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Hear directly from satisfied homeowners across Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, Fremont, and the East Bay Area who chose Custom Exteriors for their exterior home remodeling needs. From fire-resistant James Hardie® siding to Infinity from Marvin® windows, discover why East Bay California homeowners trust our expert crews for high-quality craftsmanship, on-time service, and lasting results, all backed by strong warranties and financing options.
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You know, just tell me how you came about finding Custom. Well, some some of my friends had used Custom Exteriors and I got some recommendations from them. So, um Custom Series over the years has done a lot of work for me. They've done um a commercial property. Uh they've done my father-in-law's house. They did my house. I had a house nearby nearby this location and they that's the first time I use them. They took out a uh a picture window and put in a French door which they did a very nice job. That was stuckle work. All kinds of stuff was going on with that. And then I did an addition on that house and we had some other windows, kind of a high-end window company, but I didn't we didn't like those windows that much. So, we actually switched. So, part of the house we kept the the other windows, but in the addition, we put in the Marvin um Infinities led to the final product.
Well, the all the work was and some of it was complicated work. you know, when you start dealing with stucco and paint and and moving electrical. So, it all came out really nicely. And the sense I got was the owner who I who I met was very concerned to make sure I was completely happy with everything. And that's what how it ended up. So, we moved to this house. Uh this house was a 1600 square f foot rancher with 8ft ceilings. No one touched it since 1960. this little uh uh in-law unit or I guess it was an accessory building at the time uh was was old and run down too, but we love the lot and we love the property. So, we said, "Well, we can make a nice nice home here." So, um I guess I guess the question is back to what am I what did I choose Custom Series? Well, they did such a nice job on that house. I said, "Well, let me give them a try here, too." And that's why Well, I I can get to the siding and stuff in a minute, I guess. So, yeah. Well, overall satisfaction. Well, as you can see, as as you go through the house and look at the windows we used that we put in. We put there's a we have a varying degree of there's a lot of different types of windows for that we were trying to accomplish different um effects. One was to highlight the trees and you'll see those later and the um the the windows.
So, I'm sorry, what was the question again? just the what the benefits are with the new windows in terms of the noise, the energy savings, anything, you know, for let's let's talk about those items for sure. Well, what I love about the window, these Marvin Infinity windows is I love the the first of all, they look great and they perform well when you close them. They close tight. It's sealed. It it blocks out any ambient noise or sound from the outside. It's they're really quiet. and also the energy savings from well with the old this house here that we rebuilt had old aluminum 1960s windows. So that was some of the great benefits of it. And the also also the um the clad I think I got that right. The clad windows that are wood on the inside and metal on the outside. We wanted them to we wanted to stain them so they could kind of blend with the hardwood floors too. And the communication Yeah. the the quality of the workmanship was great. Everything was was tight and square and on time and everybody was friendly. The the uh the workers that came and installed were friendly and very proficient. They cleaned up after themselves and everything was was done properly. Satisfaction right there. So, we're looking here at the at the uh in-law unit and we moved into this little unit. We rebuilt this unit that was already here when we bought the property and we moved into it. But of course in this area, we're concerned about fire safety. So the the windows are uh have a good fire rating, but so do the is the hardy sighting. And so the hardy sighting is um I guess it's uh it's composite. It's a it's a concrete uh concrete composite.
And it's I I think it's I mean I was a firefighter for 30 years and I don't think you could set this stuff on fire with gasoline. So, uh, we were concerned about the fire safety and we like how it looks, too. And you can kind of mix the the shingles with on the other this the other house you'll see or in the back of this house, you can see the flat panels. I don't know what they're called, but and the shingles together. And so, we think it looks nice and you can get them. We we got a we didn't we we painted painted these. These were primed and ready, but you can also get the uh we the custom the colors too that they have. Um, so the hardy sighting. Yeah. Custom exteriors. Well, I I think this the sighting product, the Hardy sighting is a great product. I mean, that's why you see it on so many houses, especially in fire rate uh neighborhoods uh neighborhoods with concerns about fire, but it's also a greatlook product. We we like the looks of it, too. That's the first thing that attracted us to to it. We saw it on other houses and we asked people, "What is that product?" And it was nice that Custom Exteriors carried it. And of course in working with Custom Exteriors, this job was done on time and done right and everything was very well dialed in. And again, friendly friendly people working and they showed up and they said they they finished it when they said they were going to finish it and we're really satisfied with how it looks and how it performs with custom exteriors. We're really satisfied with how everything went with custom exteriors, how the the the workmanship and the product. Okay. So, we one of the reasons we chose the James Hardy sighting was the it is fiber cement which is basically fireproof. I I mean I I guess fire resistant but I was a firefighter for 30 years and I don't think you could set this stuff on fire with gasoline. Um but um it's it's in in an area like this the fire protection and you know how insurance companies are nowadays it's it's imperative to have something that's not going to catch on fire. And I'm pretty confident that this stuff is at least highly fireresistant.
