Amherst Batt Insulation Installation

Incredible customer service. For both the appointments...estimate and work, the folks were earlier than the scheduled time, professional in their work and clean up. They corrected earlier problems and in seconds my home was much much warmer.

Buffalo Energy did a fantastic job. The company has a crew of experienced installers, who insulated three attic crawlspaces with 16" of cellulose. Baffles were installed at every third rafter cavity. Closed insulation foam was applied to the exterior top plates. Air sealing was done in three attic crawlspaces; and in the basement as well. Closed cell foam insulation was applied to all rim joists in the attic crawl space and in the basement as well. Rob, the energy specialist explained the differences between the use of cellulose and foam insulation in such a simple way that making a decision on which to use was an easy choice. No need for a clean up, the workers did it all! I highly recommend Buffalo Energy for any insulation project.

We found out later that they overcharged us.  Other than that their service was good.  They were punctual and professional.

They were very understanding.  I was able to use a payment plan.  They performed excellent work as well.

NIGHTMARE!  Ivy Lea subcontracted an  UNLICENSED contractor with no permit, to install my furnace. They also had no permit for my hot water tank, and another sub had no permit for my exhaust fan. The furnace venting was installed improperly, causing the furnace to suck the exhaust back inside, causing possible life threatening fumes. The furnace that I was billed for (that was paid for through Energy Star and my grant) was NOT the furnace that was installed. They also invoiced for a VERY expensive Lennox CS7000 thermostat and gave me a cheap Honeywell. They also invoiced an expensive air filtration system (Lennox HC16) which they did not install. The hot water tank is not the brand and BTU's that they billed for. It is 2 years later, and I still have the wrong furnace with at least 8 service calls (really more I think). I have been told these were all errors that slipped by... how do you subcontract to UNLICENSED contractors, and not know that any of the required permits for all of the contractors they used were obtained? How do you accidentally invoice for items that were the wrong items or items that were never even installed???? Isn't that what a General Contractor does?  I am waiting for my new furnace that I have been promised, which is the furnace I was invoiced for 2 years ago, with the correct thermostat and filtration system. I am hoping it is done very soon, and done by LICENSED people with the required permits.  I find it hard to believe that I am the only customer that these things slipped by for, so I am begging you to check with anyone you know that used Ivy Lea for any work and have them call their local licensing and permit offices to please make sure the work done had the required permits and was done by licensed subcontractors. The whole furnace and billing rip-off's would never have been discovered if I didn't have possible Carbon Monoxide issues.  3/10/14 UPDATE  I am updating my review to let members know that Mr. Washington/Ivy Lea Construction does not feel that after Ivy Lea blatantly had a furnace, hot water tank and thermostat installed in my home that were not the make/models in my contract, without even telling me before putting them in, just went and did it, without permits required, and for the furnace, not even a license, not installing the extra filtration system, nor the fancy expensive thermostat they sold me, countless days and nights of furnace service issues, having to replace the furnace 2 more times in 2 1/2 years, with the furnaces cycling over and over and not lighting all the while wasting my utilities, putting improper ventilation in both the furnace and hot water tank... both... causing extra holes in my home... not to mention fumes in my home, which we believe caused us to be ill, and visit our doctors and go for tests, all with co-pays... and just what are claimed to be "mistakes" happening over and over... and finally now... a mere 2 1/2 years later and getting only what we originally paid for...nothing more...finally 2 1/2 years later after telling us we would figure out something for compensation once my 3rd furnace was put in....3rd one... did Ivy Lea/Mr. Washington decide he now doesn't want to give us any compensation after everything we went through. I am appalled any business would not be doing everything possible to fairly compensate any customer who went through half of what I did... but it is my sincerest opinion that this is the kind of businessman Mr. Washington is, and the kind of business Ivy Lea is.  He told me he is not compensating me, telling me to get a lawyer and after all of my nightmare... I  am not entitled compensation. I did not do anything wrong. I put up with all the crap, all the "so called mistakes" that they made, and out of over $11,200.00 he was paid in December of 2011, and just now 2 1/2 years later agreed to give me what I originally contracted for and he was paid for, after just putting in whatever they felt like, without even telling me first, actually contracting specific makes, models and extra bells and whistles and just showing up and putting in cheaper items of even the wrong brands... just doing it... and doing it wrong and illegally. I just can't stress that enough... and the total aggravation and events that that lead to... "I don't deserve compensation." This is absurd, and I will do everything legally possible to be compensated, but more importantly I will share my true story with anyone that will listen, and ask that they tell anyone that will listen and so on and so on. This is all I can do and what everyone involved in these situations needs to do so that this can't keep happening to consumers. This is a true story, a true experience and a true nightmare. And his response was "I believe this is where Ivy Lea can shine..."...how does any of this make Ivy Lea shine? It makes me sick. I am just in shock that this could happen to anyone... and I really have been pretty nice up to this point by being politely honest. Now I am irate after a broken promise of compensation as the icing on the cake.    UPDATE 4/25/14   I just wanted to share with members that although Mr. Washington felt that with all Ivy Lea had put us through he owed us no compensation,  his insurance carrier did not agree, and has paid thousands of dollars to myself, and thousands of dollars to the other person in the home!!!!!!  If my nightmare was not true, we wouldn't have been compensated by his insurance carrier.  I cannot believe that anyone would hire this company after reading my review. There are plenty of reputable A rated companies out there to do business with, why would you even consider this one?? **** 2/18/14  Mr. Washington, Thank you for your response. I have had the new furnace and thermostat installed.  I would like to address your answer to my review. You stated you have now put in procedures to check for permits and licenses, and inspect work that is done by subcontractors before you pay them. Great news! I just wonder why you have been in business over 20 years and just now realize that you need to do this. What were you doing all these years? The problem with my furnace was not just a pitch in the ventilation. My first furnace was not the brand/type originally contracted, and did not work properly and was replaced 1 month later. The second furnace was again, not the furnace I paid for, did not have the filtration system I paid for, and did not have the thermostat I paid for. The exhaust vent and air intake were right next to each other and had no termination kit and were at the same level which is against code, for the reason that it sucks in exhaust fumes. The hot water tank, also installed without a permit, was exhausted right next to the furnace intake as well, and too close to my bedroom window, which again was illegal and not up to code for the same reason. You also had this corrected when the third furnace was installed.  This still was not the 40,000 BTU American Standard tank I contracted for and was billed for, I have a 36,000 BTU Ruud tank, but it works and I have chosen to live with it.  Y ou have used every excuse possible to say that it was not possible that both of us were sickened by the fumes from improper ventilation of the furnace, which we believe we were suffering from, and actually is what triggered us finding out about all of these issues. We were sick before we knew about the ventilation problem. We didn't manufacture that after we found out.  If you read every reputable website, every furnace manufacturer website, every furnace installation manual, etc., you will find that they all state that the way my furnace was improperly vented can cause illness or death. You also sub-contracted a $1,550.00 exhaust vent in my bathroom, again without a required permit.  I also forgot to mention the insulation that your company blew into the outside walls of my home, which cracked open a wall in my living room and came into my kitchen cabinets. Not one bit of work your company performed was good. You have excuses for everything, which I just cannot believe. If it was not a deliberate attempt to overcharge me and avoid having inspection triggered by obtaining permits for the work, then it was surely just incompetence of your company. It is all just a little hard to swallow as oversights. I have been through a nightmare for over 2 years now. You promised we would talk compensation after everything was corrected. I am ready now to see what the compensation will be that you are offering me for all that I have been through. Even if I were to believe these matters were all accidental oversights,  I have been through so much aggravation as per above for the last 2 1/2 years.  I hope you will decide to fairly compensate us, and I will keep Angie's list members informed of the resolution.  Again, as a Certified NYSERDA company and a BPI certified company, if you actually followed the guidelines for your certification, none of this would have occurred. Your company gets extra training for each of these certifications, and should have known better than any other company out there as to the rules and safety issues for the work performed. Therefore I can not accept excuses for these oversights, because I know you have received special training to avoid these circumstances. 

