Genovese Home Improvement

We cannot get them to reply to our inquiry. The Alside windows and the work was 100% guaranteed by Carmen (the owner) and I find this behavior to be totally unprofessional. There was a review by me when the windows were installed but it is no longer on your site. It was not a pleasant review at that time either.

A little slow getting started, but they began the project went smoothly. Love the room. It looks great.

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They had to cut out siding and interior walls to make larger space for the new windows to fit.  They did excellent work and cleaned up afterwards.  Had to come back a second day to do the trim on the outside.  The windows look beautiful, and we are happy!

We came VERY close to hiring another contractor ( Company X) who would have done a decent job, I am sure. They are well respected in what they do best (Chimney cleaning,etc)  The problem was in the type of fireplace we had decided on.  Company X had two major lines, one that is world famous and another very attractive but seriously deficient in the technical things you want from a fireplace; longevity, amount of heat that unit puts out. It turned out to be quite a long line of deficiencies. Strike 1- Company X owner/salesperson never outlined technical differences, and since we are both engineers, this was a HUGE offense.  Strike 2-Company X owner stood us up twice, no phone calls explaining.  Just rude, and not unheard of, but still...  No strike 3, the quote was kinda high, considering the inferior product they offered.  So we pulled the plug on Company X and started researching gas fireplaces and after some serious educating which I can see we should have done first, we picked MENDOTA. We looked up dealers and Genovese was on the short list.
Genovese was fantastic, from the minute we walked in the door.  I had called ahead for an appointment, they were very flexible and offered an early appt on a Saturday morning. Mark fired up a few units so we could see the flames and explained their business philosophy, --started out building sunrooms  ...& my apologies if I miss key points...., customers asked for fireplaces so they chose two very well respected 100+ years in operation, technically superior...etcetc.--  As he described what we should look for in a fireplace, he was describing the differences in the two lines he carried and we just looked at each other and smiled.  We ordered what we wanted, he was never anything but honest and friendly. He can by our house to measure and we gave hima deposit for the job.  As soon as it was received at their shop, he called to schedule.  Less than 2 weeks start to finish.  He did say it was weather dependent and the weather was favorable.  Finished in one day!!  great employees!
One last major plus for Genovese, he pointed out that our town required a permit for the installation,  Company Y, the OTHER Mendota installer, when asked directly about the permit, said " no permit is necessary" very pointedly and clearly.  It was very obvious that the two other Company Y employees stopped talking and listened to his response to my permit question.  Obviously a touchy subject which could be very expensive and troublesome for me, the homeowner.

Done very quickly,when promised. Excellent work, very professional and they cleaned up beautifully!!

Excellent job!

Installing went well still dealing with potential leak delaying finishing room. Followed up and fixed problem.

. Two men arrived on-time to clean heavy snow off large roof, and some places the snow was more than 30 inches high. I called the day before and explained house was making noises of movement because of the weight and they arrived the very next day because of the danger of the roof collapsing. Very friendly and hard working it took them five hours to complete the back-braking work. In Central NY they are really needed and very good at what they do...Jfr

The owner came over and consulted with me on new basement windows. As a single woman I am used to people questioning my construction skills but Genovese was professional and respectful in every conversation. I was enlarging 2 windows to become egress windows for 2 finished rooms in my basement. I also wanted to replace all the hoppers. In total I needed 7 windows. I wanted a better quality than what I could buy at Lowes. The owner not only provided ideas and options, he instructed me on how to do the replacements myself if I chose that route.He warned me it was a big and rather expensive job due to the labor time. Since this was not my first time doing basement windows chose to install them myself. He measured for me (I trusted his detailed skills on this, rather than taking a chance on mine), placed the order and called me when they came in. When they arrived he once again reviewed how to install them. One arrived without a screen. No questions asked, he had one for me in a week. He even offered to stop by during my project if I ran into any problems. I think the experience with this company was great.  The windows are finished. He was right about everything...it was a huge job but there were no surprises. There was never any sales pressure. I would work with them again and/or consider them for other projects that I do not want to tackle myself.

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I did a lot of research on inserts and looked a various other companies in the area which sold them. Ended up with a Mendota insert. Got a quote from 3 places, Genovese being one of them. One other was close in price while the other was about 800-900 more. I went with Genovese since he (Mark Genovese) was very nice on the phone and provided an estimate on the phone. I scheduled an appointment with him to look at the existing fireplace and he arrived on time. They had to make a custom surround for my fireplace (which I knew anyway) and that is what took the time to get (almost 2 mos.). Made several calls to Mark for updates and he always promptly returned my calls. Got a call from Mark the Friday before Christmas telling me everything was in and they could install it that Monday. Several guys showed up ON TIME and everything was installed and cleaned up by the time I got home from work. They were very professional, laid down cardboard/plastic wherever they worked and cleaned/removed all materials when finished. Everything went very well.

It went pretty well.  They were a little delayed because they were busy.  When they did install it, the service was good.  We had a little issue with getting it to operate, but they came back to fix it. 

The workmen showed up when they said they would and did a great job. They took care of a couple of extra items with no additional charge. This was one of our best experiences with a contractor. Great people to deal with and they produced excellent results.

