Astara Windows

Steve is AWESOME. Not only was the quality of his work magnificent, (He has more of an eye for detail and perfection than even I do, and it is my house!) he goes above and beyond. I had some missed/poorly done spots from my previous renovation, and he just went ahead and fixed them all for me (he checked with me first of course) Steve was vey communicative about schedules and timing, very respectful of our space, and even had one of his guys keep our dog entertained the one day we could not get him daycare! You are in great hands with Steve.

We originally planned to go with Renewal by Anderson, as we didn't know anything about windows, and are glad we switched. He was also MUCH cheaper (Saved us over 20 grand!) for a better quality job (we looked at some Anderson jobs afterwards).

GO WITH STEVE OR DON'T DO YOUR WINDOWS!

Steve is meticulous, organized, and a pleasure to work with, from start to finish. He goes above and beyond to ensure you have an excellent experience.

We had Steve replace all of our windows and a couple of our doors. From the beginning, he clearly and thoroughly explained our options and provided us with a fair price for the quality of his work. He was very honest in his recommendations and explanations. He has a keen eye for design (and formal training in design work) and is able to help guide you in selection for colours and styles (if you choose).

Steve is physically on site supervising at all times during the installation. The windows were installed with incredible precision and attention to detail. He was always respectful and courteous. We completely trusted him and were impressed at the level of care and respect he gave to our home (and our pets!). He communicated everything to us in detail and kept us involved throughout the process and design. He was flexible with his scheduling and willing to accommodate our needs.

During the installation process, he offered to do numerous other small unrelated improvements that were above and beyond. He left our home very neat and tidy after the installation process. The windows and doors are absolutely beautiful and made a huge difference to our home. We are so pleased with the quality of his work.

At the end, he walked us through our home to ensure that we knew exactly how to operate our new windows and doors and is available for any questions or issues in the future (they also come with an excellent warranty). He even helped us pick out and get paint for our siding afterwards. I would highly recommend Steve to anyone looking to replace their windows/doors in the future!!

We had our windows, front door and patio doors replaced in 2018 and Steve was very knowledgeable with his products and gave us honest suggestions that were catered to our home. His team provided exceptional service during the installation process and provided guidance as my wife was also pregnant at the time. We were also advised of manufacturer defects on one of the windows during installation and was promptly replaced before we even noticed. We chose not to replace our skylights at the time and 2 years later Steve generously came to take a look and provided suggestions. We have and will continue to refer our family and friends for future window related services!

Our older home needed a complete window refresh which was a big and scary thought. Our past experience with contractors working on our unique home always brought unpleasant surprises. Our window project was no exception – but our experience was! We are very grateful to Steve and his team at Astara for their professionalism, diligence, hard work and respect. We would highly recommend Steve and his team to undertake any window challenge. They have proven they will deliver. Highlights of our experience include:
• Great advice – Steve know his windows and he understands the need to put the right windows in the right place. One of our challenges was fitting new windows to suit the look of our old house. Although we were sad to see the old character windows go, Steve’s recommendations look great. Needless-to-say, they work great as well.
• Value adds - Not only did Steve and his team replace our windows, they also replaced and painted the old wood trim. Also, the staff were a pleasure – professional, polite, hard-working, reliable, and respectful. They were not fazed by the challenges presented by our old home where nothing is straight or square. We knew our sun room would be a challenge – and it was – but it now looks fabulous
• Project management: Steve kept us informed of the status of the windows, when he was expecting to come…but more importantly, letting us know when there were delays and why.
• Quote – The price was competitive. Best of all, Steve stayed true to the original quote even though extra time was incurred.

Had windows and skylights replaced and the whole process was quick. One of the window screen wasn't sitting flush and just one phone call was all it took to get Steve to come back and fix it. No ifs or buts. Very happy with the service and overall experience.

Astara is an amazing company and I highly recommend them. What impressed me the most about Astara is that Steve the owner actually took his time to listen to what I needed instead of just offering up the latest and greatest product. Every other contractor that looked at my place told me e-cubed windows were the way to go because they are the most energy efficient. Steve actually took the time to look around and recognize that getting enough light into the house is the biggest issue. He showed me the difference in energy savings between various window products (a very small difference between the most energy-efficient window versus what he recommended) and that the one with the slightly lower energy savings would let in a whole lot more light.

Steve is also passionate and meticulous about his work and treats people with respect and courtesy. He also hires people that are the same way. His installers were stuck in traffic on their first day and instead of just showing up when they showed up, they actually called me to let me know they would be running late. Once they showed up, their entire crew introduced themselves and the crew lead took 15 minutes to review the work with me before they started. As a project manger that has worked on hundreds of engineering, construction and monitoring projects, this 15 minutes to review all work is the biggest reassurance that the boots on the ground actually want to make sure the customer is happy. I don't know how many times I have had to chase workers down to make sure they had the right information. For some reason, the work crews just assume they have all the information they need from head office. Luckily Astara doesn't fit that bill. They care that they are doing the job right and they take the time to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Once the job was done, Steve came around, inspected the work and quickly followed up on anything that we thought needed something extra (like slightly larger bumpers for the sliding door). I've dealt with a lot of contractors and consultants throughout my life and Steve and his crew from Astara are some of the best. If you're looking for someone to slap something in, without caring about quality then go with someone else. If you want to work with quality people, have a top quality product and be proud of the job that was done, then go with Astara.

