Ecoline Windows

If you purchase windows from this company after reading this review, all I have to say is that you were warned.

Before I signed the contract with this company, I had “one” stipulation. I insisted the job completed by October 15th. I was assured this would be the case. Several times over the summer I contacted the company and was assured each time that the install would be done by that date. When they finally called to set an install date it, was set for the 15th Oct. When the installers showed up, I overheard some discussions prior to the work beginning. There seemed to be a problem but nothing was said to me. I was asked for the 60% payment, due prior to install, and was assured the install would be completed that day. Once installers had asked for and accepted payment, removed one window and partly removed several others, one of the installers approached me and informed me that they did not have the correct “jambs” to complete the job that day. The jambs they had were for 2X4 walls. I live in River Park South. There are no 2X4 walls for miles in any direction. How does a professional, measuring windows in the middle of River Park South, order 2X4 window jambs? How does a professional installer not know the windows in this area are 2X6 without removing a window or two? I was extremely upset but was then told by the installer that they would have the jambs installed and installation complete within a week. They offered to put the old window back in but the total damage to the windows was such that I agreed to let them continue. When the windows were in, the installers were adamant that they be paid the balance owing even though the install was not complete. Thinking the install would be complete in 7 day, I reluctantly paid the balance owing in good faith. As the installers were leaving, they told me I need to call the office to set up the completion date. When I called the office, I was told completion would be in 4 to 6 weeks.

I believe that the company sent the installers out knowing full well that they were not going to complete the work that day. The installers took payment and misled me about the completing the job that day. Only when they had done demolition to the point of no return, did they notify me of the issue. They then misled me again about the completion date to get their final payment.

They should have notified me of the issue prior to beginning the work. They did not because they knew I would cancel the project until the spring, if not completely.

Regarding the workmanship. There are issues inside and out. The windows appear to be “under measured” about an inch width and height for ease of installation. Unfortunately for me, this creates huge gaps inside and out compared to the old windows. To fill the exterior gaps they put a single bead of caulking in spaces a half inch wide and an inch deep. The max single bead size for caulking is ¼ in. by ¼ in. As such, these beads are destined to fail much sooner that they should. There are correct methods of filling these large gaps. This is not one of them. The space between the drip edge and the new window is on average ½ inch. These spaces are left open for moisture and insects. Pieces of stucco were broken off and these large spaces were also filled with caulking.

As a result of “under measuring”, the interior gaps between the jambs and the rough opening were as large as 2 Inches in places so they needed to use a 3 ¼ inch casing to cover the area previously covered by the original 2 ½ inch casing. I caught one of the installers preparing to nail casing over a two foot section of window that had not been insulated? “Oops” he says. I am now going to have to take laser temp readings of all the casing this winter to see if the insulation was installed correctly on all the windows. To fit the casing properly in my instance, they needed to trim wainscoting around 3 windows and did irreparable damage to the wainscoting and molding. The cuts are oversized and uneven. You can now see the drywall between the wainscoting and the casing. There was also damage done to the wainscoting in several places.

Instead of trimming a total of two square inches of backsplash tile to fit the casings in the kitchen, they notched the casing corners, which looks horrible.

Almost very miter joint had to filled with filler they were so poorly cut.

I requested compensation and was offered $450.00 if I agreed not to discuss my issues with anyone. I declined the offer. I have had to take numerous “additional” days off work to accommodate the second install date. And will have to take more days off to accommodate service appointments for shoddy workmanship. $450.00 would not even cover lost wages. My contract was breached. I was misled and deceived. My family and I have had to live with sheets in our windows and blinds and drapes on our floors for five weeks. We have had to stare at and explain the unfinished work to our friends and family. I feel I am owed significantly more. Oh yeah, when they did finally show up to finish the install on Nov 19th, I waited for over 3 hours for the installers to arrive. There was no phone call about being late.