Complete Home Solutions LLC

Attic Insulation

Not as well as hoped or expected.

.

.

It went well enough. I thought they were going to perform tests to see how well our house was built. I found instead that they were a company that wanted to market their other services. They did nothing to test the windows which was a little disappointing.. They did test how quickly air left our house. They inspected our house but primarily tried to sell their other products. They did encourage us to swap out our light bulbs and left some light bulbs for us to use.

They then applied for an energy credit from the state and I received a 50% rebate about 6 weeks later. There were some minor items that they did not do, but overall, I am very satisfied.

The energy audit went very well. It was thorough and they were very nice and professional. Then they presented 3 pricing packages for the work they identified that should be done. The highest was about $12,000 and the lowest about $6000. I told them I couldn't afford that level of work and asked for pricing on just the items I wanted done. I called several times and either left messages or spoke to someone directly. On two occasions I was told that pricing on the items I wanted done would come tomorrow. It never did. They offer the audit at a reduced price so they can sell you one of their very expensive packages and have no desire to just do the work you want done.

We bought the home energy audit deal through Angie's list. After purchasing it, I procrastinated for several months before contacting them. They indicated that they don't service homes in Virginia. When I had purchased the deal originally, I made sure to check that we are in the service area as most companies in Maryland won't come to southern Fairfax County. They also said that they had made the mistake when creating the deal and would come out anyway. They came on time and conducted a very thorough audit giving my husband some feedback (compliments and suggestions) on some of the DIY energy saving projects we had done already. The man was very nice and spent a lot of time conducting the audit and answering questions. He was to send us a report or come by again to explain his findings. We had to follow-up again after a few days to see if the report was on its way. The reception desk scheduled an appointment with the technician that did the audit. On the day of our appointment, they called to cancel, saying that they would send the audit results and follow-up with a phone call. (Totally understandable since we are out of the way for them.) We received the report a few days later, which thorough and outlined different priced options for fixing the energy issues in our home. We never received a follow up call. Overall, the interactions and experience was okay, but it felt a bit like we were more of a bother to them than anything else. They were clearly not interested in doing any of the follow-on work for us.

I selected CHS because they were responsive from start to finish, the package cost was mid range in the estimates but the technicians were personable, detailed in their explanations, courteous, etc.I appreciated how responsive CHS was in even scheduling the initial audit and the actual work. I needed to schedule the audit and the subsequent work such that my schedule was minimally impacted. Everyone arrived on time (greatly appreciated). All options were explained. I did not feel pressured in the least to select any package. I also appreciated the absence of scare techniques used in the past to close the deal. Before launching the audit the techs listened to my concerns about my home and they were most certainly addressed.The process took two days with the replacement of the storm door occurring on the second day and taking only a brief amount a time. The clean up was thorough (which was very nice). There were also two follow up issues and the response was quick. I appreciated that the response whether by phone or email was also same day, typically within two hours or less. Even if the primary person was out of the office the person covering was always able to provide an answer. From those in the office to those in the field, I found a consistent level of professionalism. This was consistent with the statements from references.The benefits: The evening of the first day of work I immediately noticed that the temperature difference between my three levels was much less than before. My upper (bedroom) level in the past averaged 10 or more degrees higher than the lowest level. Extreme temps heightened the difference. The very next week we entered a heat wave and I noticed the improvements even more. In fact, I have had to modify my thermostat due to being too cool on the upper level! An even greater confirmation of energy efficiency occurred due to the loss of electricity caused by the Derecho of 2012. The outside temperature averaged 100 or more degrees. By the fifth day (7/3/12) the temp on the upper level had increased to about 90 degrees and by 7/6/12 up to 92 degrees but the lower level was more manageable. Of note is the time it took to return the house to preferred temperature was much shorter than in the past. Amazing!I am greatly impressed with the comfort I now have in terms of temperature. I can tell that temperature is better regulated, that my system is working less hard to maintain the temperature. A comparison in terms of billing (so far just one month but a hotter than average month) has also indicating savings.I would absolutely recommend CHS and use them again. Should I sell this home, the detailed outline that includes the assessment, photographs, recommendations can be used alongside my selected options to show potential buyers home upgrades.

