunately during the process I had noticed from inside my home them cutting a short piece of wood and went out to see that they were cutting corners and replacing only the damaged segment of the existing boards and not the full piece as I had contracted them for. When I asked them what they were doing they told me they were running short on wood and didn't have the materials (and found they also didn't have some of the paint) to complete the job. They left the job and said someone would be in touch to reschedule. It is then I ran into major customer service issues. I took a walk around with the quote provided by Nate and reviewed the work completed thus far and found that they had replaced partial boards and not full boards in many areas, they had the rough side turned backwards in certain areas and that some of wood was not installed properly. I then tried to call IWR and after many attempts and leaving messages. I was told by an IWR rep that answered that I was the one that took them off the job. I disputed that with the person while thinking to myself and quot;what is going on hereand quot; since I am the customer and I have an incomplete job. During this time I also called Matt Cipirano and left him voice mail messages twice with no return call or acknowledgement from him). Finally they agreed to have Nate (original sales rep) come on site and review their quote with me and the work performed. Nate came on site and went through the quote with me and acknowledged work was not done properly and there was areas where full boards were quoted to be replaced and that it wasn't done. He shared with me that he was confused why a crew was sent out to do both wood replacement and paint since they have crews that specialize in each area and that the paint crew had been out to do the wood replacement. He seemed puzzle with that and was the reason the wood replacement was done so poorly. A wood replacement crew did come on site and they actually did a fine job. They seemed professional and took care of business. They did acknowledge the poor work performed by the prior crew and seemed interested to know who did the work. I had also shared with them my experiences trying to get through to the IWR office, the arguments that ensued where I was told I was to blame for the work not being completed and that I tried to call the owner twice and never received a call back or an acknowledgement from a staff member that I called. They did share with me that they were short staffed and that the owner was now getting involved in the restaurant business and not as focused on IWR which is why I likely didn't get a return call. They completed their work and told me a paint team would be calling to schedule their work to be completed. I paid the bill for the wood replacement which didn't include the $50 reduction that Dee had said would apply due to the missed appointment and I told them I would deduct from the paint bill that was outstanding. This is where poor customer service once again was exemplified by the IWR team. No call proactively from the paint team. I then call several times for several days with voice mail messages (I never had anyone answer the phone live when I called and I must have called during this painful experience 30 times). Finally I get a call back from some guy with an attitude making me feel like I work for him and sets up paint to be done 2 weeks out. The guy arrives late to paint that day which at this stage I don't even care and want to get this experience over with. The guy comes out and it is one of the guys from the first debacle with replacing the wood. His workmanship is half a** and I had to touch up much of the paint when he left and he didn't paint behind the gutters that were removed originally when the wood replaced. There was some wood work that still needed to be repaired and painted and he told me someone would be taking care of it and would be out ASAP. I knew better and my instincts were right even though I made the error in making a partial payment for the paint that was completed. I called IWR for eight straight business days going to voice mail and three times hitting zero to directed to Julie who pleasantly said she'd escalate and no call backs happened. On Oct 14, after speaking to Julie once again; she forwarded my call to some guy who had an attitude saying the notes indicate I didn't make a full payment when the painting was done. I went on to explain to him my experience and what work still needed to be completed. Clearly working with customers is not his area of business since he argued with me and the end result was him hanging up the phone saying we don't need to do business with me. I will be completing the work still required on my own or looking for help elsewhere. IWR also misses out on the door wall replacement and any work needed on my rentals. They may have been in business for over 25 years but I got to believe that track record will not be continuing if my experience is the norm. WARNING- STAY AWAY FROM IWR!!!!!!

We have used IWR several times to replace glass thermal windows in which the seal has broken, a huge savings over the cost of replacement windows. Their prices are reasonable and their work excellent.

We had windows repaired/replaced and the entire house painted. I will begin by saying that the and quot;windowand quot; manager and the and quot;paintand quot; manager who came out to assess the job and give me a quote, were both very professional. After that, it did not go well at all... Project began in late June, 2012 and wasn't completed until late September. If the work required took longer than their original estimate, we were put on a and quot;rain dayand quot; schedule (which could be two weeks out). Quality of work is mediocre to poor... they didn't actually and quot;replicateand quot; existing windows they were replacing, but put in their and quot;standardand quot; window, which was substandard to the windows we had. (We were not told this during the quote.) There seemed to be no quality control (replaced one of my windows with a and quot;defectiveand quot; window, which should have been seen before leaving the warehouse), so I again had to wait for someone to come out to see the actual problem, and then wait for another and quot;rain dayand quot; appointment to install another window. Obviously, there were scheduling inefficiencies. I am the first to acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes. But when there were problems with workmanship, each and quot;teamand quot; (window team and painting team) would and quot;blame the otherand quot; for any and quot;mistakes,and quot; leaving the homeowner in the middle of the conflict. I then had to wait for the and quot;windowand quot; manager and the and quot;paintand quot; manager to coordinate a time when both could come out, assess the situation and determine what division would rectify the problem. Again, I had to wait for another and quot;rain dayand quot; scheduling. When I finally got frustrated and attempted to explain the many and quot;problemsand quot; over a two-month period to the owner, he accepted no responsibility and instead insisted it was all and quot;my fault.and quot; He was nasty, sarcastic and totally obnoxious. I just today decided to look at Angie's List to see if Independent Window Repair was listed, which is why my evaluation is just being submitted. I didn't think to submit my comments when the job was completed, as I didn't look to Angie's List prior to hiring IWR... I used them because of the personal recommendation of the owner's cousin (a contractor who had done work for me and who I found to be very professional). Hopefully, two yeas later, IWR has made improvements. For any prospective client, I hope that this evaluation will at least result in and quot;asking the right questionsand quot; before hiring IWR.

