Excellent work, and I learned so much from talking to Shabaz about repairing, rather than replacing, windows in my 111 year old home.

Made two appointments they canceled the first appointment ok but they ghosted on the second appointment! No phone call not accepting calls no way to find out why no show. Very disappointed read more

This is it- you don't have to look anymore! Shabaz is EXTREMELY professional- she does what she says she's going to do in record time- cleans everything up and....well....if I would have known how painless getting new windows would be- I would have done this years ago! I thought it would be super painful- and it wasn't in the least bit. She's the person for your big or small project. I've had one neighbor use her also, and another is looking into her services now also. She's it! What a work ethic! You'll absolutely love her- like all the rest of us do! read more

See all

First, Euge's review is incorrect; Shabaz does have a state contractor's license. She just finished restoring the double-hung sash windows of my 80-year-old house. I hired her simply to reglaze them (the putty was dropping out) before having the house repainted. But she found it impossible to ignore the serious problems with dry rot. Originally, I thought I'd need to replace the windows, though I doubt I'd ever have the roughly $800 per window replacement cost from my longtime contractor (he replaced French doors with windows, so restoration was not an option). But after Shabaz restored the windows, I no longer have any need to replace them. I was happy to pay her more than the contract (we discussed it beforehand, so the extra cost wasn't a surprise). I figure that, for a few hundred more, I saved myself the roughly $10,000 I'd believed would be needed for replacements. Restoration of traditional windows is her specialty, and her love. read more

Not a place to call if you need an urgent glass repair done. This is typical of many small businesses in Alameda; they get back to you when they get back to you --you just have to wait and hope they didn't forget your call. Left 2 detailed messages across 2 different days with Island Glass and never heard back from them. I always try to give my business to Alameda-run businesses, but we often run into this very issue of going days without ever hearing back. Called Jimenez Glass in Oakland finally: they ANSWERED the phone, I texted them a pic, and I now have a price and a schedule date of tomorrow. Bam! read more

I am shocked at the good reviews this business has. I call shenanigans! I called this business to fix a broken window on Monday this week. The phone rang and rang and rang and nobody picked up so I gave it a few minutes and called back and left a message. On Tuesday afternoon I had not received a call back so I called again and got someone. I scheduled an appointment for Thursday at 12:30 PM. Today is Thursday and at 1:30, I had not received a call and nobody had shown up so I called and they said they didn't realize it was so late (WTF?). They said they would be over in less than 30 minutes (2 PM). Now it is 3 PM... still nothing. I called again to see WTF is going on and nobody picked up. I left a message saying forget it. I'm going to call someone else. Don't waste your time cause they obviously don't care about it. read more

Shabaz is one of those people who you wish you could call and do business with all the time. As you see, I called her a year and a half ago, and just did again today. She went out immediately and took care of the glass replacement I needed. Small business owners deserve your call. Shop local! read more

This woman is the best. Ever. She came over to look at my broken window, gave me a super reasonable price and set up an appointment for the following Tuesday. She was on time, called me to keep me updated and was probably the most sociable person I've ever worked with. When she came on Tuesday, she quickly took the broken glass and the window frames and went to work. She cuts her own glass! I thought it was pretty amazing. The window installation took less than 10 minutes. She finished installing the windows before I could finish putting avocado on my turkey sandwich. That's fast! Moral of the story: If you've broken a window and don't want to pay and arm and a leg AND want it done well and fast, then see Shabaz. She's great. read more

Island Glass is professional, efficient, punctual and thorough. All of that, plus the prices are very reasonable. What else could you possibly need? We were so delighted with Island Glass and we recommend them to anyone and everyone! read more

