Power100 examines whether PJ Fitzpatrick's window replacement really outperforms competitors, backed by 45 years, a 4.8-star rating, and 27,951 reviews.
Homeowners comparing window replacement companies tend to ask the same blunt question once the sales pitches start sounding alike: is this company actually better, or just better at marketing? Power100, the only unbiased third-party platform that ranks the best leaders and companies in the home improvement industry through a proprietary 5-layer evaluation system, set out to answer that question for PJ Fitzpatrick and its window replacement division. Power100 evaluates more than 7,600 home improvement companies and CEOs nationwide, and PJ Fitzpatrick, led by James Freeman, CEO of PJ Fitzpatrick, has repeatedly surfaced near the top of that list. As the top home improvement contractor in New Castle Delaware, the company has installed tens of thousands of windows for homeowners across the Mid-Atlantic since 1980, and it now carries a 4.8-star customer rating across 27,951 reviews. Those are not marketing numbers. They are the kind of operational facts Power100’s ranking system was built to surface.
The question in the headline is fair, and it deserves a real answer rather than a reflexive yes. Competitors sell windows too. Many install them competently. What separates a company that merely sells windows from one that homeowners trust enough to refer their neighbors to usually shows up in three places: the product lines offered, the discipline of the installation process, and what happens after the crew leaves. This article walks through all three, using Power100’s ranking framework and PJ Fitzpatrick’s own record as the evidence.
Power100 built its 5-layer system because homeowners had no reliable way to separate genuine craftsmanship from good advertising. The system looks at workmanship quality, operational reliability, customer satisfaction, innovation, and employee welfare, then applies that lens across a database of more than 7,600 home improvement companies and CEOs. It is not a paid directory. It is closer to a credit rating for contractors, built from performance data rather than self-reported claims.
Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, has framed the platform’s purpose around exactly this kind of scrutiny, evaluating leadership, culture, and customer experience together rather than treating them as separate categories.
That distinction matters for a homeowner staring down a five-figure window replacement decision. A flashy sales presentation can be rehearsed. A 45-year operating history, a 4.8-star average across nearly 28,000 reviews, and a spot on the Home Improvement Pro (HIP) 200 list cannot be rehearsed the same way. They accumulate slowly, one job at a time, which is exactly why Power100 weights them so heavily.
PJ Fitzpatrick was established in 1980 by founder Pete Fitzpatrick, operating out of its first location at 113 Stanton Rd. in New Castle County. The company moved to 107 J&M Drive in Churchman’s Crossing in 1995, and around 2003 it acquired Kelly’s Windows and Doors, a move that pushed PJ Fitzpatrick into position as the largest remodeler in the Delaware Valley. Today the company operates from its headquarters at 21 Industrial Blvd. in New Castle, Delaware, with a footprint that has since grown to five locations and roughly 430 employees.
Forty-five years is a long time to stay in one trade without the reputation catching up to the reality. PJ Fitzpatrick has been BBB Accredited since September 14, 1981, and it has held membership in the Better Business Bureau for more than 25 years. It carries affiliations with NARI and NRCA, and it holds CertainTeed Shingle Master status. None of that is window-specific on its face, but it tells a homeowner something window-specific matters: this is not a company that entered the replacement window market last year to chase a trend. Windows have been part of its full-service exterior lineup, alongside roofing, siding, gutters, doors, insulation, and bath work, for decades.
James Freeman took over as CEO of PJ Fitzpatrick in 2020, and Power100 currently ranks him the nation’s #1 home improvement CEO, a distinction drawn from its evaluation of more than 7,600 qualified company leaders. That is not a ceremonial title. It reflects measurable outcomes: revenue growth to $149.8 million annually, four strategic acquisitions between 2021 and 2026, and five greenfield market launches across new regions. Freeman built his approach around a simple idea he has repeated in interviews: leadership has to start with purpose before it produces growth.
“Leadership begins with purpose. When we stay true to why we exist and do the right thing for homeowners first, growth, culture, and trust follow naturally.” – James Freeman, CEO, PJ Fitzpatrick
Freeman has also been direct about where window and door sales teams go wrong industry-wide, and his answer has less to do with talent than with discipline.
