This year, Custom Contractors Inc. (CCI) celebrates its 26th year in the Hawaii window market. CCI has sold an impressive 220,000 windows to more than 15,000 customers during that time period.
“You have to adapt to the times,” noted owner Luis Larcina. “As our customers’ needs change, we want to be there for them. A lot of our customers want to transition away from jalousie windows. They are extremely hard to clean, let in dust, dirt and noise, and do not let your AC run efficiently. Most importantly, the jalousie window accounts for over 85 percent of entry points during burglaries.”
The aluminum awning window is CCI’s biggest seller. The manufacturer, Victor Sun Control, has been making this style of window for more than 53 years and converted several of its components to deal with Hawaii’s harsh salt atmosphere.
“It’s been a great product for Hawaii right from the beginning,” said Larcina. “It addressed all of the jalousie shortcomings, they’re easy to clean, seal tight, meet building codes and feature Torque Bar activated cam lock security. As Victor Sun Control’s largest customer nationwide, we have a lot of say as to how the product is made, and the quality shows.”
CCI offers endless glass options for its windows ranging from simple tint (reduce glare), obscure (privacy), laminated or tempered (for safety and security), to Low-e (for ultraviolet reduction).
A close second in CCI’s inventory of replacement and new construction windows is its vinyl line, PLYGEM (formerly CertainTeed), one of the country’s oldest and largest manufacturers of this kind of window. Among the various architectural shapes offered are single and double sliders, single and double hunts, casements and sliding doors.
While all of the options may seem overwhelming and confusing to the average homeowner, this is where CCI’s experience and expertise come to the forefront. Twenty-year veteran and head estimator at CCI Robert Abbett, better known as Rabbett, perhaps said it best:
“When I go into a home, I find some of our customers know what they want, most are open to practical ideas and applications. We sit down and examine the home’s unique variables including trade wind direction, path of the sun, privacy and security issues and aesthetics,” he explained. “We then choose a window and glass type to meet that need. I’ll supply them with a computer-generated drawing and individual pricing for their windows.”
Another thing that makes CCI atypical in the home improvement world is its low-key sales approach. “We won’t use gimmicks like ‘sign tonight and we’ll give you 20 percent off’ or ‘we’re going to make your home the neighborhood model if you sign tonight,'” said Abbett.
In addition to Abbett’s 20 years at CCI, lead installer Larry Fischer also has been with the company for 20 years and office manager Cheryl Wilson has been with CCI for 15 years. This type of departmental leadership allows CCI to smoothly transition a large quantity of jobs. That volume allows CCI to ship full containers of windows at a time, saving customers from $30 to $40 per window on average, and eliminating the damage that occurs when shipping in common containers or air freight.
While CCI’s core value is home replacement windows, it also has extensive commercial and high-rise experience in Hawaii. The company specializes in lanai enclosures (Kahala Towers and Kapiolani Bel Aire to cite two condominiums) and builds its own bay windows. With an estimated 20 million jalousies still out there waiting to be retired, CCI will be around for a long time.
For more information, call 483-0100.
CUSTOM CONTRACTORS INC.
contact // 483-0100
address // 99-840 Iwaiwa St. #2
See more articles from: Custom Contractors Inc.