Great Lakes Home Remodeling Named a 2026 Customer Satisfaction Leader by Qualified Remodeler

Quick Answer

Qualified Remodeler has named Great Lakes Home Remodeling to its 2026 Customer Satisfaction Leaders, a list built on verified survey results from actual customers rather than nominations or applications. Our numbers: a 94 percent all-time recommend rate, a 95 percent recommend rate for 2025, and 828 completed jobs. The magazine also interviewed CEO Doug Farr about how the company earns those scores.

What the Customer Satisfaction Leaders List Actually Measures

Most contractor awards measure size, spend, or a panel's opinion. This one measures whether customers would tell a friend to hire you. The recommend rate comes from GuildQuality, the independent firm that surveys remodeling customers after their projects finish, which means the score is not self-reported. A homeowner answered a survey, and the number is whatever they said.

Great Lakes Home Remodeling posted a 94 percent all-time recommend rate across every project GuildQuality has surveyed, and 95 percent for 2025 alone, on 828 completed jobs. The volume matters as much as the percentage. Keeping satisfaction that high across 828 roofs, siding jobs, and window installations is harder than doing it across a dozen. Qualified Remodeler published the industry-wide findings in The 2026 Customer Satisfaction Report.

What Doug Farr Told the Magazine

Asked to name a best practice behind the results, Doug Farr did not point to a sales system or a marketing budget. He pointed at communication.

"One of the best practices at Great Lakes Home Remodeling is our commitment to clear communication and accountability. We focus on setting proper expectations, keeping customers informed throughout their project, and following through on our commitments. This approach helps build trust, creates a better customer experience, and has contributed to our high customer satisfaction, referral rates, and continued recognition through industry awards."

The rest of the interview covered AI, which the magazine asked every company on the list about. Great Lakes uses it in marketing, branding, and call center operations, including lead management, customer communication, and after hours call handling. Looking ahead, Farr sees the most value in customer communication, employee training, and cutting administrative work so crews and project managers spend more time on the actual job.

You can read the full profile, including the complete interview, in Qualified Remodeler's 2026 Customer Satisfaction Leaders feature on Great Lakes Home Remodeling.

A Second Recognition in the Same Month

Qualified Remodeler also placed Great Lakes Home Remodeling on its 2026 TOP 500, the annual ranking of the largest residential remodelers in the country. The two lists measure opposite things, which is the part worth noting. One is about scale. This one is about whether the customers behind that scale would do it again. It also lines up with the back-to-back GAF President's Club Awards the team brought home earlier this year.

What a 94 Percent Recommend Rate Means for Toledo, Cleveland, and Detroit Homeowners

Online reviews are easy to cherry-pick. A third-party recommend rate is not, because it surveys everyone, including the projects that went sideways. When you are comparing roofing, siding, or window contractors across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, ask each one whether they use an independent survey firm and what their recommend rate is. Most cannot answer. That question alone will shorten your list faster than another page of testimonials.

Thank you to Qualified Remodeler for the recognition, and to GuildQuality for holding this industry to a standard that customers set themselves. Most of all, thank you to the households who answered honestly. The 94 percent is yours. We are focused on the 6 percent.