Duerst Insulation Technicians

Lee's team of insulation specialists did a phenomenal job of spray foam insulating a very, very small crawl space in our home (as well as some boxsills). We have had several construction professionals in our home recently, as we are considering a major renovation to our house, and they have all commented on how well done the job is, and how amazed they are that insulation specialists were able to access such a small space. The team arrived on time, did their work quickly, and the administrative team was very communicative, personable, and kind. We'd highly recommend Duerst to others!

Excellent! We had mold in our attic from an improperly installed ridge vent. Duerst explained everything they were going to do and answered all our questions either by phone or email. Their crew was professional and punctual. They were extremely hard workers barely stopping to take a break. They all went out of their way to make sure we were satisfied with the job.

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Workers missed spots insulating our house.  Had to question the work that was done.  Did not receive the best customer service.

We also had our front cement steps( 4 slabs) raised. They told me when they quoted it that it may be difficult but we thought we would try it anyway. It did not go very well. The steps look ok, not great but they are in code and he did warn us so I'm not complaining. However, we have a brick planter that is between the steps and the garage and it heaved when they raised one of the steps. Unfortunately the planter wraps around the front lower part of the garage. Todd came back out to look at it a couple days after the work was complete. He took pictures and said he would talk to the owner to see what they could do. I called the office and told them I would wait to pay for the cement raising until we found a solution. It's been a month and I haven't heard from them.I had to find someone on my own to repair it. They will have to tear out and redo most of it of the brick work. So my input on the cement raising is be careful. The foam seems to be difficult to control and it's messy. They trim off anything that oozes out but it still shows. I am still finding pieces through out our landscaping, which is not a big deal, but I have noticed a lot of birds hanging around and I am afraid that they may try to eat it. So for cement raising I give them an "A" for effort; a "C" for results; and an "F" for follow-up.

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It started out well. On August 1, 2012, I sent out several requests for estimates, making it clear that we were working with Green Madison. Ben called me, saying that he could give me an estimate site unseen using our home energy report. It sounded reasonable, since the home energy report gives some pretty specific details about the house and what needs to be done. So I sent off our report and received a bid the next day. Well, except for the foundation insulation, because it turns out they need to see the house to bid that one. Did we want a bid for that? Yes we did. But when I emailed back, Ben was on vacation for a week and nobody was checking his email. Another week after that we had a bid for foundation insulation too.
At this point, Duerst was the lowest of our bids so we spent some time clarifying with them and with our energy auditor exactly what results we could expect from which projects. On September 20th, I emailed my acceptance of three of the original four projects on the first bid - we decided to skip the attic insulation - plus the foundation insulation (a total of four projects). Another week delay, and I received an email back from Brian (who? where's Ben?) accepting my acceptance. By October 1st we were on the schedule for October 11th and 12th, but a few days later our project was delayed to the 18th and 19th. Whew! The work actually happened on the 18th and 19th. Well, except for that exterior foundation insulation. So we waited a few days to see if they would just come back and do it. Instead, we got our invoice....for the four projects on our original bid - INCLUDING the attic insulation that we had specifically declined to do. Having not been home while they were working, we weren't sure what they'd actually done so we climbed up in our attic to take a look. Yes, they had indeed blown insulation into our attic and were now charging us for it. In their defense, Duerst immediately removed the charge completely when we pointed out the error.
However, getting the missing foundation insulation done was a whole 'nother can of worms. We were scheduled for November 8th, but Duerst cancelled because of the weather. (Not that they won't work in bad weather, but that the coating they put over the insulation needs certain conditions to cure.) I was disappointed at this point that our remaining project hadn't been given a higher priority. After all, if they hadn't made the mistake it would have been done already, and everybody was aware that we had a deadline, so I thought they would have rearranged their schedules to fit it in. But when I asked, they said they were busy and would fit us in when they could. Clearly our project was not a high priority to them.
Then they cancelled until spring. Thankfully Green Madison's deadline had been extended to August 31st because spring came and went with no word from Duerst. Finally after my second email in June I heard back from Ben (Oh, Ben's back. No word on Brian....) who scheduled the project for July 17th, 2013. That got done, and we made our deadline for Green Madison, but in the process missed one of the deadlines for Focus on Energy, which resulted in a lower reimbursement. And finally, I had originally given Duerst an A for quality of work, but unfortunately the coating over the foundation insulation started crumbling several months ago (maybe six months after it was applied) so now I can't even say they do consistently great work.
So, to summarize:
Generally friendly and helpful people, but inconsistent. Long periods of no communication. Mostly good quality work but again, inconsistent. So-so handling of a pretty big mistake, with monetary consequences for us. Over a year from start to finish. Yes, our project was complicated by our participation in Green Madison and Focus on Energy, but they knew about that going into it. I got the feeling that our experience with Duerst depended heavily on the day and the mood of the person I was talking to. Overall, I probably wouldn't use Duerst again.