I can only assume that Shabaz's negative reviews came from her competitors or those that love to complain. My kitchen door window was broken and left me very vulnerable and scared to be honest. I looked on Yelp for guidance and started calling to find a person who received good reviews and really cared about the urgency of my situation. The first 3 people i contacted literally blew me off and said my job was too small and they were too busy. I was very disturbed by the time I called Island Glass. Shabaz was immediately responsive and came to my home that same day. Her quote was lower than the former people I called. My job turned out to be very labor intensive. My glass was heavily glued which required tedious attention to detail. All the glass needed to me removed from the frame before new glass could be installed. Shabaz had all the tools necessary to complete what I feel was a perfect job and yes, I paid her more although she did not request it. I have referred two my neighbors to her and will continue to use her in the future. She is a strong professional who learned her trade as a young girl. Thank you, Shabaz, for caring about the people you serve and the quality of your work. If you need to use me as a reference, I will be happy to provide a glowing report on your service. read more

Our back door window broke after an accidental door slam. We're new homeowners, and my parents were flying in to help with house stuff, and I wanted the window fixed ASAP, as we already had a ton of other house projects lined up- and frankly, I didn't want my folks to see the broken window, so I scrambled to find a fast fix. I called Shabaz at 8:00 AM and left a voicemail (her posted hours start at 9AM), and called a few other places to see if I could line up a quick fix. She called me back within minutes, and bumped me up on her schedule and came to see me at 11 AM (she later said I sounded so pathetic on the phone she felt bad for me- we had a good laugh over that!). She had the broken window out, new one in, and all of the remnants cleaned up within 35 minutes. She was super professional and incredibly skilled. I highly recommend her, and we are planning to call her for other window work. read more

Another 5 star review. Should be more. Shabbaz shows up when she says, does an excellent job, and leaves with your budget intact. She solved my emergency situation fast and with cheer. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! read more

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you live in Alameda, Island Glass should be your first and only option. When initially trying to set up the appointment, I let her know that I work a typical 9-5 so it may be a little difficult to schedule an appointment. So then she offered to come on a Sunday. On her day off. That's fantastic customer service right there. And for that alone, I tipped her a little extra cash. Shabaz just finished fixing a crack in my front door and her work looks marvelous. Fast, quality, efficient work. Absolutely amazing service!! Reasonable prices too. Again, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. read more

Shabaz is a very friendly and cheerful person. She provided good service, prompt and good quality. I highly recommend her for window repairs and installations. My broken glass has irregular shape. She would try different ways to fix it until she is happy with the result. She is very honest and kept her promise with the quoted price although she needed to spend more time to cut the glass. She was very punctual with the time too when she said she would come back. read more

This is the most accommodating window screening company in the Bay Area. It is a minority woman operation and it is so superior to the run of the mill hardware or box stores. They gave me a time to pick up my screens the very next day read more

We first called Shabaz a few months ago when we had a couple of broken windows that needed fixing. She came in good time, radiating expertise and good cheer, and quickly and cleanly replaced the broken glass, and gave us a great price. We were relieved and happy to have found her, and asked her to take a look at some other windows in our 1924 cottage that needed replacement. These were wooden windows--the originals, and in pitiful shape. We knew we wanted decent vinyl windows to replace them--just clean and snug ones, nothing fancy. Shabaz measured not twice but three times, gave us advice in line with what we'd said we wanted (not trying to sell us on anything different), and got us a quote within a week. The quote was more than reasonable (though we had to put off the work for a while because we weren't sure what was going to happen to our bank account on April 15). Well, the windows are in now, and we are so happy. Shabaz was a thoroughgoing professional in scheduling the work, communicating with us, installing the windows, and cleaning up after her work. She respected our needs, our time, our budget, and our house. We've asked her to come back next week to seal three of our other windows (not the ones she installed--those are sealed quite nicely thank you) and to talk about a plan for gradually replacing some of the other windows in the house. Cause we have every reason to want to work with her again. read more

Professional and friendly. She did great work!!! Very happy!!!

