Fred Hagemeister

Below is an email I sent today to the salesperson/project coordinator, Stacey Skelton.  Note that it references a lack of her response to my email a week before.

Xavier (spelling?) called to ask how the project ended up, and I had to tell her that it is nowhere close to being completed.  There are a lot of problems, and I am not getting any responses.  She said she was following up with you and Shawn before getting into details.

The windows were supposed to arrive on the 20th and I still have not received a response from you about the status along with questions about window problems.

Here is a list of problems for which I am aware and most may impact you from a sales/ordering perspective although they need to be communicated to Xavier as well (this is not to be considered a complete list):

• we still have 19 windows needing installation – we were told to keep our belongings away from the windows for a month and a half now so when will this get done?
• we do not have the shutters for the windows on the gable end of the house – I see that there is one set of shutters at the house that have not been installed, but they are too large for the gable windows.
• kitchen vent – we were told the color-matched wall cap could not be done – the black one that supposedly arrived is not at the house so I can’t paint it – no status on the jumbo-block that was to be ordered.  Without being able to re-install our venting and microwave, WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO COOK FOOD IN OUR HOUSE FOR AT LEAST TWO WEEKS BECAUSE OF THIS.
• While trying to vent the kitchen, we noticed that the screens are cut and pulled out of the windows in the kitchen and guest bathroom.  They need replacing.  However, we have no idea if any of the other 8 have the same problem.
• dryer vent – no word about the status of the ordered dryer vent to replace the louvered bathroom vent
• the floodlight over the driveway was installed without its j-block – this was told to Shawn – has this been ordered?
• there are sections of siding with gaps – these need replacing/repair
• many of the windows have j-channel around them that was not installed straight – there are very noticeable curves in the j-channel
• there is roof capping that has been bent/mangled since it was installed by one person and needs redoing
• the wrap around the porch header is not flat for the bottom fold.
• the installed windows have not been sealed or capped THEREFORE THEY HAVE BEEN LEAKING AIR FOR A MONTH NOW AFFECTING OUR HEATING AND HEAT BILL.  The interior wood trim has now pulled away from the larger trim on several of the windows due to the weather (this is how I can see outside the house in the other email I sent you).  How is this going to be fixed?
• at least some of the windows are undersized, i.e., they have gaps more than the 1/4″ that was promised during the consultation – I expect the new ones are correctly sized and check the windows already installed – this should not be done by someone from Adams but must be done after the windows arrive but before they are installed.
• the siding on the back of the house is much looser than the front (in general).  Which one was done wrong depends on who you talk to.  We need an expert that is not part of Adams Home Exteriors to determine which side needs to be repaired.
• The siding installers damaged one or more of the posts.
• Due to the siding installers damaging roof shingles (on an admittedly old roof), there is no way we can proceed with the gutter installation until the roof is replaced.

Many of these are probably more for the project office but at least some of them affect you from a sales point of view.

I need to know now what the ETA is for the windows and their installation.

I need to know now what the ETA is for all of the remaining pieces that were supposed to be ordered and would need installation.

This is more for Adams or the project office, but I need to be present for the repairs to installation as well as the first window being sealed, insulated, and capped.

Do I just cancel the gutter project or do you have a suggestion?

Do you have email addresses for Xavier and Shawn?

Best,

Fred Hagemeister

So the other 2/3 of the windows that were supposed to be installed in November but had problems should have arrived December 20 for installation.  However, even with emails and texts to the salesperson and another attempted call to the Lowe’s project office (CPO?), I can’t get any responses (Xavier at the CPO was supposed to call me but never did).

Further, there doesn’t seem to be any progress on the kitchen or dryer vent situation.  Maybe the kitchen wall cap that was supposedly on-site has disappeared and needed -reordering along with the dryer vent and jumbo block for the kitchen vent.  Nor has there been anything about the floodlight j-block.

So nothing has been done on the house for a few days, and it looks like nothing will get done until after the holidays.  Meanwhile, every window that was installed (along with the 7 that were installed with problems) have exposed areas around the windows.  Better yet, I can see through cracks in the interior wood trim outside, meaning that there are gaps of 1/16″ or more on every window and have been for over a month (happy heating bills).  Just as importantly, because of having to dismantle the kitchen vent to wait for installation, we have no fume hood or microwave in the kitchen and have not had one for a couple weeks.  SO we are going through the holidays not being able to cook in our house.

