Berry Insulation

Steve, Andrew, and Carlos did a great job in Rocky River to remove 60 year old crumbling insulation in the walk in attic area of a cape code style home and used blow-in insulation for the walls and ceiling for the second story. This is a multiple phase project as we are removing the old knob and tube wiring and replacing with new Romex. They completed the top floor. Will be using them for the rest of the house as we remove the old wiring.

Great job removing old insulation & sealing all air leaks. The crew was fast, respectful, & knowledgeable. Great clean-up job. I highly recommend them for any insulation work you may need!!!

Paul came out for estimate, knowledgeable and answered questions. Crew came out (father & son) and were on time, explained what they were doing all the way through, extremely polite and courteous. Asked if they could enter a room to check the process from the inside. Work was done on time. Cleanup was great. No problems or issues. Wouldn't know they were there. Highly recommend them.

Marty was recommended from other builders in the area. He had a great reputation and I needed an outfit that would take care of a remediation issue properly and timely. Flat roof design and insulation is very specific especially on non-vented roofs. All ceiling cavities must be completely filled with insulation so there is no airflow or possibility of vapor condensation. On our new built home 3 years ago, the top floor ceiling space was not filled completely due to poor management of the builder, Blossom Homes and the sub insulator , Alpha Insulation. Condensation and smell started the first spring and thru many attempts to find and eradicate the problem. finally the decision had to be made to tear the entire ceiling and insulation out and remediate and reconstruct the entire 780 sf ceiling. The builder declared bankruptcy, and the original Insulator refused to aid in any way. Marty was called in to help with the project and he knew exactly what the issues were, and how to solve them. His crew was clean, timely, respectful of the rest of the house and the jobsite. We replaced the batten insulation with blown-in dense pack cellulose over a "smart" vapor barrier Intello system. Marty's organization was proficient in knowledge and a history of using this newer material. The job turned out fantastic! I would recommend Berry insulation and one you can trust to deliver what is promised.

Excellent and professional service in reviewing the job, showing, including pics, of area and repairs needed in detail, timely quotes in details. Appraiser and Workers were timely, professional & knowledgeable. Provided detail review, including pics, of the work done (before & after). Work area & path to work ara protected with tarps / coverings and cleaned-up all areas.

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It was a three day job - insulated attic, interior & exterior walls, air sealing. When I called Mr. Berry, he came out to the property and provided a estimate the following day. The work seemed to go smoothly but they didn't secure some siding properly and it took some emails and a month to get them to come out and correct the issue. My biggest issue is that insulation got into my duct work and I had to get a company out to clean my whole duct work system costing $500. I emailed Mr. Berry and he said he would reimburse me for that and 6 months later I'm still waiting for that! One of our bedrooms and our hallway has a high pitched noise on the return air flow - this wasn't there before the job and there is no way it should be so noisy. They do provide a quote very quickly but their after care and attention to detail is lacking. After spending $5000 we are disappointed with the overall result.