I have called Island Glass for help replacing broken window panes on 3 separate occasions. Shabaz has always been able to fit me into her schedule, and she is a pleasure to work with. read more

We are very pleased with Island Glass, we had a break in at our store and we were in a very tough spot. The response and service we got was outstanding. If you want excellence at all levels, fast, friendly, great prices and just overall outstanding service, then I do recommend Island Glass. Shabaz is the only person we will trust with further improvements to our store windows... she has earned our complete respect and trust. read more

She was very informative and a delight to talk to. I really wanted to pay her for her services; for some reason, I guess, she just didn't like the smell of my money. I asked her repeatedly to send me a quote. She had a new reason each time to not send it. I really wish she would've came up with a more direct way of telling me that she didn't want to do business with me it would've saved me a lot of time. read more

Shabaz with Island Glass is by far, hands down, the best choice for any kind of window repair, or anything to do with glass. I have never met anyone with such a passion for what they do. It takes a special kind of person with amazing skills and loads of patients to work with glass. I was a nervous wreck just watching her. But she was very professional and the most reasonable when it comes to prices. I had my window fixed the same day. I have recommended her to all my friends and family. When someone like this comes into your life, they are too good to keep them to yourself. So this is why I have taken time out to write my very first review for a small business EVER. You will be extremely happy you called Island Glass.....I promise. Besides you really can't beat her prices. read more

i am an absolute believer in using small, locally owned businesses, however the faith i put into a business must be warranted. small businesses have limited resources but they still must take every precaution to make sure they do their work properly at a jobsite and in their offices. island glass filed a mechanics lien for $5000.00 on a property i recently purchased, for work done for the previous owner. as per the receptionist i spoke with, the work was for $500.00 and the additional amount was for associated collections fees. whoever allowed this mechanics lien to be filed should lose their job. first, you CAN NOT file a mechanics lien on a property for the previous owner (except for a few rare situations) second, you CAN NOT add collections fees on a mechanics lien. when i inquired further regarding this claim, i found out that they do not have a california state contractors license number, that they operate as a "handyman service". this means that they are ONLY allowed by california state law to do work in TOTAL value (labor and material) up to $500. any work done above this limit is illegal. it is also illegal to try to circumvent this law by segmenting out the work. this means if your job is worth more than $500 in labor and materials, it will be done illegally, without insurance or bond. you will have no legal recourse if something goes wrong and of course, none of your insurance policies will cover any damages. theres a reason why the message on the vm states "the best glass company" instead of SPECIFICALLY stating their company's name like any legitimate company would do. they do not want any evidence that they are operating without a license. first contact with this company was more than two days ago. not only did i leave several messages but i spoke directly with eliza regarding this issue. she stated someone will call me back regarding this. i also provided fair warning that i am very well versed in these matters and will take any and all necessary actions to correct this. two days later, still no word from them. if i dont hear back from them by Monday, i will also be filing a complaint with the California State License Board. these yelp reviews provide significant evidence that ISLAND GLASS is doing work outside the scope of "handyman" work, illegally. UPDATE this morning i received a call from shabaz from a restricted number. an angry and upset shabaz rudely told me that she did work, she needs to be paid and that she doesnt care if the mechanics lien was filed incorrectly nor that she is doing work illegally. then she hung up. read more

I called Island Glass on Monday last week. No one answered, but I left a message with my information and a brief description of the window glass I need to replace. No one got back to me. On Tuesday, I called again and someone picked up (I assume it was the person referred to in other reviews as Shabaz). We agreed she would come by my house on Friday at some time between 9-11am to look at my window and give me an estimate. At 11am on Friday no one had showed up, so I decided to call her. No one picked up, so I left a message reminding her of our appointment and asking if she could let me know as soon as possible if someone would be stopping by or not. No one showed up and I never received a call. Keep in mind that we had scheduled the appointment during a workday, which means I had to arrange my work schedule and responsibilities in order to be at home. While I cannot speak for the quality of the work done by Island Glass, I find being stood up completely unacceptable. It is simply terrible customer service. I don't want to be unfair. It could be that an emergency of some sort made it impossible for Shabaz to keep her appointment or call me. If I receive a call tomorrow with either an explanation or an apology, I will amend my review. If this doesn't happen, then my review stands and I would suggest making our voices as consumers heard and taking your business elsewhere. read more

