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We rely heavily off of what our carpenters tell us because our carpenters – we have three different crews that have been doing this for 20 years. So a lot of times they’re on top of, staying on top of what the newest trend is or what’s, you know, the best product out there. So over the years, over 35 years of doing this, we went through a few different manufacturers, but we’ve been sticking with the same couple for the last 20 years that have really been top-notch. And we have these windows in our own homes, and the same windows that we have in our houses are the same products that we’re selling to our customers. The technology on the windows gets so much better. And I think that it’s just that with the low-e glass and all of that, it’s – I tell people that that doesn’t mean you can throw your furnace away or because you have this new air conditioning. But the technology from when I first got in to where it is now, it’s just like it’s been 100% different. And it’s just they they make it better. And I would think that eventually they will have remote controls where they will open themselves and clean themselves.
The most rewarding part of working at SEMKO is definitely working with family. Jason, Adam, David and Bobby. They all take care of it very, very well. I think me and my brothers, we have a good relationship all around. And like I said, we have different personalities and different ways, but it actually works really well for the business. So what might be someone’s weakness is someone else’s strength. And so we take that and we apply it in life. Amazing to get to get up every day, come to work, and you see your mom, you see your dad, you see your brothers, and you can discuss work, talk about work. You know, there’s going to be good and bad and stressful situations. But at the end of the day, you know, you’re working together and that’s – family means everything to us, Even outside of SEMKO we’ve been, you know, in softball leagues together. We’ve been in bands together, things like that. So we know how to work together as a family unit.
We carry many different brands, different types of windows. This is the most common type of window. Vinyl double hung. This is from Advanced Window, their 6300, top of the line, high-end series. Both these windows go up and down. You could tilt both windows in for cleaning as well. It’s really simple. Easy to use, comes with a standard half screen that goes up and down as well. Then you could lock it right here. And there’s also a couple safety locks as well. So this would be like the inside of the window. And then the outside, everything would get capped in aluminum and caulked around as well. And that’s just a really simple look. These also have colonial grids that are optional to get with the glass. And the glass is all Low-e and Argon as well. The next window is also vinyl, but it’s a woodgrain. That kind of looks like real wood. This is also the Advanced 6300 series. This is a two light casement, they call it, that cranks open. And this also has a transom above. That sometimes is necessary. But these just crank open like that. Really easy to use. They both kind of lock right here. And it comes with the standard full screen on the inside as well. That’s easy to take out. And you can clean the windows simply as well. The next type of window, these are Pella. These are two different series. So the first one is a casement window, from their lifestyle series. This opens up like this and has these nice fold down handles as well. And then this cranks out really easily. This also shows the optional grid pattern as well. And these are all wood clad. So it means wood on the inside. And then aluminum on the outside. This is also a Lifestyle window. This is a double hung, that goes up and down like that. And then this is their Reserve series. This is their highest end. This is what it has the nice handle here as well. That goes up and down and then they have the grids up on the inside, that you can only get on wood windows like this. And then again, everything on the outside is just aluminum clad. And you could get different types of capping on the outside. That’s all optional. This is another type of window. This is Pella again. This is Impervious series, which is fiberglass. This is a really strong window. This is a big double hung that we carry here. And again, all these open up, and you could even open up the . . . the top one as well, if you want to clean them both. Could kind of show you how that works here. And it comes with a half screen as well. Just like the vinyl window. And then again on the outside we’re showing different options. This has a tan color. And we did white capping because sometimes people want to do different options. And you could do that as well. These are all the different kind of capping colors you can get. There’s 48 different kinds. These are also custom colors you could get for outside of windows. Besides the standard ones. Then next we have a sliding patio door. This is a standard six foot white vinyl. And then on the inside it has a – what they call a four point locking system, which when you kind of push it in and you could lock it with the foot lock here, that’s the other lock in here. And then when you close it that is also another lock here and make it super secure. This one is a European window. It’s called the Tilt and Turn EU 76 Septum series. This is really popular in Europe. A lot of people really like these. These are really nice. So they open up like this. And this one, again, these are prairie grids, they’re called, with an almond on the outside. What’s really nice about this window. So it could open just like that. This will lock it. Then you could also put it on here and it’ll tilt like that as well. Which is really a type of unique window. They also make this as a door, too. This is the French door. Tilt and Turn and again, kind of opens up like that as well. You could get a screen if you want as an option, and then it opens up like this too on the top. And then these are two different types of standard windows. These are both vinyl. These are almond and the inside as an option. This is a called the two light slider that slides open locks here. And then it comes with half screen as well. This is just another option of color. This is black a lot of people are choosing black colors. Black capping looks really nice and sleek. The top window is an awning window. So that’s also like a casement, but it cranks out. So they have awning windows. They have hopper windows that go in, but this one cranks out like that comes with the full screen. And then that locks on the sides here.
Looking for new windows for your home is – could be – really confusing. The first thing to do is kind of look online, look at some reviews, and just kind of look what works best for you. I’ve had people come where they’ve had 6 or 7 different quotes and they don’t even know what to do. So I’d say if you call us first, we’re going to come out there, answer any questions. We’ll get you a fast estimate out and kind of explain everything in layman’s terms, and make it as easy as possible. I’d say that would be a good start when you’re looking for windows.