EXCELLENT! Justin really knows his stuff and was great to work with. I'm a DIYer and he was happy to point out things that I could do myself versus hiring a company. He went above and beyond explaining why he would do certain things in the home rather than just saying that something needed to be done. Really wish he could do all my contracting work! We'll review the results this Friday and potentially hire the company to do the work. Thanks Justin!

I called the office on 4-24-12 to obtain a cost estimate for each Profile recommendation that I selected. On 4-24-12, I talked to the office about my request. After making several further calls, I received a call on 5/31/12 about what I thought would be the information that I requested. I was told that someone would call me. To date (7-14-12), I have not received that call or the information. I finally gave up. I have better things to do with my time than chase a company for client information. As such, the company did not complete the job.

Excellent. Two men with all the tools necessary came, worked quickly, quietly and efficiently to check out all the possible energy leaks in my home. They they prepared and submitted a full report with a breakdown on how I could attend to any of the issues that needed addressing. They have followed up to see if I wish to do the work, as well. They did excellent work and I would hire them again.

They are very professional. They told me what to expect before they went through my home. They told me it was going to take 4 or 5 hours. They were quite nice, personable and easy to work with. They were also very thorough. I was a bit misunderstood because the guy said he was going to come back to follow through on the report, but I just got the report through the mail explaining everything with the prices. However, I may contact them about a portion of the report so they can answer my questions. Ultimately I feel much better about my house!

He told us it would take about two weeks to receive the final report. After two weeks, we didn't have the report and my husband called. They didn't respond to our phone call at all. We finally received the report during the second week in April.

My experience with Complete Home Solutions (CHS) was, unfortunately, rather mixed. The audit itself was extremely thorough. However, the report of findings did not include any quantitative estimated savings which makes it difficult to decide what improvements to tackle first. In addition, CHS eventually stopped reponding to e-mails requesting responses to questions and comments I had. An Angie's List Big Deal led me to try CHS. It was an excellent deal: $100 for work normally valued at $400. The description included the sentence: "Member will be presented with a personalized home energy assessment report that prioritizes energy efficient upgrades to help improve your home's energy efficiency." I e-mailed CHS on Sep 24, 2011 and received a reply on Sep 27. The reply provided some dates and times to conduct the audit. By later the same day I was on the schedule for Wed, Nov 9 at about 8:30am. On Nov 8 I received another e-mail with detailed instructions about preparing for the audit. The first item on the list was: "Please provide us with the last 15 months of energy bills (including electric, gas, propane, & heating oil)." I have only electric service and keep at least 2 years of bills. I summarized that information in a spreadsheet, including both the actual kilowatt hour usage and the actual price paid. I assumed this would enable CHS to provide me with some estimated cost savings in their final report. An auditor and his assistant arrived promptly on Nov 9. The audit was extremely thorough and included everything described in the Big Deal: "The home energy audit consists of a thorough visual and diagnostic consultation of your home that includes the following: whole house blower door testing, inspection of home, attic, basement and crawl spaces. Specific attention to air leakage testing, insulation analysis, lighting and major appliances." The auditor took numerous regular and infrared photos of spots which were not properly insulated. He was personable, willing to answer any questions, and appeared to have an extensive background. The audit required about 2 to 2.5 hours, matching the CHS estimate provided to me in advance. By Dec 17, 2011 I had not yet received a report so I e-mailed CHS. I did not receive a response until Dec 29. The reply said "I apologize for the delay - the Angie's List deal was very popular and our auditors have not been able to put in a lot of office time to work on the reports" but promised I would have the report the same day by express delivery. This was the case. In my e-mail confirming receipt I said I would probably have some follow-up questions and I asked whether CHS provides any services to implement the recommendations. The CHS reply said: "Let us know what questions you have. We do provide retrofit services. It really depends on the services chosen - we may be able to perform the work, but we can talk about this in more detail once you decide on your final questions." Due to some health issues, it was Jan 30, 2012 before I completed my review of the report and e-mailed my questions and comments to CHS. I noted several errors in the report, such as saying the house has 3 bedrooms when it actually has 4. Most of these were fairly minor but still surprising. My main comment was: "While many good recommendations are summarized in [a] table [in the report], it does not appear they have been prioritized based on estimated savings. Per CHS? request, I provided [the auditor] with an 18 month history of electricity usage. I was expecting to see some quantitative estimates of potential savings. Lacking this, it is difficult to make good business decisions regarding what improvements to make to achieve the best cost-benefit ratio." I added: "Notwithstanding my comments for [the table], I am of the general opinion that improvements to attic insulation, entrance door weather stripping, and certain exhaust fan openings are likely to yield the most favorable improvements in home comfort for the lowest overall cost. However, this is the opinion of a layperson, not a weatherization expert. I will be interested in CHS? opinion and whether CHS is interested in providing any or all of these services." As of Feb 28, 2012 I had not received a response to my e-mail so I e-mailed again: "I sent you the below message just over 4 weeks ago (on Jan 30). I have not yet received any reply. Will a reply be forthcoming or does CHS consider my audit of Nov 30, 2011 closed and our relationship terminated?" As of the date of this review (Mar 13, 2012), I still have not received any response. BOTTOM LINE: I have some good ideas on what to do but I still have several unanswered questions and I will need to contact another contractor to make improvements. I guess I got $100 of value but I would have been VERY disappointed if I had paid the regular $400 price.

