Home improvement: With windows and doors, quality products and workmanship always in style

Apr. 22—GRAND FORKS — Jeff Heath, president of A&L Siding and Home Improvement Center, said his business has not seen much in the way of changes or trends in recent years. One thing that hasn't changed is that customers are still looking for quality products and workmanship.

"We've been selling the same products for quite a number of years, and they still seem to want the same things — so, nothing really new," Heath said.

The A&L Siding company, launched in 1981, provides homeowners and other clients with replacement windows and doors, roofing and siding. In this area, A&L Siding is the exclusive dealer of products manufactured by Renewal by Andersen.

A window replacement company known for award-winning windows and patio doors, "Renewal by Andersen is a composite window; it's not a vinyl window," Heath said. "It doesn't expand or contract. It's a very good product to make a window out of, that's for sure. We've had very very good luck with it."

Renewal by Andersen has been named Highest in Customer Satisfaction in Window and Patio Door Manufacturer Brands by J.D. Power for four years in a row.

At A&L Siding, the sale of windows accounts for about two-thirds of the company's business, with about one-third coming from the sale of doors, Heath said.

The company has installed about 15,000 windows in this area over the past 20 years, he estimated.

About 90 percent of his business is from residential clients, with the remainder being the commercial client. Also, most of A&L Siding's work is done in Grand Forks County, but customers throughout Polk County and as far north as Cavalier also are frequently served.

"We try to stay within about 60 to 80 miles," Heath said. "We want to make sure the guys are home every night."

One advantage of choosing A&L Siding for home improvement projects is the ease and convenience of working with a single provider, he said.

"Consumers don't want to have to deal with two or three different contractors to get a project done. If we can do the siding, do the siding, do the doors — it kind of goes hand in hand."

After joining A&L Siding in 1983, Heath's first job was installing siding; he brought practical experience from working, for a few years after graduating high school, with his cousin who ran a siding crew on Minnesota's Iron Range.

"I enjoyed being outside," said Heath, who grew up in Bemidji.

Settling in Grand Forks in 1982, he worked for a short time at ABC Seamless before landing a job with A&L Siding.

The business has not seen much in the way of changes or new trends, Heath said. "We've been selling the same products for quite a number of years and (customers) still seem to want the same things."

But he has noticed that consumer behavior has changed.

"We have a showroom here, and you almost always had customers coming in to look at products," he said. "And now I think they do most of their shopping on the internet. They almost know what they want to buy before they call you. ...

"I know it saves time for them because it takes time to deal with the salespeople and go through the process. (But) if they know what they want and it fits in their budget — good to go."

What has changed, too, is the labor shortage that has led to a reduction in services offered.

"We've had to cut back on different services that we used to provide," Heath said. "Basically now we just do windows, siding, doors, roofing — that's it."

In the past, the company did lots of other types of work, including fencing and kitchen remodeling, he said. For example, A&L Siding was a dealer of the Wisconsin-based Holiday Kitchens brand products for about 25 years.

"We just don't have the guys to do the (work) anymore," he said.

Workforce shortages have affected the business's volume of siding work too.

"It's just trying to find quality people to put on more siding. I'm sure we could sell a lot more siding if we had more applicators," he said. "It is what it is, we've been battling it for years."

He is optimistic that the Career Impact Academy, a technical and career training center that's under construction and scheduled to open next year in northwest Grand Forks, will improve the situation, he said.