NELBRAN GLASS

NelBran has done glass work for me in the past. Their work has always been acceptable or better. The work was a bit sloppier than I expected with caulking that was not cleanly applied but overall it wasn't horrible. Really no complaints about the work. Invoicing was a bit odd because they insisted that they had invoiced me twice yet I never received a bill until I asked them to e-mail it to me.



NelBran is noted for being expensive but they're reliable. Sometimes it's worth it if there is a security matter involved. For this job the pricing was ridiculous. Materials were fair and reasonable. However, the labor charge couldn't pass the laugh test. The hourly labor rate ($65) is substantially higher than many professionals (including myself). If that wasn't enough the hours to do the job were absurd. I was charged for two men to take one hour to take measurements that one man could have taken. I was on site when they came to measure. It took no more than 15 minutes. Cha-ching! $130



Then I was charged for a half hour of shop labor -- presumably to cut the panels to fit. Not too bad at $32.50 until you consider that it likely took no more than five minutes with a circular saw.



The icing on the cake was to be charged for two men to take 3.5 hours to replace the panels. Cha-ching and jackpot (for NelBran, anyway) of $455! Really?! This was enough to make me gasp but what added insult to injury is that I've replaced such panels by myself in the past and it's taken me no longer than 90 minutes -- and that includes setting time for the caulking. Had I not been out of town with a tenant scheduled to move in that week I would have done the work myself.



Lessons here:

1. If you are even minimally handy, replacing Lexan is a cinch -- and ordering it on line makes it super inexpensive. Do it yourself. Replacing plate glass is not that much harder though you'll need help handling larger panes.

2. If you're not up to doing it yourself, get competitive quotes. You might give non-specialists a chance to bid. Big companies have a lot of overhead to cover.

3. Try to schedule the work when you'll be there to monitor and measure the work.

fine

I have always been satisfied with them. They did a good job when they replaced the window for me. They were professional and their price was reasonable as what I expected. I would recommend them and I would use them again. They also have a good reputation. I spent $180 for the last service and it shocked me, but I don't know what the going rate is. However, the price was reasonable since it was a big pane window and not a standard window. The overall experience was very good. I would use their services in the future too.

Some guys had forcibly entered our house before we owned it and had broken through the French door. Nelbran Glass found a custom glass door for us that was very hard to find; I would not have known how to find it. They took the broken door apart and installed the new door. They were professional and did not take too long with the job. We would rate them highly and would use them again in the future if necessary.

We called NelBran to replace broken window panes in some very old windows in our home. The broken panes were wavy glass. The windows are over 100 years old. NelBran replaced the windows with restoration glass which they had available. The new panes look great. No one would ever know that it isn't the original glass panes.