Molty in North York

Greensaver didn't do our blower door test. The firm that did recommended insulating the exterior wall of our brick veneer home with dense-packed cellulose, suggesting that the wall was likely not insulated. The Greensaver estimator came to our home, drilled some exploratory 1/8" holes and probed with a stick to detect insulation. We were then given an estimate for the whole job, including spray foam insulation of the rim/band joist area in the basement. It turns out that the walls were insulated in a haphazard manner, with some stud cavities being completely empty and others having either foamboard or batts in them- sometimes insulation above the mid-wall firestops and none below, etc. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have inspected every cavity myself prior to getting the estimate done, as this would have dropped the price substantially. Unless you're absolutely CERTAIN that the wall cavities are completely empty, probing every cavity BEFORE the estimate should be considered an essential part of this work. Sylvain and Pete did a good job of protecting our furniture and other posessions from the dust, and cleaned up well before leaving. They clearly knew their trade very well and were able to detect problems and react to them appropriately. They did a surprisingly good job of patching the holes they drilled in the walls. Repairing the patches took far less work than I expected- I had all the holes in finished wall areas sanded and painted to an acceptable finish in one evening. I would probe all the wall cavities prior to getting the estimate, but I would have no hesitation to use Greensaver again.

Inseal made an error in mixing the Icynene formulation in part of the foam insulating job they did for us several years ago. They sprayed too much of one part of the two-part formulation, then covered this mis-installed section with more foam. As a result, we had a persistent odour in one area of the project. The odour was perceptible for over a year, even through vapour barrier and interior finishes. The salesman came to the site and said that it smelled like it had been freshly sprayed, even though this was over a week after the foam had been sprayed. Inseal took samples of foam, and after a period of several weeks told us that it was "fine", and declined to do anything to rectify the situation. The odour persisted and our project was delayed. Ultimately, they stopped returning our telephone calls and ceased all contact with us. The only way to get them to stand behind their work would be to sue them. Icynene is a very good product when installed properly, but Inseal did not stand behind their work on our project, presumably because they could not claim the cost of the re-work from Icynene. Given our experience I would NOT recommend Inseal to anyone. Furthermore I recommend that ANYONE getting foam insulation of any type installed in their home or business by ANYONE, apply the following rider to their contract BEFORE the job starts: "IF any significant odour persists beyond 1 week after the foam installation, the installer will promptly remove and replace the defective foam in its entirety, including all disposal and clean-up required." A vendor willing to stand behind their work will be happy to sign this.