I have worked with Shabaz at Island Glass twice now. The first time was 6 months ago when she fixed three windows in our house. I also received quotes from two other glass repair/replace companies. Shabaz had a competitive quote and seemed the most reliable. The first experience was excellent. She came and did the work, and gave me good advice on other windows. She was responsive on timing, and when she was going to be 10 minutes late, she called me ahead of time. A great experience. A neighbor had noticed her at our house working with glass, and asked if she could help him. He had a great experience also and said "I thought it would have cost double what she quoted to complete the whole job". Then 2 weeks ago I needed help on another broken window. Same, top notch experience this time. She runs a great business and is a quality person. read more

I shot out my neighbors window with a bb gun while trying to kill a crow. Island glass was not my first call. I wish it had been. Finally after waiting and waiting for the "other guys" to do the work I called Island glass. She handled it quickly for a good price. Now I can be seen again at the neighborhood BBQs. Thanks. read more

We cracked a one-of-a-kind half round window and had no clue who we should hire here in Alameda to fix it. Google-Fu returned some extremely positive reviews for Island Glass. Shabaz, is fantastic. Excellent communication, there when she says she'll be, extremely skilled, and her prices are very reasonable. I'd rehire her in a second. read more

I was recommeded to Shabaz and WOW!!! look no furher if you need new glass. She is excellent and she cleans up after her extremely high standards of workmanship. The price was perfect and the work incredible. Don't look anywhere else. Five stars are not enough. read more

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED !!! We used Island Glass (Shabaz) for a big project. I am glad we chose Shabaz. She is someone that knows what she is doing and does it well. Simply, she is a master craftsman, an excellent glazier, and she likes what she is doing. She takes pride in the quality of her work; something that impresses me as rare with contractors in any field. We started small with a contract to replace the failed glazing compound in a small area. Since all of the glazing compound was going to be removed it was little effort to replace some of the panes of clear glass with colorful, artistic glass. Shabaz special ordered glass sample kits for us so we could see what was available. This resulted in 20 various colored pieces of obscured art glass installed in the dining nook. After seeing the quality of her work we dove in, head-first, with no regrets. We ended up having Shabaz replacing the old and decrepit glazing compound on nearly 200 pieces of glass in our almost 100-year old home. In the process there were several little projects of installing art glass to highlight the house. The reason we wanted Island Glass to do all this work is because Shabaz is always friendly, has an excellent work ethic, is skilled in what she does, works clean, keeps the work area clean, and stows everything away at the end of the day. Bottom line: a knowledgeable, skilled, happy person that does a quality job for a fair price. read more

We had the pleasure of working with Shabaz this summer. It took a couple of phone calls to get in touch with her but that is par for the course for self-employed contractors who are running around as much as they can and sometimes taking much needed breaks. She's a one-woman company who knows her stuff! Shabaz came to replace a broken window and let the neighborhood kids watch her do her magic. She is giving us a quote to replace some other glass. She even stopped by a few days after her work was done to loosen one of our paint-stuck windows, and didn't charge us for her time. read more

Shabaz was amazing! very sweet and has mad wnidow skills. she replaced a window in about 30 mins, gave a great price and did a fabulous job! i highly reccomend her services to anyone who needs glass or home repair. best in Alameda, for sure! read more

My wife had a small work project that just required several new window latches and a small bathroom window replacement. After calling all over the east bay for help, Shabaz was recommended by a fellow window maker! She came to the house the same day and had everything installed (and serviced) three days later, including the window that needed replacing. Really professional and warm. Would definitely use her services again. read more

Island Glass did a fantastic job replacing the glass on my front doors. Shabaz, the owner, was very meticulous and great to work with. I would definitely use Island Glass again. read more

