California Window & Fireplace
We were looking for a company who sells and installs garden windows. We've checked out a few places but they usually don't have contractors to do window expansion as we want to enlarge our garden window. I saw the recommendation about Five Star Windows so we went to check out that place on a Saturday. We were shocked about how they do business and the price. The salesman, Gary, would not give us a quote even though we gave him all the dimension and materials requirements. Finally after our constant insist, he gave us a verbal quote and said a written quote cannot be made until he comes to our house. Then we went to California Window & Fireplace (2096 S. Winchester Blvd., Campbell) where we hired them to do our French door and 3 retrofit windows 2 years ago. Yep, they do new construction windows as well! They give us a detailed quote (labor and materials) right a way, half the price of Five Star Windows. I will update my post when this project is done (probably in early 2016 as ordering from Milgard usually takes 8 weeks), but I'm very sure they would do a fine job. I don't know why some people gave them negative reviews on Yelp, but per our experience with them twice, California Window & Fireplace is very professional and reasonable.
Hien Do on Mardell, 11/07/2015
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New Construction Windows are just what they sound like - windows installed only after the old windows/frames, sliding glass doors or picture windows and frames have been ripped out. Such work requires new framing and re-stuccoing of the area. Hiring a contractor to do this involves more than hiring a replacement window contractor.
As with replacement windows, you may need to allow 4-6 weeks for your new windows/doors to be built and shipped from the factory to the contractor.
Your contractor may offer "no-interest" or "low interest" financing - generally through a third party. Generally these are legitimate, but there may be strings attached. Investigate thoroughly before signing on the dotted line.
Installing new construction windows/doors/picture windows can take several days to two weeks - depending upon the number of items being replaced and the degree of custom work required. Replacement windows/glass doors in our neighborhood can generally be completed in 1-2 days.
In this area you contractor should have a lead report made by an outside contractor/specialist in lead detection. This protects homeowners, pets, visiting children/adults, and the contractor's staff. If lead is present, the report will say how much and where the lead is; the contractor will need to take precautions and put up signs while any items containing lead are removed. Also, lead-containing items must be disposed of separately from other debris. Your contractor should be ready, able and willing to do this! Such reports generally cost around $500. Our contractor told us about this and ordered the report to be made by an outside firm; when he realized he'd not written it into the original work estimate, we got the report at no cost to us. Very professional.
You will receive a copy of the lead report which you are required by law to share with any contractors, tenants, etc. should any further work be done where the lead-containing paint might still exist.
When you are getting bids, be sure to check the contractor's license, and ensure that there will be no subcontractors - you don't want a subcontractor placing a lien on your home because the contractor did not pay him/her! You'll also want to know that the contractor's onsite personnel are covered by the contractor's insurance. And so on...you do not want to be liable for injuries to others who are working on your house.
Consult this list, and if you belong to Angie's list, check it, too. A number of contractors listed in the MLNA Wiki offer significant discounts to members of Angie's list. Such discounts have way more than paid for our membership on that list!
Sarah Doxiadis 8/2013
FIVE STAR WINDOWS
Posted by Sarah Doxiadis, 8/23/2013:
You are getting the long version, as I think it helps to know what it's like to have this kind of work done!
In June, 2013, we contacted FIVE STAR WINDOWS and one other company for bids on replacing our original windows. We also wanted to add at least one transom window above our front entry door. We were considering also replacing both of our sliding glass doors and all of our picture windows and fixed, non-opening windows as they were original, untempered glass.
After excellent, separate discussions with each contractor, we realized that we would need new construction - this was available through only one of the contractors, and that was Five Star.
The Five Star Windows estimator/salesman, Terry, was excellent. He informed us of options and issues to consider at every step, from choosing window styles and sizes, to replacing and inserting a new pet door (we ordered the door, which was custom fitted during installation). He had lots of photos on an iPad which helped us to visualize how the new windows/doors would look. Once we had decided on the work, Terry had a crew leader measure for each item to be replaced - in one case, to meet safety code, a new bedroom window required that the frame be slightly lower than the original, and we were told this up front.
Before we agreed to the work we were told that it would take 2 weeks to complete all of the demolition/removals and new installations. When we said we could not take off two weeks for one of us to be onsite at any given time, Terry arranged to have 2 crews to do the work in 6 days (Monday-Saturday) and did not increase the proposed cost. Terry also met with the Mountain View Building Dept. to be sure that no special permits were needed - none were!
We knew going in that it would take 6 weeks for all of the items to be made at the Milgard Window factory and transferred to Five Star Windows for installation. This gave us time to prep for "invasion of the window snatchers"!
OMG - it is very noisy and disruptive to have even the most talented and professional window destructors/installers working on your home. The initial work was performed by a two-man crew with Jose-Luis, the Project Lead, as one of the crew. Demo and replacement happened every day, with impressive cleanup at the end of each day. Proper lead abatement procedures were followed for dealing with the blue lead paint on the trim of the old windows; we were glad when that was done! A day or so into the project, the 2nd two-man crew appeared.
We were kept updated and well informed throughout the process, and were glad to be there to understand what what going on and to answer/ask questions as needed.
The two crews generally worked separately, with Jose-Luis making sure that all worked together when awkward actions required extra hands or followup. Everyone communicated well.
Generally one or both crews showed up @ about 8:30-9:30 each day, and the last ones left around 5-6:30 each evening. They always asked to use the restroom, kept their trash outside, and were generally very pleasant and respectful of our situation as the onsite homeowners. Everything was closed/locked at night so we did not have to relocated during the work.
In the end, all was done and we signed off on the job. A missing screen/window handle was installed the following week, and we promptly got our e-copy of the lead report upon our request.
We are very happy with our new vinyl windows, picture windows, transom windows and sliding glass doors. They are all low-e, 2-pane glass, and our house (not air conditioned, with an insulated roof and uninsulated walls) has been much cooler since the install. We are hoping to see great improvements in our (forced-air) heating costs later this year!
