"On The House"

NATIONAL HOME IMPROVEMENT RADIO SHOW

Hosts Jim & Morris Carey Interview Gene, Ralph & Michael of Brothers Windows

Announcer: Now let's get back to the program. Here are James and Morris Carey.

Morris: 1-800-737-2474 with a line open just for you.

James: And we've got some folks on the house on the home improvement hotline who can help you stay more comfortable, lower your utility bill, and add value to your home. And like us, they're brothers.

Morris: Yeah. It's the Brother's Window Company and we have on our hotline Gene Cavanaugh, Michael Cavanaugh, and Ralph Cavanaugh. And Gene, tell us, you're the founder and chairman of the board of Brothers Windows. How did it all come about?

Gene: Well, actually, Ralph and I started the company together. We partnered up 25 years ago. My background was in management, his was in windows, in window installations, and we got together, liked the product and thought it had great benefit to homeowners both in comfort, energy savings and improving the looks of the house, and we decided to put our experiences to work, and with dreams of employing the entire family.

James: And, and when you say employ the entire family, you're not kidding. You do have a lot of family. You guys, as the name implies, are brothers, three brothers, but there are nine of you working in the family, is that right?

Michael: That's correct.

Gene: Yes, that's correct.

James: I'll be darned.

Morris: Who cooks lunch?

Gene: (laughs)

Morris: (laughs) I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Michael, what kind of windows, what brands of windows do you guys sell?

Michael: We actually have a few different brands. One of them we actually designed ourselves and we actually got with the engineers from the 

manufacturing plant and manufactured it in Sparks, Nevada. Other ones are major brands like Simonton, who's all over the United States. We've also got MI, we've got Amerimax because we want to have options and choices for our customers, not just be pushing one window.

James: Hey, Michael, Simonton and Ply Gem, are they under one company now?

Michael: Yes, they are now.

James: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Two leading brands by the way. We see them often at the home shows and the builders shows, and we have used both brands. Simonton is quite a terrific brand.

Morris: So the windows you guys make Ralph is, manufactured in the United States wholly in Nevada?

Ralph: We used to, now it's being manufactured in, Washington.

Morris: In Washington State. I hope it's not being manufactured in Washington DC.

Morris: (laughs)

James: (laughs) So, you know, we, the Carey brothers have been in construction now together for just under 40 years. Morris, a little longer than me, but together just under 40 years. And we certainly understand family business. My sister-in-law is part of our team, and we have, uh, throughout the years have children and other wives, ex-wives and, and-

Morris: (laughs)

James: ... and, uh, uh, siblings and that sort of thing. It's not easy to be in a family business. How do you manage and what keeps it together?

Ralph: Well, what keeps us together is that we're all close and we all grew up under the same roof, and when you do that, you get to know each other and you, you get to learn how to put up with all the great things that we put up with and, and you learn how to deal with them and talk about them.

James: Are mom and dad still, uh, with us?

Ralph: Mom's still is, dad passed away.

James: I'm certain that she's very proud of what you've accomplished. And by the way, you're not a, a small window company, you're a multi-million- dollar enterprise. You've built quite a business.

Ralph: Yes. And we've enjoyed every minute of it. We got to see everyone grow up. (laughs)

Morris: Where, where are you guys located?

Ralph: We've got several locations. Um, our corporate office is in Rockland. Uh, we also have uh, a retail location in Rocklin and one in uh, Sparks, Nevada, one in San Jose who covers the whole Bay Area, East Bay, South Bay, North Bay. And we also have a, uh, LA Orange County shop and a San Diego shop.

Morris: When you go to install a whole house of windows. I remember when I was working in the subdivisions, we used to say that a house had 12 or 13 windows and the sliding glass door. So let's look at that as an example, tell me something, Gene, how long does it take your crew to replace the windows in an average house like that?

Gene: So yeah, you have described the average house and we would normally do that in one day.

Morris: In one day? My gosh.

Gene: Yeah. Pretty standard. Yes. We always send the crew out, a very experienced crew, and yeah, they're pretty much done by three, you know, four o'clock latest.