Duerst was prompt, thorough and professional. Two things stand out: their creative solution for sealing an attic door, and their willingness to participate in the Focus on Energy program which, for contractors, can be difficult. They even offered to use their foam insulation device to prop up a sagging piece of sidewalk to improve the drainage around my house.

We had our home undergo major remodeling about 10 years ago. Had I known what I know now about insulation technology, I would have had other insulation installed at that time. Unfortunately, we are stuck with some of the side insulation (fiber glass), but Duerst technicians were able to re-insulate our attic area and foam around the house between stories. Since then, we have experienced fewer drafts in the house, fewer bugs, and fewer rodents! I have no doubt we will see our investment repaid in a few years just on the cost savings in heating during the winter and cooling in the summer.The only reason I downgraded slightly in the "punctuality" category was that I expected them on a certain date, and they couldn't do the job then (a minor inconvenience only). However, they did complete the job the next day. The insulation crew completed the job quickly and neatly. I definitely recommend them for all insulation needs, especially for anyone building a new house, when "front edge" technology can be implemented. I wish I had known about them when I remodeled!

This was work included by a sub-contractor as part of a large interior home remodel. I was not present for the estimation visit but did review the scope of work and as able to pick and choose the work I wanted done. The general contractor for the job, John Kohl Builders, noticed that opportunity to use a Wisconsin Focus on Energy instant rebate (33% up to $1,500) and Duerst updated their estimate accordingly which gave me the credit rebate. Within a week they were prepared to do the job.

The two-man team arrived on-time and did an oustanding job prepping the house to keep other rooms from getting dirty and they taped off areas to ensure that they remained free of the spray foam. Their application of spray foam was much better than a previous company I'd used in a different part of my house. They applied it such that the foam didn't result in an off-gas odor (I understand this to be part technique and part formula).

After completing the spray foam they moved on to the attic and completed the insulation work there.

The team was very kind to answer questions and did a superb job of clean up at the end of the day. When they left I felt as though they respected the home as if it were their home. I would be very happy to use Duerst again and I highly recommend their work and the people running the equipment.

The estimate process was pretty quick. We had them over and talked about our remodel ideas for the upstairs. The insulation was key because we were having ice dams and water problems in the winter. Duerst came up with several options - spray foam, blown-in insulation, a combination of the options. We decided to go with spray foam insulation. At the time, we were able to schedule the work about 3 weeks out which worked out perfectly for us. They said it was going to be a 1 full day job. It turned out to be 3 days, which was quite inconvenient. The first day didn't get started quite as quickly as hoped because it wasn't communicated that we had carpeting that needed to be protected. So the installer spent all morning plastic-wrapping everything (which was really appreciated). He was able to get started applying the insulation in the afternoon for a few hours. The second day started out alright - except another job site was having problems with their spray foam equipment (it was cold this week in November and the equipment is touchy) so they needed to use the one that our guy was using at our house. He finished up early at our house and had to go to the other job site. The guy who was working on our house was really professional and knowledgeable. Seemed like he was one of their top guys. The third day was spent doing some finishing touches and then scraping off the foam to be even with the studs and roof trusses. Duerst sent two more guys to help finish up the job. They did finish the job and vacuumed up as best they could. Spray foam is messy messy! You get little beads of spray foam all over the place - stuck to your shoes, carpeting, pants, and then track it all over your house if you're not careful. We had to vacuum multiple times each day. Duerst gave us a discount for paying in cash, and then another discount because of the inconvenience of the timing (took longer than expected). That was appreciated. They also did a blower-door test and submitted the paperwork for the Wisconsin Focus on Energy incentives so I didn't have to do anything but wait for the check (which took about 6 weeks to receive). They also pointed out the federal tax credit amount that would reduce the overall cost of the project. I would use this company again. It was a good experience.