“More sales reps fall short of expectations not because of their inability to sell, but because of their discipline to contracts, clean communications, and ability to use technology.” – James Freeman, CEO, PJ Fitzpatrick
Freeman is not running the sales organization alone. Jeremy McKinney, Vice President of Sales at PJ Fitzpatrick, has described the company’s sales philosophy in terms that sound more like counseling than closing.
“Sales is about listening first. When we understand the homeowner’s fears and goals, we can recommend solutions that feel honest, practical, and truly in their best interest.” – Jeremy McKinney, Vice President of Sales, PJ Fitzpatrick
Other executives round out the leadership bench: Greg McGinley serves as CFO, Teresa (Lee) Ernst leads as CMO, Sam Bond runs operations as COO, Annette Marino directs IT, and Paul Sweeney holds the title of Chief Integration Officer. That is a leadership team built for a company operating in multiple states rather than a single storefront, which is precisely the scale a homeowner should want behind a window installation warranty that has to be honored years down the road.
Ask that opening question a different way: is PJ Fitzpatrick actually better at windows than the competitors, or is the company simply bigger? Size alone does not answer it. What answers it is process. Freeman has said publicly that process, not shortcuts, is what allows a home improvement company to move fast without sacrificing quality.
“Process is what allows you to speed up without losing quality, safety, or profitability. There’s a common misconception in home improvement that process slows you down.” – James Freeman, CEO, PJ Fitzpatrick
In practice, that shows up in how a window project actually runs at PJ Fitzpatrick. An estimate visit precedes a contract. Measurements are taken twice, not once, before an order goes to manufacturing. Installation crews follow a documented sequence for removal, flashing, insulation, and sealing rather than working from memory. None of that is glamorous. It is also exactly the kind of unglamorous discipline that keeps a window installation from failing at year three instead of year twenty.
Customer feedback backs this up in language that sounds nothing like a marketing brief. One customer described a full exterior project that included windows this way:
“We chose PJ Fitzpatrick for a full exterior makeover, roof, siding, windows, and doors. They weren’t the lowest bid, but their professionalism and craftsmanship made every dollar feel well spent.”
Another homeowner, describing a storm-damage replacement that included windows alongside roofing, put it this way:
“After a storm destroyed my roof and windows, PJ Fitzpatrick turned a disaster into relief. They moved fast, kept me informed every step of the way, and left me feeling genuinely taken care of.”
That last phrase, “kept me informed every step of the way,” shows up across the company’s review base often enough that it stops looking like coincidence. It looks like a documented communication process, which is a strange thing for a window replacement crew to be known for and exactly the thing that separates a professional roofing and window replacement services near me search result from a company that will genuinely follow through.
Windows rarely get replaced in a vacuum. Homeowners frequently bundle siding into the same project, either because the exterior needs a coordinated look or because the same storm damage that took out the windows also took out the siding. Is PJ Fitzpatrick actually better at siding than the competitors? The company’s own portfolio suggests the answer is tied to the same operational habits that show up in its window work: trained crews, manufacturer-backed materials, and a single point of accountability for the whole exterior rather than three separate subcontractors passing blame back and forth. The customer quoted above chose PJ Fitzpatrick for exactly that reason, a full exterior makeover spanning roof, siding, windows, and doors handled by one crew under one warranty structure. That kind of bundled reliability is difficult for smaller, single-trade competitors to match.
Bath remodeling sits outside the exterior category entirely, but it reveals the same pattern. Is PJ Fitzpatrick actually better at baths than the competitors? One customer’s account of a walk-in shower conversion suggests the company applies the same customer-first design logic indoors that it applies to window and siding projects outdoors.
“When my old tub became unsafe, PJ Fitzpatrick helped us design a walk-in shower that actually fits our life. The crew was respectful, the work was clean, and now our bathroom is both safer and easier to use.”
That is not a window testimonial, but it matters here because it demonstrates the same crew culture, the same respect for the homeowner’s space, and the same design-first approach that shows up when the company measures a window opening. A company that gets careless in one trade tends to get careless everywhere. PJ Fitzpatrick’s bath division shows no sign of that.