Morris: How many guys does it take to do a job that quickly?

Gene: That would be a crew, that, that would be a crew of two.

James: Wonderful.

James: Wow.

Gene: Two installers. And yeah, they would get that out.

James: Well, let's see, if Morris and I went out there and, to install a, a whole house full of windows. We could give it to you in about six days. (laughs)

Morris: Yeah. Six or seven days.

Gene: (laughs) You have to remember that being a family business, we enjoy a lot of longevity in employees, and that means a lot of experience. And all been doing this for many, many years.

James: There's-

Gene: All trained by Ralph.

James: ... they are the brothers from another mother, it's Brothers Home Improvement, Windows and Doors, Gene, Ralph, and Michael. We'll continue the discussion. We're gon’na take a quick break, when we come back, they're gon’na share pearls with you. Uh, some sage advice that you can use as you shop for windows. On The House. (800) 737-2474.

Morris: More On The House coming up.

Ralph: Michael that's you.

James: Yeah. Michael, that's all about you. Come on.

Michael: Well, one of the things that we do is actually come out, and this will answer your question, we actually come out there and we do a full presentation on the different products to see which makes the most sense for their home, right? And once the customer has decided which product they want based on what they have and what we have educated them on, what we then make them realize is the most important thing in fact is installation, because you can take the best window on earth, and if it's not installed correctly, you can have all kinds of problems.

Michael: So number one is installation. And number two is obviously the product and the brand that you're getting for your home.

Morris: So when you, when you install a window, do you move away the siding or stucco, and, uh, reflash it and seal a window into the frame as it was originally done, or, or not?

Michael: So here in California, there are so many homes that have stucco siding. And when you have stucco siding, if you tried to go back to the original rough framing, which are the studs that originally held the, the first window there, you would have to tear out the home and kind of rebuild a whole envelope. So instead what we do is a retrofit replacement. So we encapsulate the old frame so that when we're done you don't even know that it's there. And now this is the, one of the reasons why we can do the job as Gene mentioned in one day, because we specialize in this type of installation.

Morris: So you actually leave the original frame in place and then cover it with a new frame and then install your window?

Michael: That is correct.

Morris: Oh, that's a good idea. I like that. That keeps the flashing in place, and I see where you can get a good watertight connection.

Michael: Absolutely.

Morris: So you have to custom make just about every window?

Michael: That is correct.

Gene: Every window. Yes.

James: Yeah. Listen, are most of the frames vinyl, are they, are they hybrids, are they fiberglass, or are they a mix, uh, what, what is your specialty if you have one?

Michael: Our specialty actually is vinyl.

Morris: Okay.

Michael: Vinyl has come such a long ways and it is the most sold uh, window frame out there nowadays.

James: It really is.

Michael: And yes, we specialize in vinyl.

James: Yeah. Cost versus value, it really is the moneymaker, isn't it? Uh, both for, for folks that are in the trades and for consumers who are looking for a good product at a reasonable price.

Morris: Tell us some of the components that you're using in your windows these days. Ralph?

Ralph: Well, you have options depending on the manufacturers, uh, uh, as far as looks with, uh, some people like grids, uh, some people like different types of locks, different colored locks. Uh, so within every manufacturer they have their own options of what you can get to customize it to your choice.

Morris: And do you double and triple plain- pane windows and filled with gas, and, uh, are there sheets in between the glass or tell us a little bit about those energy components.

Ralph: Uh, they all meet Title 24 in California, you have to meet a certain standard and, and you have to use a glass package and a window that meets it. And, uh, they do have triple pane, they also have sound package glass. Uh, so there are options, but you have to always meet the standard of Title 24 in California.

James: So what you're saying is in addition to the energy component, which is at a minimum double pane windows and maybe a low emissivity option like argon gas Low-E, uh, or spatter coated glass, uh, that you can also satisfy issues that folks have who may be on a

heavily trafficked street or a freeway, or, uh, uh, near a school where they want a little peace and quiet, you can go with a sound attenuating product, yes?

Ralph: That's correct.