Edited Jan 2013: Once we had our drywall contractor come in, it turns out Duerst did a bad job on scraping away the spray foam enough for the drywall to be hung flat/straight/against studs. The drywall contractor had to spend half a day scraping away spray foam. In the future, I will be more diligent about checking for that if I use Duerst again. If less time had passed between the insulation work and the drywall work, I would have contacted Duerst about my unhappiness at their scraping job and asked for some sort of reparations (either money or have them come back to scrape). But as it has been two years, I did not contact them and chalked it up to a learning experience.

Insulation was blown in from the bottom of the roof slope and they did not take the time to climb onto the roof and complete the job, therefore no insulation was installed above my skylights. This was made obvious in December 2009 and throughout that winter when snow fell, because roof areas above the skylights would melt while the rest of the roof remained snow covered. This melting and refreezing snow caused ice damming to occur above the skylights. Soon cracks appeared in the plaster around the skylights inside the house. By April 2010, water was leaking around them. A large area of plaster fell from the ceiling around one light and plaster around the other got soft and had to be repaired. One of the skylights could not be repaired and had to be replaced. The other had to be removed, surrounding metal replaced and rewrapped around it, and re-installed. These repairs were completed by another company in June 2010 at a cost of $1400. Another contractor made plaster repairs at a cost of $600. The ceiling and walls in the two rooms where plaster damage occurred also had to be painted, but I did that work myself (at a cost of about $100 for paint and supplies). In addition to there not being any insulation above the 3 skylights, it was discovered during repairs in June that the entire bay on one side of one skylight was missed during the original installation. When it became clear to me that the incomplete insulation job was to blame for the damage to my house, I contacted Duerst and asked them to 1) complete the insulation job, and 2) reimburse me for the cost of the repairs. Duerst added insulation above the skylights and in the bay that was originally missed at no additional cost to me. However, they refused to take any responsibility for the damage that their original inadequate job caused. Each time that I pressed them for an answer, they stated a different reason why their work (or lack thereof) did not cause the damage to my house. They made excuses about the weather, the quality of my roof, the age of the skylights, and others in an attempt to shift the blame for their inadequate work. However, when I responded with reasons why their explanations did not apply to my situation, they simply came up with another excuse. Despite the fact that they claim not to be at fault for the damage that was caused, they finally offered to pay $600 for the cost of plaster repairs (but not skylight or other costs). Finally, after weeks of back and forth correspondence and multiple excuses from Duerst, I gave up trying to recover the full costs of my repairs. Simply put, I would not recommend this company to anyone.

I chose to go with them, because I had used them in the past. They were just okay. They did the work, but they were on and off throughout the project. They blew the insulation and everything was fine with that. They ended up kneeing one of our lights and said that we could repair it, but they took a little bit off of the bill. The two workers were a little problem. The boss was very responsive, straight forward, and told the workers to do this, this and this. But when the boss left one of the guys would only do what he was asked. They did get the job done and it seems to be okay. Their prices were competitive. They were an A for punctuality. They were right there when they had to be. I had a mixed experience with them so I would consider them for an estimate in the future.

Overall, they did a pretty good job. They had a couple of voids in a few places, but in general they did a good job in the walls and a very good job in the attic.

This was a large project with a lot of idfferent aspects. They came in did a very professional job. At the end of the job, the energy audit was redone and found only a small number of missed items or items that needed a bit of follow up work. They scheduled a follow up appointment quickly but had to reshedule for a week later. They quickly finished the follow up items. The total cost was slightly reduced from the estimate since they were unable to access a portion of the attic to add additional insulation.

Consultant and crew were very pleasant and professional. They were very helpful and honest. In one situation they could have done unnecessary work and I would never have known. They brought this to my attention and adjusted the invoice appropriately. Had to come back for some minor rework. They did this gladly with no complaints. Only complaint was that they should have removed sash cords/weights prior to putting insulation in sash weight compartment. This would have made it easier for me to restore window functionality. This was at least half my fault, but it would have been nice had they pointed out the potential problem.

They did a great job. The owner, Lee, came out and assessed my older home and advised about what would work best/be most effective. The work was done efficiently, as promised and the price was fair. I can't recall the exact cost, it was a couple of years ago. I had a shady roof contractor replace the roof, and when it rained, the new insulation got wet. Lee sent his guys out to remove all of the wet insulation for free.