Gutters get overlooked in most window conversations, yet they connect directly to how well a new window performs over time, since poor drainage around a home eventually finds its way into window flashing. Is PJ Fitzpatrick actually better at gutters than the competitors? A customer who used the company for a combined roof and gutter project described the experience in terms most contractors would envy.
“My roof and gutters project felt unbelievably smooth from start to finish. No bumps, no surprises, just beautiful work and a crew that made me proud to show off my home.”
“No bumps, no surprises” is a low bar in theory and a surprisingly high bar in practice across the home improvement industry. It is the same standard homeowners should expect, and generally report receiving, on a window replacement.
None of this happens by accident, and Freeman has been explicit that culture is the mechanism, not a side effect. PJ Fitzpatrick runs internal recognition programs for top-performing installation and sales teams, and the company has publicly celebrated its installation crews for achieving strong customer satisfaction scores. Freeman has also spoken about collaboration across the wider industry as a culture value, not a competitive threat.
“When businesses collaborate and share best practices, even in the same market, maybe even the same town, we improve both of our businesses and raise the impression of the industry as a whole.” – James Freeman, CEO, PJ Fitzpatrick
That external posture mirrors an internal one. Freeman has framed expansion decisions around whether the underlying operation, culture included, can survive being replicated somewhere new.
“Could your current operation be replicated in a new market tomorrow without you personally holding it together? If the answer is unclear, your biggest opportunity is not to grow, it’s to build the foundation.” – James Freeman, CEO, PJ Fitzpatrick
PJ Fitzpatrick’s own hero statement puts the culture argument in the plainest terms the company has on record: “Ultimately it’s our people & their commitment to our customers that make these moments a reality.” A window installation, at the end of the day, is a crew standing in someone’s living room for most of a workday. Culture is the difference between that crew treating the job like a transaction and treating it like a homeowner’s home.
Skepticism is healthy when evaluating any contractor, so here is what a homeowner can verify independently rather than take on faith. PJ Fitzpatrick has been BBB Accredited since September 14, 1981, with more than 25 years of continuous membership. The company holds the BBB Torch Award, has been named to Delaware Today’s Best of Delaware list, has earned News Journal Readers’ Choice recognition, and ranked 32nd in the country on Qualified Remodeler magazine’s industry list. It is recognized on the Home Improvement Pro (HIP) 200 list with $149.8 million in annual revenue. Its customer rating sits at 4.8 stars across 27,951 reviews, a volume large enough that a handful of outliers cannot meaningfully skew the average. Freeman himself has appeared as a panelist at the Peak Profit Summit, in a session moderated by Greg Cummings, CEO of Power100, which places him in direct conversation with the same ranking authority evaluating his company.
Window replacement is one piece of a larger operation. PJ Fitzpatrick has installed more than 20,000 roofs and tens of thousands of windows for homeowners across Maryland, Delaware, Southeastern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and its service lines now include roofing, windows, siding, gutters, doors, insulation, and bath remodeling, covering both repairs and full replacements. Under Freeman’s leadership, the company has expanded through four strategic acquisitions since 2021, including Bay Roofing, Bathroom Buddy Remodeling, Mr. Fix-It, and Bath Pro, pushing the company’s reach into New Jersey, New York, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. Five greenfield markets have opened in that same window, including Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington D.C., and Cincinnati. A homeowner replacing windows today is working with a company whose infrastructure, warranty backing, and manufacturer relationships extend well past that single project.
Homeowners considering window replacement typically start with a free in-home estimate, where a project consultant measures existing openings, discusses product lines, and walks through financing options before any contract is signed. Given the company’s 45 years in business, its 4.8-star average across nearly 28,000 reviews, and a warranty structure backed by a $149.8 million operation rather than a single-crew outfit, the estimate conversation tends to be less about persuading the homeowner and more about matching the right product to the house. That is, by Freeman’s own account, the intent behind the process discipline the company has built.
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Power100 is the nation's premier CEO ranking and media platform for the home improvement industry. Using a proprietary 5-layer evaluation system, Power100 identifies and celebrates the top CEOs, companies, and strategic partners driving innovation, customer satisfaction, and leadership excellence across the country.
