The entire experience was wonderful. This was a huge project for us. We had been looking at removing the old wood logs on the exterior of the home for a couple years. The front of our home is frame, as is the upstairs. The remainder of the house is block. We had old wood windows that were in terrible shape. We decided it would be best to remove all the siding (which was only on teh frame portion of the home) and replace the windows at the same time that way it would be like a new construction type of situation, which I feel is the best and most weather resistant type of install. We had several quotes for both siding and windows.
Frankly, there was so much information out there (especially on windows) that it was paralysis by analysis. In the end we went with Aluminum Clad Jeld Wen Siteline EX windows from Southern Window Design and with James Hardie siding, trim, weather barrier from Creative Remodeling. The Creative Remodeling quote process was handled by Brian, who was wonderful. I received bids from the Certainteed recommended installer, a fully independent contractor and from Creative Remodeling, who is the James Hardie preferred remodeler for the area. Creative Remodeling’s quote was in the ball park, but slightly higher than the independent contractor. When I asked Brian to go over the quote with me he identified a number of things that he felt made his quote a better fit for our needs. He did so without bad mouthing the other contractor which I found very refershing. In the end, we just felt more comfortable with Brian and with their very, very extensive experience with the Hardie products.
The exterior of your home needs to look good and keep mother nature out and the details that Brian explained about the various trim carpentry methods and flashing methods made me feel as though Creative Remodeling were experts and would take as much care in working on my home as I, myself, would. Creative Remodeling also does windows but they were happy to work with our window contractor on timing and the two crews seemed to have no problems getting things coordinated. The project itself took two weeks, just as Brian said it would. Greg was our foreperson and he was a pleasure to deal with on a daily basis. He would answer as many questions as my wife and I could throw at him and he always seemed genuinely interested in our thoughts, comments, feedback. The rest of the crew was wonderful too. I am not sure if they stuck with it but several had just quit smoking a couple weeks before our project and with two small children around, it was nice to not deal with the smoke, odor and cigarette butts. So if the workers read this review – KEEP IT UP!!!
In the end, all I can say is that each person needs to make the decision that they are comfortable with. For us, that was Creative Remodeling. I personally like to work on my house myself, so I obsessed over this decision for months and months. As I mentioned, this project, along with $10,000 in windows was a huge investment for us, both emotionally and financially. Creative Remodeling understood that and treated the project like it was important to them, too. For that, we are so very thankful. If you have siding needs, I think you should give them a shot.
