It took Pat a couple of days to return my call - I expected it from busy contractor teams and didn't mind. I used the time to show the project to a few other contractors.
Pat stopped by, and I was immediately taken by how passionate he was about the foam technology - a solution I was secretly leaning toward from my own studies. What he said resonated with what I read. Plus, I loved to work with people who are passionate about what they do. Verbal agreement reached.
Pat had to delay the scheduled work a couple of times due to jobs at hand, and he had a even bigger job starting right after mine. I got concerned. By the time his team got to me, they had exactly one day to finish the job. I worried if the work quality might suffer.
Pat and his team showed up on time in the morning. By the time I got home from work in the afternoon, they were done. I inspected the area, not only did they vacuum the old fiberglass as agreed, and foamed the whole vaulted ceiling, sealing every nook and cranny, they also fixed a major leak in my duct work, and foamed my AC return air plenums to keep from energy loss (duct work was not in the agreement). Ernest, one of the guys climbed under both of my fake gables to reach the real ceiling above them to foam it (I didn't even know about the hidden ceiling). All three of the guys had to have pushed hard to get so much done in one day - and then some. A big smile on Pat's face told me he was proud of what they did.
It's been a couple of weeks now, and for the first time since I bought the house, I felt warm air coming out of the vent during 40 degree nights outside. The air was able to reach the 72-75 range I set, and actually stopped blowing regularly throughout the night. I think Pat's foaming of the plenums helped too. How fantastic.
My word of advice is be patient, do your own research about the technologies, and work with the right contractors. The ones who responded first did not have my best interest at heart - promoting solutions that were not the best for me simply because that's what they carried.
Phone tagging and delays I can handle - that's part of working with people. But when you find those guys who are passionate about getting things done right, stick with them. I'd recommend Pat, Ronnie, and Ernest to everyone (I think it was Ronnie). read more