How we verify listings | Replacement Windows Company

Climate and code claims on this site cite a public standard, a federal data source, or an official testing body by name, with a link and the date we last checked it, whether that's an ENERGY STAR specification, a FEMA risk rating, or a Florida product-approval rule. Installer listings shown by city are a separate pull entirely: rows from a state licensing agency's file, ordered oldest license to newest, where that file covers a city. In a city it doesn't cover, the listings instead come from Google Maps, weighed by star rating against review count and updated on a monthly check. Neither pull has any connection to payment or submission.

Where the listings come from

California: contractor license records of the California Contractors State License Board, from the CSLB Public Data Portal: License Master file dataset. CSLB notes that license status can change at any time and points to its license check for the most current status. How to check a license in California.
Connecticut: contractor license records of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. How to check a license in Connecticut.
Florida: contractor license records of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, from the Construction Industry Public Records (licensee files) dataset. How to check a license in Florida.
Minnesota: contractor license records of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. How to check a license in Minnesota.
Nevada: contractor license records of the Nevada State Contractors Board. How to check a license in Nevada.
Oregon: contractor license records of the Oregon Construction Contractors Board. How to check a license in Oregon.
Virginia: contractor license records of the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Board for Contractors. How to check a license in Virginia.
Washington: contractor license records of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, from the L&I Contractor License Data - General dataset. data.wa.gov lists this dataset as updated three times a day. How to check a license in Washington.

Each license listing also links to its own record on the state agency's website, so you can check it at the source.

What we check before a business is listed

The license is active in the registry when we pull the data. Businesses with any other status are left out.
The license hasn't passed its expiration date.
The business matches replacement window. We match on the registry's specialty classification, the registered business name, or both. That's why every listing shows its license class: check that it fits your job.
The business address on record is in a city with at least 3 matching businesses. Smaller cities don't get a page yet.

What each listing shows

Business name: As registered with the state, with capitalization tidied up.
Category: Our label for why the business is listed on this site, based on its specialty or registered name.
License class: The specialty the registry lists for the business, for example General or Roofing.
License number: The contractor license or registration number the registry uses.
Status: Active as of the date we checked. We don't list any other status.
Effective and expiration dates: When the current license took effect and when it expires, as the registry reports them.
Business type: For example limited liability company, corporation or individual, shown on each business's profile when the registry provides it.
City and ZIP: From the business address on record. They show where a business is based, not the area it serves, which is why we say “based in”.
Verify license: A link to the business's own record on the state agency's website.

What we leave out on purpose

We don't publish phone numbers, street addresses or the names of owners and principals, even where the registry lists them. The business name is the only name we show.

How often we refresh

We re-pull the registry data and rebuild these pages from it. Every city page shows the date its listings were last checked; the current listings were checked on September 30, 2026. A license can change between our checks, so the Verify license link, which opens the live record, is always the final word.

Top-rated lists

Every rated page starts the same way on this site: one Google Maps query, "window replacement company" plus the city's name, run only where our window license file has no coverage for a city of 10,000 residents or more.

Think of the filter afterward as a pass-fail list, the same blunt logic as a code minimum: closed fails. Outside the window installation or window-supplier trade fails, which drops a tinting installer, a cleaning crew, a blinds retailer and an auto-glass shop without exception. Farther than about 6 to 25 miles from the city's center, scaled to the city's own footprint, fails. Fewer than 3 reviews fails. A name belonging to a person, a chain store or a lead marketplace fails. What passes all five gets a Bayesian-weighted score rather than its raw star count, pulled toward a 4.3-star baseline across 15 assumed reviews until the business's own review volume is large enough to overrule that pull, the same mechanism behind a 5.0 from three reviews finishing under a 4.8 from three hundred. A city needs 5 passing businesses before it earns a page, capped at 10 shown.

The checked date updates like a revision cycle, because unlike a U-factor on a label, a Google rating keeps moving. And it answers a narrower question than a product approval does: it's a read on past customer experience, not a stand-in for the HVHZ paperwork or state license this site's guides already cover, so track those down on your own before you commit to anyone.

The details, the same on every top-rated page (2,270 city pages on this site):

One Google Maps search per city for “window replacement company”, for cities of 10,000 or more people where this site has no license page.
Left out: businesses marked closed, businesses outside a matching Google category (stores, suppliers and showrooms among them), businesses far from the city center (about 6 to 25 miles, depending on the city's size), businesses with fewer than 3 reviews, and names that are a person's name or belong to a lead marketplace or a big-box store.
Ranked by a Bayesian average of the Google rating, (rating × reviews + 4.3 × 15) ÷ (reviews + 15), so a 5.0 from 3 reviews ranks below a 4.8 from 300.
A city needs at least 5 businesses that pass; the page shows the top 10.
Each listing shows its rank, Google rating, number of Google reviews, Google category, the town and ZIP in its address, and a link to its Google Maps listing. No phone numbers, websites, street addresses or review text.
Ratings were checked between September 2026 and October 2026. They change every day, so open the Google reviews link for the current figure.

A rating is not a license check and not an endorsement. Before you hire anyone, ask for the license or registration number your state or city requires and check it with the office that issued it.

What we don't do

We don't review or endorse contractors, and a listing isn't a recommendation. License listings are sorted alphabetically; top-rated lists are ranked only by Google rating and review count, as described above. No business pays to be listed, to be left off or for its position. If we ever add paid placements, they will be marked Sponsored. How we make money.

Something wrong?

Business owners can claim a listing to ask for a correction, or ask us to remove it.