SDI INSULATION

The contractor never contacted me nor replied to my messages.

Dealing with SDI was a nightmare, unfortunately. With *several* calls about being in the ER (totally understandable), then lots of other excuses time after time, it just didn't seem like they wanted to do the job or something. I originally made the request in August and this morning on Nov 10, I got a phone call inquiring if we still needed insulation done. sigh.

Excellent job. They got it all done in 2 days. In my storage areas, which do not have any wall coverings, they strapped the batting in place. They also sprayed in foam into crevices, outlets, etc.

.

They were not hired.

Holy cow this company doesn't have a clue how to serve their customers. The rep was totally arrogant, and didn't communicate what to expect, so we had a really rocky start with them when the crew showed up. But the far worse thing is how they handled what happened next. We had our house insulated from the outside. Our house is stucco. The stucco patch they used didn't cure. Instead it basically was sand. So when the big storm hit, we had water running down a wall, and dripping from a pot light. They came and put some foam over the holes that were allowing water in. The following week they came back to "permanently" fix the issue. But instead of removing the "sand" they simply painted over it with a rubberized sealant. Within 3 DAYS the sealant had cracked on some of them and water could penetrate again. They even left some of the foam over the sand and painted sealant over that. What a joke. The CSLB will be hearing from me. Do yourself a favor and get your house insulated by a company that does have a clue. I'm not going to get into the unprofessionalism we dealt with throughout the ordeal, but needless to say, avoid these yahoos. You're better off in a cold house than a moldy house.

unknown

unknown

Everything was completed as promised. SDI managed all of the complicated requirements for the energy rebate related to insulation (which they installed) as well as for the furnace, AC, and ducting (installed by a Airstar Mechanical, my HVAC contractor). The result was a $4,000+ rebate from PG&E, which covered a significant portion of the costs of this part of the project. I could not have done this without SDI's help!

They did a great job.

unknown

It's a great company. It went beautifully, well organized. They have quick response, competitive pricing and great communication in terms of coordinating and scheduling, and followed up with the bill and all that. It's a first class company. I would absolutely use them again.

They did fantastic. We had a little miscommunication with regards to things, and that was the problem that I had. I got my refund from PG&E and if I ever had to have work done, I would have them. I replied to an item that was on the computer,and that is how I found them. They were working with another gentleman. He is the nicest gentleman, he will go out of his way to help anyone. You can't ask for a nicer person that Francisco. He doesn't do the job. The job is done by the people they hire. I didn't realize that I had a broken lamp until it was all done, and the workers didn't tell me about it. Somebody has to watch what they do. The equipment that they used was a little more, and I guess they knocked the lamp over and didn't say anything. SDI have been very good as far as getting here and their appointments. They are a good company, it's just that it took time for the reports to get here.? Their price was pretty comparable, I didn't feel like they gauged. They respond to anyone phone call that you make and answer your questions. They were here at 8:00 and ready to go. The workers were clean.

unknown

job went well but it is very difficult to patch,hide insulation plugs covering spray holes in drywall.

unknown

Good quality work, unfortunately not delivered on the promised schedule - a day late.

|Very disappointing.

The quotation was more thorough than any other company I called. The price was excellent and I decided their service was the best option. The previous reviews on Angie's List helped to make the decision.
The installers were right on time and did a great job of cleaning up the work site after the installation was complete.
The installation took one complete day. I inspected the work and it was professionally done.

I was very pleased with them. Everything was perfect. They came when they were supposed to be here. They cleaned up after themselves. They were polite. I would use them again. They talked me out of the higher grade of insulation, because of the age of the house. In the long run it would not pay off. I really appreciated his honesty about that. They got back to me within 24 hours with an estimate. I think that they were five minutes early.

Very satisfactory service.