We’re always talking to our manufacturers. We we have different meetings, different discussions weekly and monthly with many different manufacturers. And we’re always trying to keep updated about everything. We’re always changing our showroom to make it look super updated. And same with our website, because we always want to find the best and the newest technology that’s going to work for you. We trust our manufacturers and suppliers. So, they’re always on top of everything. And we stay on top of them to be sure that we’re getting the best product for our customers.
I’ve heard some common misconceptions about vinyl windows that they warp, or something like that. Or, you know, there’s always companies giving kind of funny demonstrations about things like that. But the thing, we carry vinyl, we carry fiberglass, we carry wood clad. With vinyl windows, these are steel reinforced. They’re not going to warp or anything like that. The wood clad Pell windows are amazing. Fiberglass is super strong. And no matter what happens, it’s a lifetime warranty. But things like that will never happen with warping of windows or I don’t know, whatever else people are saying. But these are going to last a lifetime.
Unfortunately in the last few years everybody’s been dealing with inflation. The good thing about us, we’re still – we’re almost always on the low end. And that, again, is because of our limited advertising. We don’t have salespeople. And we’re always trying to make things fair for the customer right away. And that’s kind of how my dad started the business. Keep it as low as possible, give you the best price, right away.
The great thing about our company is, it’s going to be really fast. We’re going to come to your home. We’re going to give you a quick estimate. It breaks everything down. We’ll itemize everything so they could see exactly the cost of everything. Then we’ll get your estimate emailed out to you later that day. Answer any questions. I don’t want to be talked down to when I’m dealing with buying something. I want to just be talked to like a straight, you know, straight shooter, like somebody that’s not going to play games. And that’s how I am with all of our customers. If you do decide to go with us, we’re going to come out there just for the final measure one more time. And then when we’re installing the windows, we’re just going to take out one window at a time. It’s not going to take it out. It’s going to be really clean and efficient. We use tarps. The guys that we use are super clean. If anybody has any questions along the way, they’ll call or text me. I give my personal number out to everybody. So if they want to text me or call me, they always can. So we could kind of walk them through every step of the way. When it’s done, it’s going to look perfect. And you’re going to have a great new windows and you’re going to be thrilled.
The great thing about custom replacement windows is we’re going to go to the eighth of an inch of whatever you need. You know, everything is custom made for your order. So everything gets manufactured exactly how you want. If you want a specific color, specific – a specific glass type, or different options, you know, and the thing is, we can get it fast as well, but it’s all custom made for you. All of our windows have low-e glass, argon gas. You could get everything that is Energy star rated as well. So it’s going to make your windows a lot cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter. We like to keep our windows local, such as Advanced Window. We’ve been using them for 25 years, made locally in Chicago. Another company called Climate Solutions in Franklin Park. We work with Pella, you know, out of Pella, Iowa. Again, we want to keep it local. Work with a lot of the same partners that we’ve had for the last 20, 25, 30 years.
You know, windows and doors, it’s always changing. In the last few years, though, I noticed people want different kind of colors. Black on the inside for vinyl. And high-end vinyl is a real popular thing now. And sometimes people want mini blinds for the glass. Different glass types. But you know, it’s always changing. But the windows – What’s great about this – It’s all lifetime warranty. The main thing is to work with us to kind of find what’s the best option for you. There’s so many different types of windows, different colors, different types of glass. And it’s kind of like when you get a car, you know, there’s a million different features that you could go through. So best to kind of look for, you know, what’s going to work best for your home. And we could give you all different options to kind of help with that.
We are family owned and operated. We’re not salespeople. We’re not going to go to your house for 3 or 4 hours and give a presentation. We’ll be there in and out, answer any questions, and we’re going to give you the best price right off the bat. We’re not going to play any games or do any gimmicks or anything like that. When we say we’re going to do something, we actually do it. Customer comes first and really staying on top of what the customer’s needs are. You’re not just an invoice number. You’re actually something – you could talk to someone. And even when you call here, you don’t press one for this or two for this. And, and then you’re on the phone for 20 minutes and then you get disconnected. You talk to a human being here. We handle things that, a lot of companies don’t, or they’re going to charge you for it, and we don’t charge anybody to do it. And on top of that, we we don’t subcontract any of our work. So all of our work is done through our own guys. And we pride ourselves on our workmanship and on our customer service.
Installation is 50% of this. When people talk about expansion and contraction, it really is a part of life, you know. I mean, especially in Chicago. And you know, we go from ten below zero to 90 degrees and humidity’s way up there. So things move. So when you put the window in, it’s not – the frame is not square, but the window’s square. So there’s always little gaps. We clean the frame out there’s always a little gap. We spray foam around the whole perimeter and that’s what, we were consistent with it.I’ve been in homes where, you go, “Oh these Pella windows stink.” And I feel like there’s drafts all the way around. Whoever installed these didn’t know what they were doing. That’s why I decided to hire a crew that would not subcontract. They’re my employees. And I knew that they were doing that, you know, and I knew they were doing it right. Because in the beginning, I had subcontractors and I’d realize the same thing. Some would do a nice job. Some would do not so nice of a job. So I decided to keep my crews happy and also to keep no, no, no subcontractors. And I think the by not subcontracting, I said that was a big, big moment. Now I have three crews. And it’s, and they’re all really, really good. I couldn’t say what – “Could you send me the best crew?” I go, any of them are the best.
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The Semko company has been an integral part of your community since 1989. At Semko, we are proud to offer you the best window and door replacement service in Chicago.