I had this company out now twice. The first time was to inspect the windows, reseal, repaint, etc. on the house I just bought. I was happy with the work. Since then, I have had them out twice now to try and fix two windows that are leaking. Last night in the storm, one of the roof tiles in the basement was soaking wet due to the amount of leakage from one of the windows that was supposedly fixed last year. I am not going with these guys anymore. I recommend staying away from this company.

I had do him work before and I wasn't really happy with them and this time the biggest thing they just need to ask for senior installer. When they installed I had like 13 windows replaced back in 2012 and they had young guys that came out new and they just really didn't know what they were doing. They took all the cork that was around the windows and they threw it in the bushes and the landscape, didn't pick it up, they broke molding when they took it off around my windows. They didn't know how to cork at all. They left quite bit a mess. The senior installer knew what he was doing and it was perfect. I would use this provider again in the future.

They were one of three companies to give us a quote on the job. They were very thorough at inspecting our windows and providing a detailed quote on the job. They had done other work in our neighborhood and had good references. Their price was quite high compared to other quotes so we went with another company.

The company has good installers and installers that are not good. I say this because some of the installers treat your home with respect and others treat it like they are 'rough carpenters', setting dirty windows on clean carpet, etc. Also, their customer service is hit/miss. You may get someone nice or you may get someone that behaves as though they are doing the customer a favor by answering the telephone. I requested to speak to the owner about this and he refused to take my call. Because no one else does this service, I will use them again if necessary - however, if you use them, set your expectations low.

I was very satisfied with the cost reduction of repairing what needed repairing on windows rather than do a complete replacement. Was able to match windows very well in tone (color of Low-e coating) and mutton bar types. They arrived on time and completed the job (which involved some 7 windows) in a single morning. Original quote included a comprehensive inspection which showed a couple issues I had not seen before but was happy to get properly fixed. It is true that there is often no need to buy new windows - repair them!

Jessie was working on replacing the last spot of wood rot (repair quote $25) around a large half round window above our front door and broke the window. He halted working immediately and said Mark would be out to assess the damage. About a week later Mark looked over the damage and asked if Jessie was in a hurry and commented that Jessie was afraid of heights. He said he would determine the cost of repairing the window but because the quote sheet says IWR is not responsible for window breakage when replacing wood rot, we would probably have to pay for the repair. But Mark said he would talk to the owner to see if that was still the case. A week later we received a bill in the mail for $1,100 to repair the window. My husband called the owner, Matt Cipriano, and was told that Mark would never make those comments and that the window breakage was not his problem or responsibility. We had used this company in 2007 with no problems but upon further investigation found out that their license to do home improvements in the state of Michigan had lapsed in 2008. For a $25 repair to create an $1,100 bill felt like we were being scammed. Lesson learned--read carefully before you sign, ask questions about what happens if things don't go as planned and make sure your contractor is licensed.

The workman was punctual, professional and neat. He did an excellent job of installing the casement windows and the brick molding. Total work time was a little over an hour. I was disappointed with the window construction. These windows had to be custom built, as most are. Large holes from staples used to construct the windows were open and exposed on the weather side. I had to seal them. I had also asked that the windows and molding be primed. I was told they would be primed. Only the outer surface was primed, leaving the edges and inside raw. With casement windows, these outer edges easily get wet during most rainstorms. It was hard to prime them once installed due to attaching hardware and access. Anyone using IWR needs to make sure they prime all wood surfaces and seal all assembly holes prior to installation.

IWR was contracted by me to replace a rotted casement window in my dining room. Overall the installation was mediocre and the follow-up process very frustrating. The installer smeared caulk everywhere, which I had to clean up before painting, and there was a large gap from the top seal to the frame. The inside frame wood was delivered with slight damage and the corners weren't mitered correctly, so they don't line up. |When I complained, after 3 calls to the office (2 messages left), IWR sent a salesman to check it out. His remedy was to add a shim to improve the seal gap and said he would tell the installer about the messy caulk, which I already had cleaned up. He measured the inside wood and promised to replace the ill-fitting wood around the window. Regarding the damage to the frame, he suggested that I fix it myself because it would be quicker and less expensive. A few days later, the IWR office called to schedule the remainder of the work for a 2-hour window one week later. On that day, I had a very tight schedule and, since the installer was running behind, the IWR office and I decided to reschedule the work. IWR offered me a Saturday appointment one later (on which I have a prior commitment) or 3 weeks out when the weather is likely to be too cold to paint the window. If the work is, in fact, completed on that date, the elapsed time, first appointment to completion, will be 8 weeks (2 weeks to make and install the window, 1-1/2 weeks to arrange a follow-up inspection of complaints, and 4-1/2 weeks to fix the remaining problems). At this point, the work remains incomplete. I would have thought that completing this work and satisfying a new customer would be a priority, but it appears that it is not.

Pros: Office is friendly with scheduling and setting up appointments Quote process is straightforward Workmen are prompt, friendly and get the repairs done as agreed, work quietly and efficiently Areas were left clean Prices fair Cons: One window still contained some rot, had to go deeper into the frame and complete the repairs myself Scheduling takes and inordinately long time - plan on 30 days between initial call and work, if my experience is any indication Summary: After taking quotes in the several thousand dollar range for replacements, overall I am pleased with the work and value proposition despite the cons above. I have my last scheduled work coming up and would intend to call on them every 2-3 years going forward to keep on top of any upcoming issues.