We liked Edgar, the owner of Crystal Exteriors, right away. He was very responsive when we contacted him for an estimate, and met with us within two days of contact. He walked around our house and gave us his immediate ideas about the work we wanted done, told us about some things we could consider, and then let us know that he would provide an estimate within three or four days. He sent us an estimate that was very reasonable, and far below the cost of other estimates we had received. We had several questions regarding materials. Our house was sided with cedar shake siding, but it had rotted and needed to be replaced. We decided to go with James Hardie siding for low maintenance and longevity. We did not opt to get Hardie trim, but instead elected to go with PVC trim. Edgar answered all our questions, from house wrap, to insulation, to siding, to trim, to front doors. He was always very responsive and never seemed to be trying to "sell" us on an idea. He would give us options for us to consider, and we could make a judgment. Edgar was always straight-forward and encouraged us to get as much information as possible. We decided to go with Crystal Exteriors in part due to the difference in price, but also because I believed that we would be satisfied with the work and Edgar would stand by it.
Peter, the main person working on the house, was very cordial and an extremely hard worker. He did an amazing job. Everything looks perfect. No shoddy corners or bad angles, and our house has a ton of angles, trim, crown, and tight spaces. He is a true professional. The work was initially delayed due to rain, and took longer than anticipated. At one point Peter was pulled off our job for a few days due to some other work that needed his attention at another location. We were a bit disappointed with the delay, but it was not critical. I expressed our disappointment to Edgar, who, instead of making excuses or getting defensive, apologized and said that they would work very hard to minimize the delay going forward. He said that there were no excuses for the delay. Edgar is a true professional.
We are so happy with our working relationship with Edgar, the workmanship, Peter's professionalism, cleanliness of the workplace, and the final result, that a delay is not significant. Our new front door is beautiful and very well-made; our new window looks great and matches the style of all the other windows in the house; the siding and trim work are exceptional. We have received many compliments on the work already. Even yesterday, when Edgar came over to discuss a small "punch list" of outstanding items (like some obsolete wires that can be removed from the house and a downspout that can be cut shorter on the end) a neighbor stopped us to say how much he liked the siding and to ask for Edgar's card.
Edgar went above and beyond what we asked him to do at every step. He found a replacement window for a window that was not sealed properly and fixed it without charging us. He extended a gutter and downspout on the end of our house that had caused some pooling problems because it did not extend to the end of the roof line. He and Peter attached a new door knocker I wanted to the door and replaced the hardware when the included hardware was not long enough to fit. He gave me a vial of touch-up paint to disguise the bolt from the new door knocker as well. And the price for enclosing a space that had a wasteful extra door, taking out a glass block window, and fitting a new bottom-up/top-down window at counter height in our kitchen, was amazing, especially for the utility of having the extra space in our kitchen.
All in all, Edgar and his team are amazing to work with and I would recommend them and their work to anyone who needs roofing work, siding, doors or windows. You will not be disappointed. If you are (you won't be), Edgar will fix it. He is great at what he does, and is a very nice guy, which is all anyone can ask for.
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