Six years ago Northern Lights Exteriors installed James Hardie siding on our house in Ft Collins…read more Everything was fine until we had windows installed in a previous screened in patio. It was then when water leakage showed up in the patio. The first thought was a problem in the window installation. The window installer immediately came to investigate ( as any reputable contractor would) and found an area of flashing above ( more than a foot) where the windows were installed, that had been installed by the siding company ( Northern Lights) that wasn't sealing correctly, and he caulked the area, which seem to stop the water leakage. Only after a severe rainstorm, did we notice more water on the patio floor. I had already contacted Northern lights and a rep had come by( a few weeks later) but it took another month and a few more calls to get on their schedule to send a crew to address the problem. I talked with the owner, who was adamant about never having had this happen, but he'd send people by when they had other work being done in the area, I was also told that the 5 year workmanship warranty was over, which I already knew , even though the problem existed from the original installation, but wasn't noticed because the screens were letting the water reach the patio anyway. I was told that I would be charged $500 for his crew to be here. I said that I hoped he'd rethink his charge if his crew verified that it was a problem with the original installed flashing. Last week a crew was working in the area and were scheduled to come by . It was said to me by the crew leader and also his supervisor, that they did see where the windows installer had added some caulking to the flashing that had been installed by Northern Lights 6 years previously, and that they believed that by installing another ( longer) piece of flashing over the original flashing, it would fix the leak. The flashing was added, and and another storm came through the area, and the patio stayed dry. This crew spent about 90 minutes making the repair, and did a great job. I called the Northern Lights office the next day, spoke with the receptionist, to tell of the nice the workers, and to request that the owner reconsider his invoice amount, since it was an original installation issue. About an hour later, I received a bill for the entire $500, which I will pay because I really expected the owner to consider it warranty related, as I would have done if the same thing had happened with any of my businesses work. I definitely am going to share my experience with a few friends that are considering siding contractors for their jobs.
After making my review, I received a call from Kristin, at Northern Lights, and got to explain my issues and also heard that the invoice sent to me right after my call to commend the repair that was made , was done be a different department, and was a coincidence that it arrived soon after my call, and was not in response to my call. Kristen was courteous, professional and helpful. In our discussion, we agreed to split the cost, and I was asked to please call them if the problem should arise again. It was refreshing to hear back so fast, and to be able to deal with a more people friendly person.
