Had 6 basement windows retrofited in 2016. 2 weeks ago I found the basement carpet full of water coming from a window. Alex came over, trying to find something wrong with the walls, there was nothing, so he blamed it on too much rain! He declined to pay for damage. Today, the second window started leaking, with water coming from between the wood frame and the new plastic frame. Alex, once again said that there is something wrong with the walls- the windows and his installation are good in his opinion. Before I retrofited the windos I never had any problems (more than 10 years).
The walls of the basement have no cracks as suggested by Alex (something he could see with his eyes). Also a home inspector inspected the second window which leaks inside, drilled a hole from the inside and told me that there is no foam in between the wood frame and the plastic one. cutting corners and saving on foam?
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,000.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Company Response
Hi Petre,
We are sorry to hear about what has happened with the windows. However, as soon as you called our office and complained about the windows, Alex, along with the head of our installation team came to your home to check out the problem. When they arrived, they noticed that the drywall was cut out under one window and that the basement was flooded with water. They then came to the conclusion that the water had come into the basement through the wall, not the window, because the window was installed and properly sealed from both sides. The drywall was also already rotted from the bottom, which means that the water had most likely been there before we installed the windows. As you know, the windows were all installed as retro-fit. This means that a new vinyl window is installed inside the old wooden frame. Foam insulation is only required on the outside of the window in a retro-fit installation, not the inside, because a retro-fit installation is done based on the measurements from the inside of your old window frame. This means that there is only space for caulking on the inside of the window, not foam. On the outside, we put foam around the perimeter of the window, then we cover it with strong-gage construction aluminium capping and put caulking all around the window to ensure that is properly sealed from the inside and the outside. Foam insulation has nothing to do with water coming in, as it only protects from cold and wind penetration. A brick-to-brick installation would require foam insulation on the inside and the outside because in this case, we replace the old frame as well. If your home inspector is drilling from the inside trying to find the foam, this means that he is not familiar with window installation at all. Due to the old age of the home, Alex made the suggestion for you to call a professional and licensed home inspector and find out where the water is coming from. Rather than going through with Alex’s suggestion, you stood by your opinion that your walls are fine and that the problem is with our windows. We are an experienced and reliable company and as you can tell by our reviews, we always put our clients first. We suggest that you take Alex's advice and go ahead with a professional home inspection. We wish you all the best and we hope that you come to realize that our suggestion is the right option for you at this time.