My philosophy with choosing a service or product is this.
Tell me the what, how and why you are going to do to fix the problem. Tell me in clear concise terms what it is going to cost. When do you start and finish. Show me your insurance and guarantee of your work or product.
Above all, keep the sales pitch for a TV or radio ad, not for me.

I have 34 windows in aluminum frames. The frames were good but the glass was done for. Fogged up and let in UV, fading carpets and upholstery. I wanted to keep the look. Vinyl replacement frames would have required extensive re-modeling of the Tudor style house.

I went through 7 interviews with trades people and or sales people and I booted them all out.
I met the disinterested, the extreme, the dishonest and the underhanded, no tax pay me cash types. The latter got the boot right away. So I pay you cash and save 200 bucks. Where is my written guarantee? None and no receipt you say! So who do I go back to if I have a problem?

So this skinny guy comes over have a look and by this time I have got plenty of practice with the interview part. What separated him right away was that he actually appeared to care about his work, the quality of his crew and their workmanship. He understood my view and came up with ideas to support and visualize the change.
Steve, the skinny guy, promoted an alteration only if it meant to be a benefit fitting in with our needs. He took his time to think about what he was going to do. As we moved forward there were changes that needed to be made. Steve was flexible without any alarmist stuff coupled with some crazy price to go along with it.
So we went with Steve and his crew. All new glass and screens were installed.
Half way through the project I decided I could use a new front entry door and a more complete replacement for our patio sliding door. Steve came up with ideas and we proceeded.

What a difference! Heating bills have dropped, house is cooler in summer, and the new entry doors look great.
The work went without issue and I have not had one call back.
Compared to my neighbours who have had similar work done with others and have to either call back or call some one else for adjustment.
As it has been said said. Why pay for it twice when you can pay once and have done right the first time.
I highly recommend Astara for your project.

We had just bought a house over 2 1/2 years ago and went to the homeshow seeking great companies to renovate our new home. That's where we met the wonderful Astara crew. We told them of our concerns (old house, tight timeline, etc.) they never once batted an eyelash. They simply made sure we were well informed and we could just see how enthusiastic they were about their product. A few days later, knowing we were under a time crunch, they contacted us about coming to look at the house. They were on time and were very detailed; asking us questions, taking pictures, listening to our needs and always gave suggestions but were never once just trying to 'sell' me something. They wanted to simply help and make our lives easier and better. Once we decided to hire them for the job, it was an endless stream of communication. If we had questions, they were answered promptly and with great detail. Steve was super organized and gave us a binder with all our information and more. Simon came to start the two day project and was always on time, even stayed a bit late to make sure it was done properly and to the best of anyone's ability. Even my neighbor came to ask him questions and comment on his job. Simon was very friendly and outgoing, very tidy and always double checking everything. When we ran into a few problems (carpenter ants, who'd eaten our wall under the main window, or the weird set up of our sliding door) Simon came and found me to explain each situation, ask what I thought about it and would give some advice as to what he would do. He put in extra work, time and supplies to help fix these unforeseen problems. (They even noticed my dilemma of painting the walls in the vaulted ceiling room and offered to lend us their scaffolding the day before they started their job). Once the job was done, of course the windows looked new, but never out of place. Steve made sure that the trim around the windows matched the trim on the outside of the house. The framing and detailing on the inside was beautifully done and we had a lot of say of how we wished it to look. I couldn't be any happier with the product and the service we received from Astara. We continue to share their name whenever someone mentions renovations. We can't thank them enough.

PS. Recently (after two and half years) the latch lock on our sliding door seemed to be acting up, so I phoned Steve and he immediately remembered who I was and told me he would get right on it. Again, it is above and beyond what I could have expected. He promptly ordered a part and sent someone over to take a look. Thank you again.

I hired Astara after having an absolutely horrible experience with an unscrupulous company. Steve showed up on time, every time. He was very thorough in explaining how the windows would be installed, and I would say, the method they use is above and beyond every other company I have spoken to to date. The install included wood trim, drip sills and flashing. Unlike most who only seem to rely on caulking.

It took three days and three men to install the windows. After they were done, they cleaned up, and you couldn't tell they were even there.

I can't say enough about how happy I am with my new windows and the fabulous customer service. You just don't find that too often any more.

I would tell anyone with confidence to hire Astara. You won't be disappointed.

Steve was recommended to us by our neighbour since they were extremely satisfied with his service and workmanship. We hired him to replace 23 windows and a French door. Steve is very polite, friendly and knowledgeable.
- When deciding what type of window to replace (eg. awning vs casement), he really put a lot of thought into his suggestions - thinking long term, current and future usage, safety, as well as aesthetics.
- He is more picky and meticulous about his own work than I am as the owner, and I'm a picky person.
- very hard working and doesn't mind coming over to work on weekends and late into the night to finish things up
- when shown some minor scratches on window screens, offered to replace the entire screen (I asked him to just touch up instead since it's really only a little dent/scratch)
- great with email/phone follow ups
- did a lot of extra work, provided extra materials for no charge
- using his expertise in building envelope, spent a lot of extra time to provide me with advise on my house
I really have to wonder how much money he really makes due to all the extra time and effort he spends on my home. Would highly recommend to my friends and family.