They did a great job and it looks fantastic.  It took 2 weeks and the main worker put in very long days.  They do not do painting though, so I had to contract that out.  The only problem was that we had very little notice of when they were starting, so we did not have a chance to do the electrical work we wanted to do first.

We were tired of paying such high propane bills to heat our home.  To save money, we turned our thermostat way down, but were always uncomfortably chilled.  We decided to look into alternative heating such as a coal or wood pellet stove.  Our intention was to replace our decorative fireplace with either a coal stove or wood pellet stove insert.  After locating a couple local businesses that sold the model we wanted, we called around.  That's how we stumbled upon Genovese Home Improvement.  We called and spoke to Mark Genovese   We told him we wanted to schedule an in home estimate.  He worked around our schedule to accommodate us.  He arrived a little earlier than scheduled and was able to meet with my husband and I and listen to our goal of more cost effective heating.  Once we told him our goal of lowering our propane bills and getting the coal or pellet stove, he immediately and politely asked us if we knew  what owning a coal/wood pellet stove entailed.  We admitted that we were sold on the concept of the coal/pellet stove (cheap alternative fuel), but that was it.  He obviously could tell that we let a busy lifestyle, and proceeded to explain to us what it would be like to own one.  Mind you, we have white carpet/furniture and like to have things pretty tidy.  That's when I realized maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be dealing with coal dust or ashes.  My husband didn't like the idea of having to haul 40-50lb. bags or the frequent need to fill the stoves and clean out ashes.  Bottom line, we just didn't have the time to deal with it being a busy, over scheduled family.  Mark then introduced the idea of the ease of a high efficiency gas fireplace as supplemental heating.  The idea of a heater rated gas fireplace that would be strong enough to heat our living space downstairs while keeping our upstairs ideally cooler for sleeping.  He told us upfront that it would take a big fireplace to do the work and that it would be top of the line, but would work perfectly in our situation.   It would, in the long run, save us money by being able to turn our central heat way down by using the fireplace to heat only the area we spend the most time in instead of the whole house.  We liked that idea.  Our existing fireplace is builder grade and purely decorative.  We never felt it was any good at heating our home, but gave a nice ambiance.  We used it maybe 10 times in 8 years (just not efficient enough).  Anyway, we got the estimate for the fireplace, mulled it over for a few days and then decided to go for it.  The fireplace is the Mendota DXV45 (BTU's 7,500-45,000).  It has the capacity to be turned down way low or turned up high.  Perfect for our need to conserve if need be.  Mark told us that it would take a week to come in after he placed the order, and he was currently booked with other jobs and wouldn't be able to install it for a few weeks after that.  We were okay with that since we were already coming out of the heating season and we weren't in any hurry.
About three and a half weeks later, we received a call from Mark telling us that the weather was perfect for the job and if we were available he could start the job the next day.  We agreed and Mark and Lou were here the next morning at 9:30 right on time.  Mark reminded us that this was to be a 3 day job.  After scoping out the situation and consulting with his coworker, Lou they got started.  Mark smiled reassuringly and said, "We're going to keep this place as clean as we can for you."  He knew that we liked things tidy.
For the next 3 days, Lou and Mark (another Mark) showed up exactly when they said they would, worked hard, were courteous, and respectfully answered any questions I had.  I felt comfortable having them work while I ran short errands.  They were very professional and thorough, and ensured that everything was done in accordance with building code.  I couldn't believe how they removed the fireplace from the OUTSIDE of the house through the wall, but they did.  They also preserved the existing mantle.  The end result from the outside of the house looked untouched as if they never disturbed anything.  The end result of the fireplace with new tiling is BEAUTIFUL!  We are extremely pleased with the result.  We used it that night and were toasty warm.  This fireplace pumps out way more heat than our previous one.  Our goal of lowering our propane bill while increasing efficiency AND keeping comfortably warm will finally be reached.  YAY!

The windows were not of standard size due to the age of the original ones.  The two workmen sent had to do some additional work to allow the new windows to fit.  Of all the windows replaced, only the bow window and one bedroom window are inset square and level.  The windows themselves are of minimal grade quality (except bow window) and are difficult to operate.  There are several casement, awning, one double hung, one picture (does not open/close) and the 5 section bow window.  The double hung is so off that the top does not close properly.

Work was completed in a timely fashion but clean up left a lot to be desired. I was picking up split wood pieces for days after the job was completed.  Molding on two bedroom windows was broken by workmen and not replaced. 

I would probably not do business with this company again.

**Update 3/12/2015 : Two of the windows replaced (family room and kitchen) are not weather tight and we experience significant drafts since

installation. Family room double hung mentioned above in original review needs to be packed with a towel to prevent heat escape and incoming draft.  One bedroom window operating crank and locks broke within 1 year of installation.  We prefer not to contact this provider to make necessary repairs based on original work done.

We had a problem with starting our electric fireplace with the remote.  Carmen gave us suggestions to try before we had to finally replace it.  He told us it would be about two weeks because he had to order it.  That was about a week ago.

It was the first time we had used them. They were great. They were very personable and honest. They workers are very knowledgeable.

He did an excellent job. He was very reasonable and professional, and I was very happy with him. Someone in my neighborhood recommended him to me. I thought it was a good price and the quality is fine; they aren't top of the line but I got good replacement windows. He was here when he said he was going to be here. I would use him again.