So, one of the things we're trying to do with the windows is highlight the property. And we wanted to be able to see the trees. And um so we we went with some higher some taller doors and some doors that are peaked so that when we're looking outside from the kitchen or in the uh in-law unit out that we can see the oaks and the redwood back there because that was really important to us. So, and was your wife happy with how it turned out? Oh, yeah. Of course. Oh, my wife my wife was is is very happy with how everything turned out. She designed everything and um she really worked she worked with the the salesperson from uh Custom Exteriors and he was very detailed and it took a long time to figure out what exactly what she wanted because she will change her mind on a time as she looks at stuff. But this guy was really helpful and he helped work through with her what should go where and uh and uh the different the different um types of materials we should be using. Customers. So this job uh for Gil and Stacy is just a classic in that we replaced all of the windows and also installed uh James Hardy fiber cement sighting. And the the reasons for the choice of these products are many. Uh starting with the windows, the Marvin Infinity window is a fiberglass product, eight times stronger than vinyl, fire retardant. Um a very respected manufacturer, Marvin, who's been in business over a hundred years. Uh what's unique about Marvin Infinity are the grids. And with old vinyl windows, uh, the grids are typically between the two panes of glass. You can't feel them. They look very fake. They're not authentic. But as we'll see here shortly, the grids on the Marvin Infinity windows, you can actually touch and feel them on the outside and on the inside. And they're very authentic. They look like grids that were made from wood windows back in the 1920s and 1930s. A beautiful, beautiful product. Now, the James Hardy sighting, it's a fiber cement product.
Uh we're in a very wooded area here in Lafayette. Uh our customer uh customers Gil and Stacy. Uh Gil is a retired fire captain, very concerned about all the woods and the fire danger here in Lafayette. And we've all heard and you know, seen the reports of the fires uh recently. Uh homeowners insurance is going through the roof. But the fiber cement product that James Hardy produces is extremely fire retardant. Uh probably cannot even be lit on fire. So for the Jacksons here, the peace of mind knowing that their windows and their sighting is an extremely fire retardant material meant the world uh to them and connected. Yes. And so window materials uh over the last few centuries has really evolved and changed. I mean back in Roman times the material was wood and it was wood for hundreds of years until the early 1900s when manufacturing and technology then uh was able to create steel framed windows. So, we went from wood to steel and then to aluminum in the 40s and 50s, vinyl frame windows in the 60s, and now we've seen the evolution get to fiberglass frames, more durable, stronger, better looking, fire retardant. And the transition we're seeing, it's right here, right now. the world or our world, our business, we're seeing a huge uh transition uh going to the fiberglass products, Marvin Infinity in the Bay Area. So, the product that we used here at the Jackson's house is James Hardy fiber cement sighting and wonderful wonderful array of options as far as the look of the product. You'll see on the Jackson House uh sections that are shingles. Now, these are fiber cement products, but they look like wood. Uh there's horizontal sighting. There's batten board vertical sighting. You can get the product either primed if you want uh the sighting painted a custom color or uh James Hardy has an array of prefinished colors on the siding.
So, wonderful options, an incredible reputation nationwide, and James Hardy is the number one uh sighting choice uh nationwide in the US and uh very very popular in the Bay Area uh for many reasons, the looks, the fire retardency, um the the options, uh wonderful array of choices. Very. So the other owner Kevin Gundry and myself in 1997 uh we were estimators for a Sears contractor and we had just kind of kept in touch as our careers uh uh kind of separated and in 1997 we started custom exteriors literally making calls from my wife's flower shop in Arinda. Uh it was Kevin and I there was one crew with a couple of guys. Uh we started very small. Uh eventually our first real office was in San Raone. We moved to Dublin. We've now been in Pleasanton for many, many years, but we're going on 28 years in the Bay Area. Uh we've done windows and sighting uh in over 21,000 homes. We're extremely proud of our online uh reviews, hundreds of very, very positive reviews. We have 45 or so employees now. All of our window crews are our employees. Um, so we have five crews. There is a crew leader and typically three assistants or three helpers. So, fourman crews and we have five of them. Uh, very very low turnover over the years. I'm very very proud of that. Uh, when we show up to your home, the drop cloths go down, the process is explained. Uh, the peace of mind and comfort with our crew I know is is immediate. Uh the crews will work every day until the job is finished. They won't uh get another job until uh the job that they're working on is totally totally finished. Uh the communication is is great. Um the cleanliness, um they're friendly, extremely professional. I couldn't be more proud of our our installation crews. So, give Custom Exteriors a call if you're interested in a free estimate for either windows, the James Hardy fiber cement sighting, or even front entry doors. Uh, now is the time. Uh, give us a ring. We're happy to do a free estimate. Explore all the options with you. Explain how we do the work. Uh, the permitting. Uh, it's what we do best, and we'd love to come out to your house and do our best to help you with your home improvement project. When you're ready to improve the look of your home, give Custom Exteriors a call. When you're ready to improve the look of your home, give Custom Exteriors a call.
Schedule a consultation, or visit the Custom Exteriors showroom to see James Hardie siding and Infinity from Marvin windows in person.
2142 Rheem Drive, Suite E, Pleasanton, CA | (866) 568-4314 | custom-exteriors.com