California Craftsman Customer Success Story

To everyone from Management to Crew,

Our home was 30 years old when we purchased it in 1994. As we wandered it on our first day of ownership, we thought about the year it was built. There were a lot of changes over that 30 year period. Owning a home built in 1964 has good and bad points. It is framed in redwood, which is never done in this day and age.

We know our house is solid. But if you remember the 1960’s you know that it was a time when energy was abundant and inexpensive. People turned up the heat and opened a window if it got too hot. On the first day in our home we knew we would have to make some changes. Our instinct was to make those changes when we saved enough money. After all, we had just purchased a home.

Our first winter left us in a state of shock. We had never seen such high utility bills. Even with weather stripping and a programmable thermostat, our gas and electric bill seemed outrageously high. This was with two people away at work all day.

Despite these bills, when spring arrived we focused on the aesthetics of our home and not energy. We decided to replace our very ugly front door. As the next winter arrived, we felt distressed as we read our utility bill in the light of our kitchen window. It was simply too expensive and the reason was painfully obvious.

We could feel the cold wind as it whistled through our aluminum widows. They were hard to open and close and even when they were closed tightly we could still feel cold air every time we got near them. Common sense told us it was time for a change.

Installing double pained windows was an easy decision and so was choosing a contractor. We chose California Craftsman. They were the ones we hired to install our front door. They were professional, courteous and cleaned up after themselves. They treated our home as though it was their own paid attention to every detail.

As we expected, they provided a quality job installing our window just as they had done on our front door. Every detail was perfect. When our windows were in, we celebrated. We could tell right away that we were saving energy. No more whistling sounds in the kitchen and bedrooms and no more cold air blowing around.

Our energy bill went down dramatically. We realized that we had not spent money but invested it. We were realizing a return on our investment and it was happening right away.
While we were happy with our energy savings, the unanticipated benefits of our windows took us by surprise. On garbage day we always put our garbage out in the morning rather than the night before. We did not like recycle thieves rummaging through it at night. The first garbage day after we installed the windows we missed the truck. We did not hear it. Our windows had dramatically reduced the sound from the outside.

After a few months we noticed another change. The amount of dust and pollen in our home was significantly lower. No more wind blowing all that stuff through our windows.  We still hear the sound of rain hitting our windows at night, but it sounds softer. It is nice to wake up in a storm and know that our home is truly protecting us from the elements.

Looking back, we realize that purchasing new windows was one of the smartest decisions we made To anyone who thinks they cannot afford to make this investment I would say “How can you afford to avoid this investment?”

How many investments improve the quality of your life, increase the value of your home, and save you money on energy, all at the same time? This one does and it is well worth it. If you don’t believe us, come by and pay a visit. We love to show off the work that California Craftsman did for us.

Joe Bates and Kenneth Manual,
Vallejo California