Taking advantage of Dominion's home energy audit/rebate program through their contractor, Good Cents, we had an audit done in July and received estimates from 3 different companies.  We were prepared to go with Kilroy, but they kept pushing the date back so when Berry followed up and offered to price-match, we chose to proceed with them instead.  They began the job on 11/9, insulating half of the sidewalls.  They returned on 11/10 and because it was raining that day, they stayed for only 3 hours and insulated the attic slopes, inserting plenty of baffles for air circulation, and also sealed the band joists and around the chimney in the basement.  They promised to return on 11/11, but called that morning to say they wanted to change this to 11/13.  Like most households with working people, our schedules were already in a state of chaos to accommodate them, so we were unhappy with this last minute change and asked them to come that day as planned.  They sent out a different crew who finished the other half of the sidewalls, then came indoors, set up the blower door and caulked around windows.  The attic hatch was to be weather-stripped and they were unsure of how to do this, and ended up simply applying a thin piece of gummy adhesive (which is already falling off) that we could have easily done ourselves.  This item was an extra $30 and is not subject to rebate.  There was a big draft in the closet next to the chimney and their opinion was that a hole would need to be cut in the attic floor in order to seal the chimney chase.  That sounded extreme so we asked for someone else's opinion on that and in the end a piece of drywall was installed in the closet ceiling which was a very good solution.  This and other work was completed by Kevin who had given the original estimate.  We communicated mostly by email and although he was unresponsive for 8 days around Thanksgiving, he did return on 11/20 and 12/3 to install weather-stripping on two doors, to seal the furnace and ducts with mastic, and to seal around the attic exhaust fan and chimney at the attic floor with expanding foam.  He also repaired a hole in another closet where the sidewall crew had drilled through the wall, and repositioned a row of siding which had slid out of place after not being properly hooked to its nails.  We later had to pick about a dozen circular pieces of wood out of the landscaping and also scrape expanding foam off the siding.  
With an original time estimate of "hopefully two days", the resulting five days seemed excessive.  Our credit card was charged on 11/24, well before the job was actually completed.  The personnel were professional and friendly, and conscientious about wearing booties in the house, as well as laying down plastic for the hallway carpet while working in the attic.  But overall we felt that this company did not really seem to have their act together and that if we weren't diligent, the job would not have been done properly, if finished at all.  We assume that everything was done correctly in the end, but Good Cents has not yet returned for their final testing.  In fact, they informed us that their 2015 rebate funds are now depleted so we are on a waiting list for next year.  It's hard not to wonder if we would now be getting our rebate if the job hadn't taken almost a month to complete.

They came when they said they would and quickly went to work.  Workers were friendly and professional.  They cleaned up when they were done.  All in all it went very nicely.  I would recommend them for similar work.

All went well! They finished my whole house in two days. The workers were there on time each day and were professional. They answered any questions I had. They did a great job of putting my siding back with minimal damage to my paint, and also did a great job cleaning up when they were done. I also thought their quote was very reasonable compared to another company I got a quote from. The owner sent me a hand written note thanking me for the business, which I thought was a nice touch. I received an audit on their work through an energy efficient program I went through and they verified that the work was well done. I would recommend!

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They were prompt every morning, even called to confirm each morning that they were close to arriving. Very nice workers. They put a ton of insulation in and even gave me a document verifying how much insulation they put in.

My house was losing 110% of it's air thru out the day, this was tested by Good Cents. During my test out they determined that my air sealing leakage was reduced by 56%. They said this was a good number but I am still losing over the recommended value so I was a little disappointed in that (which is why I gave quality a rating of B).

I was told I needed updated soffits and additional soffits, I know they put new soffits in but couldn't tell if they actually added additional ones.

I am glad I am getting a rebate from Good Cents for the work that was one, if I wasn't I would have been disappointed in the amount paid overall.

Kevin was phenomenal!  I can't say enough good about him.  He is professional, prompt and very detailed.  He was committed to getting the job done.

This is an update to the previous service. 

When they did the original service, they were unable to vent two bath fans out of the roof because of the snow and other conditions.  I get that.  But then they arranged for an inspection by Dominion for the audit and should have known that it would pass because of the vents not being completed.  After the failed inspection the results were given to Berry Insulation.  They never called me back.  After about a month, I called them and setup an appointment to have the work completed.  The day the workers showed up, it was snowing like crazy and they couldn't get onto the roof with all the snow.  Again, I get it.  The worker told me that he would have the office give me a call.  After a week of nothing, I called them back and setup another appointment (If I can't get the inspection passed, I can't get my rebates from Dominion). Today was the day they were supposed to come again.  The appointment was setup for 9:00 AM.  At about 9:15 I got a call that said that they would have to push thing back and that someone be out at 2:00 PM.  At 2:57 PM I got a call that said they can't make it today. 

