We found this company through the BBB; their A+ rating was very misleading. We made it clear that good insulation was a high priority for us; actually, the whole reason we were undertaking this reno. Not only did they use bottom-of-the-line insulation, they did no taping and, on parts of the house, nailed the insulation (with no nail-caps) onto bare wood or onto very torn 50-year-old tar paper. Luckily, we took pictures that proved this before we left on holidays.
If you're wondering "why didn't you say something while the job was being done?", we made several mistakes that people new to renos make.
1) We went away on holidays and didn't monitor the progress - we were far too trusting.
2) We didn't do our homework - we had no idea, until we talked to other contractors later, the importance of moisture barriers and taping joints when installing insulation.
3) We blindly picked someone through the BBB but now know it's SOOO essential to get someone with trusted references (by "trusted" I mean someone you know and trust who's actually had the company do work for them).
Please note that the siding aspect LOOKED great but the what's the point if you're going to have water damage down the road and your insulation is virtually worthless?
Another distressing aspect was this company's dishonesty. When we said that our neighbor told us that no taping was done and the insulation nailed onto bare wood, they denied it (again, the importance of taking pictures). They also said they used the best insulation available but that too was deliberately misleading.
The one thing we did right was withhold the final payment. With that leverage, we forced them to fix the job (at some extra cost!). My impression is that they never would have fixed it for the sake of their reputation or concern for our distress, they just wanted the money. When the siding was taken off for the insulation to be fixed, we were shocked that the job was even shoddier than we'd first thought. Bottom line, they didn't give a flying flip about our house at all and my advice is stay away from them.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $12,000.00