HENGES INSULATION & FIREPLACES

Installers came on time, put on plastic first in home where pipe was supposed to go. Then they worked on fixing and/or installing baffles, eve blocking for soffit vents. Wrapping knee walls with FSK radiant barrier paper to keep insulation from falling down and to provide more insinuation. Then they start spraying owens corning fiber insulation from their truck mount machine on attic. Price from Henges was good compare to other quotes I got.

In operable. The unit has worked less than 4 weeks total, and that was not all at once, over the winter. Now it won't even light. Gas line checked out. That's not the problem. They blame everybody and everything but their work.

The major problem is that the new fireplace lets in a lot of outside air.  The source of the air is the double channel chimney which brings in outside air through the exterior channel of the chimney and exhausts heated air from the firebox through the interior channel.  I thought the exterior channel was supposed to bring in outside air to the firebox for combustion -- and therefore would be shut when the flue to the firebox is shut.  However, instead the outside channel ends in the area surrounding the firebox.  There is no way to close it, and outside air is constantly coming into the surround area and directly into the house.  It's like having a window open all the time. 

I called Henges about the problem.  I talked to a manager who was reluctant to even send out a technician to determine the source of the air infiltration around the firebox.  He said this problem was the responsibility of the subcontractor.  I called the subcontractor who claimed it was Henges' responsibility, but reluctantly agreed to inspect the problem.  He never came to the house even after I contacted him three times.  Finally after the holidays I contacted Henges again about the problem.  They agreed to send a technician out.  Two technicians inspected the fireplace.  They did not know anything about the kind of fireplace insert I purchased and had to refer to my owner's manual.  Also, they were condescending and dismissive of my concern.  They maintained that the air infiltration is normal and necessary to keep the firebox cool. It is part of the design of the fireplace.  I don't know where they got this information because it is not in the owner's manual or the installation manual.  In other words, they claimed that the cold infiltration problem is Vermont Castings' fault (they manufacture the Majestic fireplaces).   My confidence in the technicians knowledge was challenged by their assertion that the only solution is to wrap a garbage bag around the top of the chimney, and that I should not operate the fireplace with the doors shut.  The owners' manual clearly states that this unit is intended to be operated with the doors shut.  The reason I bought a new wood burning fireplace insert is because I enjoy wood fires.  I did not pay $2,700 to  seal the unit off by putting a garbage bag over the top of the chimney. 

I have tried contacting Vermont Castings to find out if indeed this is a design flaw, but so far they have not answered my e mail and voice messages.  I find it hard to believe that any company designs a fireplace with a chimney that channels outside air directly into the house through the fireplace surround with no way to close off the air. 

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That was excellent! They did a real good job and were careful to make sure it didn’t get everywhere. I was happy with the job. They were on time and I had no problems with them.

Henges had previously done work on our problematic gas fireplace and I had been very happy with their company.   I trusted them. Now I know that I should have done my own research from the start.  I believed that more insulation would be good for our 60 year old home and for the environment by requiring less energy to heat and cool our home.  Doug was the person in charge of planning our job and Manuel and another one or 2 men did the work in fall of 2012.  
     This summer (2014) I went into the attic on a hot day to look for something and noticed that it was terribly hot.  Hotter than it had ever been in the 26 years that we have lived in the house.  I got worried and started doing some research on line and keeping records of the temperatures inside and outside the attic.  On the worst day it was 96 degrees outside and 130+ degrees inside my attic!!  The thermometer does not register higher than 130 degrees.   From my research on line I learned that a well vented attic will be from 15-20 degrees hotter than the outdoor temperature.  The high temperatures waste energy, speed the deterioration of attic shingles and make the guarantee of the shingles null & void.  In the winter the poor ventilation increases the risk of moisture and mold growth in the attic.
      My husband and I spent much time researching the internet about attic ventilation and attic temperatures and the proper ways to preserve ventilation with the addition of insulation.  We further investigated the layout of the new insulation in our attic and noticed that it was piled so high around the exterior edges where the roof slopes down to meet the exterior walls that it touched the underside of the roof thus interfering with proper ventilation.  There are soffit vents all the way around our hip style roof that are supposed to let cooler air into the attic that then flows out the ridge vent at the top of the attic.  I never wanted to learn so much about attics, roofs, shingles, soffits, baffles and insulation.  I thought the company installing the ventilation would know and do the proper things.  
    (*additional note) Immediately after the job was completed in Sep of 2012 when they showed me the work they had done I noticed, what I later learned were baffles, installed on the underside of the roof.  Eight didn't seem like very many in such a big attic space to I asked for more to be installed.  They put in 8 more per my request.  My thinking at the time was that twice the number 'the experts' planned for would surely be adequate.  I didn't think more about the attic until I went up there on a hot day this summer.  
     I called the company four times over a couple of weeks.  I spoke with Doug twice and Greg twice.  They were always nice but had no answers or attempts to fix my problem.  Initially I was willing to pay one of their staff to come and improve the situation in our attic but never got a call back.  Then I sent a letter to Greg in the office with a copy to Jay Henges who I presume is the owner of the company.  Again I got no response!!!  
    I no longer have high regard for this company.  I would NOT HIRE THEM for attic work again.
I have pictures from our attic that show the problem.