I'm writing this because the company was so good in the begging but something happened and they fell down.

My 1959 foundation had old construction techniques. The sill plate sealer was some old style material that I didn't recognize. The foundation had settled such that the sill wasn't uniformly flat across the top of the foundation blocks (I have a block wall foundation). In some places the sill sealer had gaps where I could see all the way to the outside! I found that mice were coming through this one gap as well. In other places there was no sill sealer at all and the sill plate was floating above the blocks. Similarly, the rim joist was warped enough to create gaps. This is a common situation for this old style construction. I also had penetrations for AC, gas, water, and telecom that weren't properly sealed. The previous owners had stuffed fiberglass batts into the rim joist cavities. I can't stress enough how wrong this is. There's a good reason why the recent code does not permit fiberglass batts in this area. There is no stopping water vapor from moving through the fiberglass onto the cold rim joist surface, then condensing into liquid water. When this happens mold grows on all those surfaces, both the wood and the fiberglass. I removed all the fiberglass batts, and cleaned up the areas. I found a slew of mouse home remnants amongst all the batts. Good riddance. I did a little foam sealing myself before Berry Insulation came over. I wanted to do this because I wanted to seal off all potential mouse entry points with the PestControl Great Stuff foam. Regular great stuff doesn't deter mice as they chew right through it. I knew that Berry Insulation's 2-part can wouldn't have the bitterant in the foam, so I had to get this in place before they sprayed all the large areas.
Don from Berry Insulation came out and started spraying. Research prior to this told me that the smell would be horrible and strong, but it really wasn't. I wore a respirator while down there, and it may not have been necessary. The smell was gone 15 minutes after spraying. It didn't permeate to the rest of the house at all. The job was quick and effective. The first round of foam was a little thin. The quote said 2 inches nominal, but after the first round I measured the depth in a few places and it was quite a bit lower than 2 inches. I asked Martin to have it touched up, and he sent someone out a few days later. The tech that came out ended up spraying the entire perimeter again, so I really got my money's worth. Berry Insulation also did some other air sealing tasks in addition to the spray foam of the rim joists. They sealed the plumbing stacks that connect to the attic. They also installed weather stripping on an egress door that I have in my basement.
The net effect of all this work was a reduction in the blower door leakage by 1000 CFM. I was really pleased with this. I had obtained price estimates from other vendors, but Berry was significantly lower, and I got more work done for that money than the others offered.
If anyone else is considering this, make sure you use closed-cell spray foam. It's imperative to stop water vapor migration onto the surface of the rim joist, because that surface is so close to the outside. Some vendors claim that open cell is adequate here, but that is incorrect. An open cell foam will allow water vapor to migrate where it should not be permitted to go.

This was a two day job. The came in a Thursday and insulated the attic and knee walls. They replaced the door to the storage room. The outside walls to the first floor were insulated as well as the between the joists in the basement. Air sealing was done throughout. Work was completed on Friday. They also fixed the holes in the wall that they had to drill and repainted it with the paint I supplied. They did another blower test and that pretty much it. They were very friendly and professional and the price was a good price compared to the competitors. I had about 5-7 companies bid on this project. I am very pleased. I would recommend Berry Insulation as the company of choice.

I got some estimates for insulation and I choose Berry Insulation because they told me they could work on it from the outside, when other companies were saying they had to work from the inside. But when Berry got here, they said they couldn't work from the outside, after all. The work was good, but we were left with several holes in our walls inside, which we had to sand and paint over. There were days they didn't show up and days they showed up without tarps to cover my floors. They did not have signs on their trucks.

Nice job will work with them again

The original date set, the equipment was not working properly so they could not work on the original date as indicated. They did make sure that they were at our house on the next available date that we were home to do the work. Looks like a good job. Won't know much until cold weather sets back in.

They were very knowledgeable and have a great website. They have an easily understandable estimate process that is easy to compare with others. They did a very good job.