Tuesday proved an especially difficult day.  Although the siding project is nearing the point of creating a punch list of issues (capping installed that was mangled, not installing a j-block for a flood light, siding overlaps that have large gaps due to bending, no new kitchen wall cap, bathroom vent instead of dryer vent, etc.), it was especially tough because of the installers reconnecting the porch light incorrectly.  In the end, I don’t know what they did wrong, but switching on the light resulted in the circuit breaker tripping – immediately and every time.  Because the same circuit controls smoke detection, security, phone, etc, and our family had to leave town immediately for a funeral, we had to contact Adams Home Exteriors and Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores for an immediate fix.

Unfortunately, contacting the installers and Lowe’s for an emergency due to installer negligence is not something they seem to plan for.  I absolutely did not want to touch anything myself and remove any liability from Lowe’s and Adams Home Exteriors.  Here is the order of attempted communications:

1. Could not call the 3rd installation team (the one currently working through the last leg of the project)because they never gave phone numbers or even names to me.
2. I had to leave a voicemail with the COO and foreman, Shawn Adams.
3. I called Lowe’s Home Improvement Central Project Office telling them the whole problem.  They said they couldn’t do anything so I asked to speak with a supervisor.  I was placed on hold for 20 minutes.
4. I called and left voice mails and texts with the Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores salesperson/coordinator, Stacey Skelton (she has not returned anything as of a day later).
5. Once the supervisor joined the call from #3 above, he repeated the point that they can’t do anything saying that they have no ability to dispatch or even find a licensed electrician that could help – the best they could possibly do would be to reimburse us.  However, he thought he could try calling the store manager for our Lowe’s store and see what they could do.  So he put me on hold again for 10-15 minutes.
6. I tried texting the lead installer from the 2nd installation team so I could get the mobile number for Shawn’s father and COO for the company, Jack Adams who should be able to solve the problem but no joy.
7. After more than an hour from first trying to reach out to anyone, Shawn Adams returned my call and said he could stop by the house to take a look.
8. While on the phone with Shawn in #7 above, the supervisor came back to tell me the local store could not do anything.

Shawn stopped by the house but began looking at the lights for about 5 minutes before we noticed so we do not know what may have been done but after reconnecting the wiring, the lights worked appropriately.  He then reassembled and tested the light fixtures again, and they worked.

Bottom-line, we appreciate Shawn coming out and fixing the problem at the time he did; however, we are disappointed that Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores does not have a procedure in place for this kind of problem (this is one of the things that should be one of the few advantages of working with a national chain), and more importantly, the installer should have tested everything (perhaps even with a multimeter) before leaving for the night.

Well, I am thankful we got a long warranty on the windows because they are so many problems with them so far, and I am upset with the way they look so obviously like replacement windows since they aren’t reducing the capping like we were told by the salesperson would happen (see 4th point below).  Here are all the window problems and reasons why people should not buy Reliabilt windows or have Lowe’s install them:

• Lowe’s sold us windows that Reliabilt doesn’t even make.  We ordered Reliabilt 3900 series windows, most of them white but several were to have almond interior and white exterior.  This should not be considered a Reliabilt issue except to say that their manufacturing choices are not intuitive and knowledgeably selling them is difficult.
• The simulated wood grain windows were manufactured by having someone use a brown marker to cover over the white vinyl where the simulated wood grain was not applied.
• One window arrived with cracks in the exterior frame, and a few had problems with the interior frame.
• We were told by the Lowe’s salesperson that the Reliabilt 3900 windows would only add ” a little” width to the window capping/casing.  Take a look at this photo showing the original window on the 2nd floor and the Reliabilt window on the 1st: Here is a Better view of the 2 windows in which one can easily see that the Reliabilt 3900 replacement window doubled the width of the border around the window:
  You can also see how shoddy the j-channel looks around the window capping.  It’s not straight and angles outward and downward, and the corner is not crisp at all.
• Several of the screens have netting that are puckered, pulled out, and or cut through.
• The installation was poor, i.e., the caulking was applied to dirty wood so it will not adhere for the several years advertised.