Windows Installation in Des Plaines

“After many years in waiting my wife and I decided we needed new windows for our home. We had a lot of windows including some picture windows. My wife asked me to find a Chicago area contractor. Thinking about this and knowing that there were lots of Ukrainians (prior experience working with Ukrainain software developers who are considered some of the world's best programmers) living in the Chicago area I started looking for window contractors that were Ukrainian base...... and I found one. The name of the window contractor was E. V. Windows & Doors. Our first meeting with Chris was great and somewhat unique. At the end of the meeting, I asked Chris why we should hire him. Chris responded saying they were the best ... ... ..and he said he had a team of Ukrainians working for him.... which was the best, most concise value proposition and greatest sales close I have ever experienced. For those who have never had the Ukrainian worker experience I strongly suggest you use E. V. Windows & Doors. Allow Chris to prove to you the masterly great Ukrainian work as they do window installs for your home. The only negotiation was discussing how soon he could start. Starting date became the main thing. While waiting for Chris's team to come a couple months later we would contact Chris and ask him questions about the project. When we had a question, we would email, or call and we got a near immediate response with a brief and accurate summary. They always responded quickly with great suggestions and updated us on the manufacturing and supply chain process for new windows. Being introduce to the window manufacturing-supply chain process with updates on each was very different from other prior service providers In the middle of September, Chris's Ukrainian team came to our home. Stefan, a nice and very smart guy was the crew leader. Introduicng himself in a professional manner, Stefan described the process they would use, a first for me. Other contractors for other jobs never explain in length in the manner Stefan describe to me. Then they went to work. Instead of being gabby like other work crews we had in our home from prior work they were heads down getting the work done. They moved fast, being very neat and tidy, always picking up anything that fell. When I came by and asked a question they immediately answered and then went right back to work. One thing I noticed as they were working was how focused and effective they were as they installed the larger picture windows on the second floor of our home. Despite the window size each crew man was able to install the window by himself. When the windows were installed, Stefan as they were finishing up explained how we should take care of the windows. As he was describe what, how, and why, I started noticing the window frames. Their structure looked very solid compared to other window designs I had seen at other retail locations. One of the other facts about Stefan and his crew, it took them only a few hours to get all the windows and everything in our home clean up. We were told by other vendors that our window project would take up most of the day. So I say try out E. V. Windows & Doors.....and enjoy the Ukrainian work experience. It will be a most interesting and wonderful experience.“

“This is a few years late but I did want to hold out and see how well the windows and sliding door performed during the winter / summer.Well, they're performing great. Prior to my house had an old single pane with storm window setup. The biggest problem was actually just not being able to open them all up as my house was a foreclosure and the company they hired painted over everything and I do mean everything. I scraped away what I could and got the windows to open a reasonable amount. Anyway, the breaking point was over time the expansion contraction made some cracks massive, caused breaks, etc and I had ran out of leftover panes and parts the previous homeowner had lying around in the shed.The whole ordeal was great with one side mention which I'll cover around the end and perhaps Phil can speak to it as well. But Phil was great, clear explanations and would always check in on and explain any questions we had.Installation was supposed to be two days but winter was coming in soon. Not sure if the installers were making good time and wanted to get it out of the way or if they didn't want me to deal with a cold house. Either way, they got it done in one day, one very long day. It was cold outside I told them they could have their lunch inside, they politely refused. After finishing their lunch they thanked me for the offer and then explained that if they did that, they would get acclimated and then when they go back out to work it would not be comfortable. I actually know that to be 100% true so told them I get it.Anyway at any questionable point the installers grabbed me and told me what was going on, what my options were, possible issues, etc. Most of these were actually pretty minor, but this told me the Varco installers cared enough about their work and my approval to loop me in. Good stuff.There were only two items which were a larger issue both had the same issue. The old windows were very old and over time water crept in and caused wood rot at the sill. Also I don't think the original installed used pressure treated wood, or it was that old, which is standard where wood meets concrete/brick/stone/etc. The sill still gets wrapped around with vinyl on the exterior side, the actual structure didn't have rot.The installers still wanted to let me know about this which was good to know but as they had solid structure and showed me, I was okay with them proceeding. By the way, that was a remnant of old construction, new construction doesn't even have that bit as we've come a long way with energy efficiency. They removed all the rot they could and continued on with the job.There was a concern that something broke offloading from shipping. Phil and I were concerned, Phil not so much, he had an idea it was a flange but wasn't 100% sure what it was. He called and found out they shipped the sliding door with a nailing flange for some reason or another. At my house, it's surrounded by brick and on concrete, a nailing flange isn't needed ... or going to work - unless you want an ugly sliding door installation.Now here's the side mention. Des Plaines follows the IRC (International Residential Code) and the IRC is applicable for all single / double family homes. Then there's mentions by the Illinois State Fire Marshall and the NFPA (Nat'l Fire Protection Association). It says you want an egress with a minimum opening of basically 5.7 feet squared in any living area when the primary means of exit is not accessible. I won't bore you with the minimum height and window requirements as there's more to this which I hope Phil and or someone at Varco can explain.I had several quotes of which I believe two mentioned egress rules and presented me with vertical sliding windows which would meet egress. I mentioned this to Phil and he said he could do vertical but that means something else. I didn't quite get it then, I still don't get it, but I wanted horizontal windows as my in-window fans and AC are built for horizontal windows, not vertical.So I didn't“

“We are extremely happy with the work done on our house. I can’t tell you how many compliments we’ve gotten from our neighbors to even the inspector! The entire crew really has an amazing skill and we’re so professional throughout the whole time they were here. We were also so impressed with the amount of communication Opal has with their customers so thank you!“