We contacted SDI via their website in early December 2012. Pamela Martin called us back promptly and scheduled an appointment at her home. She was on time, told us about our options, measured the square footage required, explained the 10% deposit requirement, and promised a contract the next day (which we received). She was very professional. After we got the quote I asked to make a minor addition to the insulation coverage. No problem, and no additional deposit needed.
We scheduled our installation at the end of December. I was surprised to get in before the end of the year since some PGand E rebates were expiring and I imagine they were very busy. The installation crew showed up on time first thing in the morning. They spread out a lot of plastic for the inside work and everything was kept pretty clean. Everything went smoothly and they were finished in the afternoon.
Pamela Martin sent all documentation to apply for our PGand E rebate the next day.
Also the next day we checked the temperature of our walls with an IR thermometer and found three cold spots where the temperature was 4 degrees F lower than the surrounding wall. We had been told by our handyman that it is not uncommon for blown in insulation to miss areas caused by cross bracing. I informed Pamela immediately and sent pictures of the areas. She told us it looked okay to her but someone would come out to take a look after the new year. This is where things got frustrating.
Although Pamela remained responsive and professional, no one she handed things off to would call us or return calls from us. In the next 2+ months, we contacted SDI many times to try to get our issue resolved. No one ever followed up and we had to return to Pamela repeatedly to escalate things for us. Finally we received a phone message that a repair crew would be out the next day, please confirm.
When the repair crew came out (on time), they determined that indeed there were voids in the walls that the initial installation had missed. It took them about an hour to take care of them. So things did get resolved in the end at no additional cost to us.
On the whole, our experience was mixed. The people we actually dealt with in person, including both crews, were prompt and courteous, and we're quite happy with how much warmer the insulation keeps our walls. But that 2+ month gap where we couldn't get SDI to follow up with us on what turned out to be a valid issue was really frustrating. It's hard to come up with a single overall grade that summarizes everything or decide if we would hire them again. I would have given them an A before all the frustration, a D for standing behind their work, so maybe average it to a B- and then round it up to a B since they did finally make it right.

The woman who inspected my house, Pamela, was as professional as you can get. She came when she said she would, spent adequate time to look around, and was pleasant. She then turned around a quote when she said she would. One of the stipulations was that I had to have an electrician certify that the electrical in the attic would not be a problem for blowing the insulation. She recommended someone who worked with their company a lot, so I brought him in.
The only complaint I have is about the electrician, not SDI. He charged $150 to come to the house. He then and quot;foundand quot; a problem: my fuse box (yes, old home with glass fuses) needed some special adaptors for a different kind of fuse. He said it would be $20 per adaptor, and I needed 4. He also said that it would cose $20 per to and quot;installand quot;, or some such nonsense. Now, and quot;installand quot; means screw it in. I also looked up the parts, and they were something like $6.95 at Home Depot for 2 of them. In fact, he didn't have them, so he went to a nearby home depot to get it. I feel like this was a little bit of a racket. I tried to say I would buy and install the parts (would cost me $14 instead of $100 or something), but he said he wouldn't certify unless he did it.
Then, unbelievably, he took another look at the fuse box and saw that I already had the parts in there! So I got lucky.
Overall, SDI was a fantastic experience.

SDI insulation was horrible as a contractor. I looked at their reviews online which did not reveal the extent of their unprofessionalism. While they facilitated an impressive amount of money back through the rebate program, the process of working with them was unbearable. I realized why full-time home makers could go crazy dealing with contractors. They forgot my completed rebate application on their desk for two months until I followed up with them about how much progress we had made. They would show up without setting an appointment and then expected me to be home. They underestimated the time they would be here both during the initial inspection and the actual insulation which impacted how and when I took off work to be at the house. It seems there is some serious problem in the upper-level management. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing and I often had to repeat myself several times to explain a concern or situation. Mid-level employees also seem unaccountable to anyone and take little pride in their work hence they do a poor job at following up. Laborers were clearly unhappy with the work they were forced to finish at an unrealistic speed. One of them was yelling and cursing at full throttle in front of my house to his supervisor. This company needs a reality show clean-up.

Pamela came here for an estimate. She was very courteous and knowledgeable. My house was built in 1964 and still has the old knob and tubes electrical wiring, which was a real challenge. At first, she suggested blown in insulation, which would better cover the hard to reach places between the joists but I preferred batts because it would be easier to access the wires for maintenance, if needed later. Pamela then suggested faced batts (with a vapor barrier) but I rejected the idea because of the fire hazard of paper in contact with bare electrical wires. She eventually gave me an estimate for all three options (blown in, faced batts and unfaced batts) and I chose unfaced batts. Her quote sounded quite competitive, compared to the price of materials from Home Depot, had I decided to buy it and have it installed using cheap labor.
We agreed on a date and the crew of two workers came to do the job. They arrived on time, completed the job as promised in 3 hours and didn't leave any mess. Pamela came back a few days later and we are researching together other ways to improve my old house's insulation. I trust her experience and she is quite patient with me. She has also helped me, as promised, to prepare the PGand E Energy Efficiency Rebate.
I would highly recommend Pamela's expertise and SDI's professionalism and quality of service.