9-19-14 Our home was recently inspected as part of a sale of the premises. At that time, an inspection was done. The inspector called in a mold inspector because he found extreme evidence of mold in our attic.  Both inspectors explained to us that every inch of our attic had been filled with insulation, with foam insulation sprayed in all soffits, vents, and every opening.  The only area open for ventilation was the roof vent, but it had nothing to draw from.  Due to this, there is a serious mold problem. The mold inspector drew up a plan for remediation at a cost of $4,158.00.  We contacted Black Rock Roofing whom we had paid to replace our roof and provide Energy Star insulation.  They, in turn, had us call the insulation people- Mike@Buffalo-energy.com (who are never mentioned in the invoice from Black Rock which states they will install insulation and replace our roof?) who said the roof must be leaking (after he had us take pictures and send them to him). Now he says he?s too busy to come out until sometime next week. I see a run-around and feel like a volleyball.  They improperly installed the insulation and need to take financial responsibility for it.  I haven?t even begun to mention the mold allergies I have and how this has affected me all these years without my knowing the cause. I was hoping that since they are so highly rated on Angie?s list, we would be treated properly, without getting the run-around. We have been cordial and accommodating, providing copies of THEIR invoices and pictures to show the mold. We even sent them a copy of the Mold remediator?s report. I am very unhappy with their response to date. Gerald J.  and Deborah L. Heim