After breaking the glass in my sister's oversized window that sticks not slides, I looked on Yelp to find a good glass repair company. I called Island Glass, and they did a great job. The time window for the appt was only 2 hours (not 4 or 5!) and she happily agreed to call me when she arrived so I could be at my house across the street instead of aimlessly waiting at my sister's. She was professional and friendly and gave me a good price for such a huge piece of glass. She had to take it back to the shop because the glass was oversized, but had it back in less than 3 hours. Also, she cleaned up the window casing and oiled it so everthing would slide better. Thanks Shabaz! I appreciate the great work. read more

I picked Island Glass based on the large number of positive reviews, my experience was not very good. I don't enjoy writing a negative review but feel that it should be recorded. Shabaz replaced the glass in 5 double hung windows in my home in Oakland. She said that it would take one day. I took off work, as I'm always home when a new contractor works inside my house. She missed the morning start time without calling and began at 1pm. The work was not done in one day as the owner had to leave early. This required me to take off another day. OK, I can deal with these things, but there is more... I found Shabaz very unprofessional. In addition to being late. She asked to borrow my personal tools to do her work and did not clean up afterward. My neighbor had to complain about broken glass on his car and driveway (all windows were on the second story). Also she wanted to put all the old glass in the recycling bin. I told her that it says "no window glass" but if that is what is done she may do so. While on the job, Shabaz frequently spoke badly about Oakland and how much better Alameda was to live in, this was strange and quite distasteful. The worst part of the job was that she grossly over-charged me. After the new glass was replaced, many of the windows did not work smoothly. She told me that she was only changing the glass, not refurbishing the window. I asked for a quote to do the refurbishment and it was $1000 LESS than what she was charging me for just the window replacement alone. When I brought this to her attention, she simply left very quickly. Perhaps Island Glass was just having a bad day?? read more

Whoever has written negative reviews for Island Glass...they must be mistaken or have the wrong person, because Shabaz does exceptional work. She returned all of my calls and e-mails as we coordinated on the best time for her to come over. She was very flexible with my schedule and came to do the work when she said she would, calling me when she was on her way. Shabaz managed to match the antique glass (which isn't manufactured anymore) with a glass that was similar, and only had to look at the broken pane to know which type to order. She showed it to me on her phone, to make sure that it worked as a replacement, and ordered it for me that evening. She came to install the day after the glass arrived. She is skilled, friendly, and so knowledgeable. As she worked, she told me what she was doing and why, step by step. Shabaz is warm, humble, and generous - and she knows what she's doing. I was very impressed and would highly recommend her services to anyone. read more

Shabaz is as good as it gets when it comes to window repair (and especially when you want to repair Victorian-style windows). She has an amazing personality, is professional, prompt and reasonably priced. I highly recommend her! read more

A friend recommended Island Glass when I had a window emergency. I checked out the Yelp reviews, and all looked good! Called Shabaz up- she took care of everything- came and fixed the window in a jiffy, was on budget, and friendly on top of everything. If I have any other window or glass needs- she will get my business. read more

I found an old window at urban ore and found Shabaz to re-glaze it. I got very lucky. She did an excellent job, was prompt and personable. I would not hesitate to call her again. Shabaz easily passes the Voight-Kampff test. read more

Wow ,,, Shabaz is amazing. Fixed my broken window. Did a great job. was fast too. She knows what she is doing and is reasonable with her prices. She is professional, fast, friendly and easy to work with. I'm so lucky that I found such a great company to fix my window. . I have found my glass person, Thank you Shabaz. read more

Agree with all other posters. Had a small broken window (arrghhh- kids!!) Shabaz is awesome, nice, professional. Very patient explaining everything to me. Did her best to come out quickly and at appointed times. VERY competitive pricing. Gave me some tips on my wooden double hung windows (her specialty) and offered to come back to educate me further if her tips didn't work for me. I did have to call her twice, she said she lm on first call but I did not receive. She was a little late for estimate and late for the time of the fix job. However, knowing that she was a one person bz ahead of time, I can understand trying to juggle admin and actual work with excellent customer service at the same time. Despite being late, I was not upset as I felt she communicated throughout via text frequently to keep me apprised. read more