I was in the market to get two, well-past-their-prime doors replaced at my home; a storm door and…read morethe entry door.
Faced with, once again, the prospect of having to gather names, call people, setup appointments for estimates, and all the other fun and excitement that comes with hiring for home projects, I resigned myself, against my own better judgement, to go to a big box store to get everything done through them.
I mean, it's just doors. How much of a hassle could it be?
Notice how I said, "against my own better judgement". Needless to say, it was a fiasco and details are for another review. Despite the drama, I did manage to eke out a ballpark figure of an estimate that included hardware and installation/labor costs so I at least knew how much this was going to cost me no matter who performed the install.
Otherwise, I found myself back at square one until I was talking with a friend about this project. He asked why I didn't call Scott's Siding and Remodeling (SSR) as they do doors too, not just roofing and siding.
Given my wonderful experience with the roof, I promptly called SSR after hours and left a message with the answering service. Scott called me back the next day and we went over some of the preliminary details. We scheduled a day so he could come out to see what needed to be done, take measurements, etc. Before that though, he said he would mail me a packet containing catalogs for storm and entry doors for me to sift through.
Sure enough two days later, the package arrived in a professional-appearing and addressed envelope. Everything Scott said that would be in the package was and I went immediately to work on looking at and choosing what I wanted for the doors and hardware. The catalogs offered far more and better options than the big box store which was nice to see.
As with the roof experience, Scott showed up on time and was ready to assess the project. After we ironed out the details and measurements taken, I offered up my choices from the catalog which he promptly recorded. My order would be custom, so there was at least a three week delay while the order processed, then once they were in, we'd go over getting an installation date. I planned for at least a month, month and a half time span from order to completed install.
The price? Pretty much on par with what the big box store was asking. SSR came in a few hundred dollars higher, but that did not bother me at all; you get what you pay for.
That was late August. Fast-forward to early October. Scott called saying he had a sudden opening and wanted to know if I was available the following day. I was on vacation from work, so it could not have been better timing. Scott informs me that my doors will be delivered in the afternoon and "Don" will be at my house the next day at 8-8:30AM. At around 12:30PM, the doors and all applicable materials were delivered as promised.
The next morning at 8:15, again on time, Don and Ed arrive. After rechecking measurements and looking at the physical doors, they went to work.
Don and Ed were very professional and friendly. I had no misgivings about their abilities. They worked at a steady pace and methodically. I never got the sense they were in a hurry which I liked. The impression I got was they wanted the job done in a timely manner, but done right, not half-assed like the previous doors had been.
By about 2PM, the job was complete. The new doors were in, trim replaced, jamb, sill, and a small part of the trim on the outside of the door was replaced too which was appreciated. The result is a clean, proportionate aesthetic that makes the doors look a bit more classy. I could not be happier with the end result!
Throughout the project, Don and Ed cleaned up the work area and even swept my driveway off of wood shavings/dust despite my insistence it wasn't necessary as I was going to wash and vacuum my car.
The professionalism and quality workmanship is refreshing and quite lacking in this industry. It's reassuring to see there are companies like SSR who are high above the usually negative contractor reputation.
Listen, if my roof review wasn't good enough, this second review serves as more ammo at what a class-act SSR is. I can't stress it enough that SSR should be on your list of potential hires for your next home project, if not the company hired, if you're looking for no hassles and quality work.