Arrived 30 minutes late without a call. Came in and removed a clamp from the flue which took all of 1 minute to do. Charged me $110 and did not accept my angie's coupon. $110 for 1 minute of work is highway robbery. Too bad because I was going to ask this same company to handle my insulation but not now.

Made a huge mess in my home.
Left equipment in my bedroom, and front lawn. Insulation dust and clumps everywhere. I'm still breathing it more than a month later. Stained my carpet. They didn't put up proper protection at attic accesses. The sales person, Jim Snyder,  thinks that the tubing must have burst and that's why the mess is everywhere. I think he's right, and that could be the only thing he's right about. It's all in my furnace system and it needs to be cleaned. They are not responsive to phone calls in a timely manner and even when I called to talk to the "boss" of the sales person I asked "the boss" Greg to deal with me and not the sales person, they had the sales person call me again. I sent them photos of the problems. They offered me a very small discount of $136 for my time to clean up the mess. I'm still cleaning it up and yesterday I received an invoice for the discounted amount$136. Seriously? I'm furious.
Terrible customer service and even worse installation.
I do not recommend this provider. On a scale of 1 - 10 with one being worst they get a -6.

It went well. The product and the service was very good.

I purchased the services of this company via a "Big Deal".  What a rip-off.  I basically paid $75.00 for some guy to walk around my attic and talk on his cell phone.  I had to call more than once to get the "evaluation".  The $150.00 toward insulation is a joke.  I was told that I needed $1,500.00 worth of insulation. Total rip-off.

It was fine from beginning to end.

Went very well, On time, professional and clean. 

We had been using a space heater in our hearth room for 10 years because the poor insulation our wood burning fireplace had. We had 3 different companies explain to us that the only way to fix this problem was to remove the stone around the fireplace, remove the entire wood burning fireplace , and install a Direct Vent fireplace .
We had our stone mason, Joe Alonge (EXCELLENT),  remove the stone fireplace first. The Henges came in and removed the old fireplace, making sure to protect our wood floors. They installed :
MAJESTIC DIRECT VENT GAS TOP VENT FIREPLACE LEXINGTON SERIES MODEL # LX32DVN
WITH BLOWER FAN ,  Vintage iron doors, and a hand held remote.   
 We love the way this looks but most of all how much heat the fireplace gives to our home. Our heating bills have actually dropped because of the wonderful heat from this fireplace . We were out west for the previous winter and home the entire time this winter and our heating bills were less!!
Henges was absolutely awesome to deal with....HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

It went quickly and effeciently.

The insulation process was so quick that I was surprised. They actually crawled into the space to determine if there might be something needed in the future. The little things were found were resolved gratis.

Arrived on time and performed work as promised. No hitches .

The people were very professional. When we later had an energy audit I was told that the insulation we had put in was an extremely good job.

I was lukewarm about them.  They were not particularly responsive to their product.  I didn’t feel like they knew their product and they are the only ones that handle this product.  I wasn’t crazy about that. I will use them in the future because I have to; they are the only ones that will repair this product. 

Henges preformed the insulation of my detached garage to my complete satisfaction.

They were very thorough...did stuff that other bidders didn't even bother to look at.  
Would definitely use them again.

I work for one of the largest contractors in north America and over the 30 years had  worked  with many sub contractors.
These guys are  first class!   They gave me  very good price . The guys came out  had good workmanship and cleaned up.
Dave