James: Does it cost a lot more for something like that? Does it double or triple the cost of the window?

Ralph: No, but it does have its upcharge.

James: Yeah, of course.

Ralph: And there's a couple of options that you can get something that's a little better, but it's a lot more expensive versus something that's really good that isn't that much more expensive.

James: So when we began the discussion with Gene, he said, I said, what do you do? He said, well, we do windows, and we do doors. And I didn't ask whether you do entry door systems. Do you also do entry door systems in addition to patio doors, do you retrofit, uh, uh, French doors as an example in place of patio doors? What, what are the full offerings?

Ralph: Yes, we do. Um, we're actually hooking up right now with a pretty major manufacturer that we're, we're getting trained on because we really want to sell their product that's really high quality, uh, entry doors. And so we're looking into all of that now.

James: Are you going to name names?

Ralph: ProVia.

James: Oh, ProVia? Very nice-

Ralph: Yeah.

James: ... brand. Seen them at the builder show. Yeah. Very, they, they have a lot of fiberglass product, don't they?

Ralph: That's correct.

Morris: Yeah. But I got ’a tell you, I don't know if you guys have seen the tests on fiberglass as compared to wood, but fiberglass beats wood hands down.

Ralph: And their warranty is so much better.

James: Well, listen, it's got a better insulative quality, it's more stable, it doesn't cup, it doesn't twist, it holds a finish beautifully, it stains beautifully, it paints beautifully, it's secure. And if you get good product like ProVia, you end up with something... You have to take a magnifying glass to it, and I dare you, even with the magnifying glass whether you can uh, discern whether it's water or fiberglass. Does that make sense?

Ralph: Yeah, absolutely.

James: All right. Well, let's talk about price just in, in a, we only have about 30 seconds left. In a range, and I know this is hard, but in a range, what does a house full of windows cost?

Morris: Who, who are you asking the question of?

James: Um, I'm going to ask [crosstalk] Mic- I'm going to ask my Michael. Sales, Michael, what's-

Morris: Okay.

James: ... what's a house full of windows cost these days? But, but, and I know it can range, and you give us, give us a broad range if you want.

Morris: You can say 1,000 to $100,000.

Morris: (laughs)

Michael: (laughs)

James: What's the-

Michael: So I, I'd say a typical house with, you know, with a few bedrooms, not a little, uh, you know-

Morris: 13 windows and a sliding glass door.

James: Yeah. 13 windows and a sliding glass door.

Michael: 13 windows and a sliding glass door, you're probably today looking at around $7,000 in- installed to 8,000, seven to 8,000, someplace in between there is what-

James: My gosh, that's far more reasonable than I expected. And are there incentives for consumers with local utility companies, are there rebates or anything available, uh, tax credits?

Michael: They come and go-

James: Okay.

Michael: ... whenever they're available, we let our customers know and they do come and go depending on what season.

James: And finally, do you offer financing?

Michael: Absolutely.

James: Okay. They're the brothers. And I got to tell you-

Morris: We're the brothers.

James: ... but we are too.

Morris: Which, which one, which brothers are you?

James: We're the brothers from another mother-

Morris: (laughs)

James: ... and uh, they are home improvement guys. The company is Brothers Home Improvement. They do windows. They do windows, a lot of people don't do windows, but they do, and you'll find their windows to be among the best. Uh, you can find them online. It is easy, it is brotherswindows.com, or toll free (800) 672-3777. And we will post them at the show notes section of our website onthehouse.com.

Morris: Wow. Amazing. Thanks guys. Really appreciate you being with us today.

Ralph: Thank you.

Michael: Thank you very much.

James: Congratulations.

Gene: Thank you very much.

James: 25 years, nine brothers and sisters, family values, Spain to the Philippines to the US.

Morris: I can see, I can see down the line, 144 great grandchildren.

James: Yeah. All in the business.

Morris: (laughs)

James: The gift that keeps on giving.

Morris: Yeah.

James: Bye. (800) 737-2474. Don't you touch that dial. There's more On The House ahead with you coming up.