The new house we purchased had a room above the garage that was terribly cold. Since this room was to be designated for our 2yr old daughter, we wanted it to be as comfortable as possible but we were all torn on what was safe to use and fell into the classic spray foam versus traditional batt discussion. We had seen that CBC Marketplace episode about the nightmare spray foam experiences and were apprehensive about using spray foam but I had decided to use spray foam based on a few things: 1) In the CBC cases, the spray foam was not applied properly 2) I've lived above a garage with batt before and it wasn't pleasant. 3) our old house has open cell spray foam and although its better than batt, I'm aware of its problems.
I probably looked at 3 different companies and their reviews before I was comfortable with choosing Insta-Insulation. As a side note, I mostly look at the bad reviews and say to myself, am I like this person? Would I feel that way? Is this guy crazy or is this a fake review? Having alot of reviews help because it just normalizes the good and bad and I'm starting to ramble here so I'll just keep on with the review.
I contacted Insta-Insulation (Late May 2016) for just an inquiry on what foam they use, and if they had any additional info. Aldana answered the call and was more than happy to point me to the manufacturer's site with the MSDS. Trevor was more than happy to answer any additional questions regarding the product, its cure time, and safety.
Not once did I feel like I was being pushed into something which is great because I really hate that kind of gym membership tactic.
We had Trevor come over (Early June 2016) for a quote to spray foam the ceiling of the garage with an optional price for the shared rear wall and to insulate the attic with cellulose to R50. We had discussed about spraying all 3 walls and the ceiling but he recommended the shared wall based on cost/value and I agreed. I think I mulled over it a bit because there was so many contractors going in and out of the attic that I totally forgot what kind of lead time Insta-Insulation would need. Crystal sent a followup email (Late June) and I advised her that we were targeting mid Aug.
So the week before they were to spray foam the garage, we started to take down the ceiling and existing insulation. I was surprised to see how poor the previous batt insulation was and that a majority of it had blackened due to various areas where the vapor barrier had been cut. It also had an empty cavity with a single vent to heat/cool the floor above.
We hit a snag during this week because contractors still needed access to the attic and I did not want anyone to disturb the insulation that was going to be blown in. I spoke with Crystal and Andrew who were very understanding of the situation and we agreed to reschedule only the attic work for Late Aug.
Spray foam: James and Aiden showed up on time (actually early) and were very pleasant to deal with. I showed them some of the areas I had concern with and they did their plan of attack, then proceded to wrap any areas they didnt want to get foam on. They were also kind enough to help me move some items that the contractors did not move out yet. They performed their roles with diligence and experience. Its the diligence aspect that is rare. During this time I had some additional questions on the foam curing, whether or not I need to leave the garage doors open, etc, all answered very confidently. They left the garage very clean...probably more clean than it was before since they swept up any residual or trimmed foam.
Blown-in: Dave and Trent would be the professionals today and showed up on-time (early again). I had a small map of the attic areas I wanted them to be wary of (networks cable drops) and they gladly took this as reference after their initial survey. This time I wouldn't be able to stay for the whole job, so Dave went over what would be done for certain areas and scenarios. I was particularly concerned with the soffits and mor-vents as I found the attics air kind of stagnant. He re-assured me that he would address anything he found wrong reasonably and would send pictures. At that, I left for work and later in the afternoon I spoke with Dave just to go over what was done or what he saw and received pictures as he said he would to which I was very satisified.
Pricing: I found this to be very fair for the size of the house. It was actually a bit under-budget based on the number I was getting from local forums.
Organizations as a whole: It seems like everything is well run, with everyone's role played perfectly. I'd like to thank everyone at Insta-Insulation for a great job done and yes, I would highly recommend them to anyone.
Extra note: We had Insulthane Extreme as the spray foam and it was completely odorless the next day. I got right up there to take a whiff, nothing.
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