Chicago Window and Door Solutions

A great resource for historic home window repair and restoration! Our house may not be historic, but it’s definitely old — in the 188? range. We used Chicago Window and Door Solutions (CWDS) to replace seven windows on the front of our house including both the top and bottom floor windows, three of which were in a metal clad bay. The ones we replaced were of 4 different vintages including two likely original, a couple of metal inside/​metal outside, a couple of metal outside/​wood inside, and some vinyl just for kicks. Drafty and rattle-​y are the best we could say about them. Now we have clad wood Marvin replacement windows and we are very happy. Our daughter said after a recent wind and thunderstorm, «I didn’t know it was storming at first because the windows weren’t all rattling.» We expect with the thorough job of insulation CWDS did we’ll be much warmer come winter, too. From consultation on materials, configuration (our big front window now has a transom opening with a screen to help us get better ventilation and use AC less), and retaining original hardwood framing on the exterior to installation and customer service, we couldn’t be happier with the service we received.

This is a really reputable place. I have an old Chicago house that’s probably about 110 years old. I used Chicago Window & Door Solutions to replace wood windows from the 1960s that had stopped working and several vinyl windows (8 years old) that had started to fall apart. I was really mad about the vinyl windows because the former owner had installed them pretty new, but they literally were about to fall out of the wall. We had to lock them to keep them in place. The previous owner had the original windows replaced, but the installer of the vinyl windows did not insulate around the frame and cold air kept leaking in. The wood windows would rattle on a windy day. I found out about Chicago Window & Door Solutions through a recommendation from another contractor who was repairing my original wood windows — he said he wouldn’t work with anyone else — so that tells you something!
Sue & Greg came out to meet with us, took measurements and talked about our options. They install Marvin windows. Know that they aren’t the cheapest option. For that you can go anywhere, but know in about 8 years, you’re going to be replacing them. But I found that they listened to what we were looking for — which for me was energy efficiency as a top priority. I liked that there was the chance to get a wooden interior on the windows. It allowed us to match the stain on sill and border opening — so now these windows look like they
belong and do not look like replacements. We opted to stain the windows ourselves and they gave suggestions of how to do it. More importantly, they came out twice (next day!) when we had questions/​concerns.
Justin came to do the install and he removed and installed six windows and fixed a sill in a day and a half — plus he cleaned up after himself! If you’ve ever had workmen come into your house, you know what a mess they can leave.
I am really happy with the new windows. They are beautiful, they are much more energy efficient than what I had and really block out the noise. I live on a two-​way street in Chicago & they have made the house much quieter than the windows I had before.