The project went very well overall. There was good on-time communication with the office and other personnel. All of the workers were courteous and professional. The end result was a nice siding job, and a house that is significantly more comfortable to live in. The overall experience to me seemed to be honest and direct.

They did a good job. There is a little settling with the addition but other than that I was satisfied. They were respectful and courteous and cleaned up after the job was done. Their price was very good as well.

Complete Home Solutions (CHS) had conduted a home energy audit some time ago and detected significant energy loss in my home, especially in the two attics and the unfinished basement. I received a formal, written report detailing each such finding and its significance and remedies; in short, my home was found to be 4.3 to 4.6 times leaker than a home its size should be! I contracted for the recommended home energy improvements. This past week, a team of workers from CHS arrived as scheduled, layed down protective sheeting in the work area, and each team member went to work on his assigned task over the two-day job. A crew chief was on hand for the full day, each day, to facilitate and troubleshoot. CHS hired subcontractors to do the attic insulation and cantilever insulation work; the quality of the subcontracted work reflects well on CHS. Each individual, whether CHS hire and subcontrator employee, worked tirelessly throughout the day. I was amazed with the professionalism and courtesy of the team that came to my home. Each seemed to know exactly what he was there to do, went about his job in a most precise fashion, and worked efficiently and cleanly to get the job done. I was incredibly impressed with each and every member of this well-coordinated team. Before departing the job, CHS workers ran the "blower door test" to ensure that the home energy work that had been performed had, in fact, considerably enhanced the efficiency of the house's heating and cooling system, and that the HVAC system will, as a result, cycle less frequently than it has in the past. That translates to ongoing savings in my monthly utility bill, not to mention the value that having contracted to have the recommended work performed as a result of a home energy audit might mean to a prospective buyer down the road! We can already tell the difference, especially in a couple rooms that previously had been more difficult to keep comfortably warm in the winter. I surely would recommend Complete Home Solutions to anyone interested in improving the energy efficiency of their homes.

I'm in what I call a "Two-Year Remodel to Retirement" and thought this would be an excellent opportunity to get started, by having an energy audit performed on my home. By the time I purchased the deal and called the company, I was already showing up in their system. I spoke w/Linda and was in frequent e-mail contact w/her. I was able to schedule the audit at my convenience without a lot of back and forth. Rob and his colleague arrived on time. They were efficient and polite. Explanations were provided, as they worked through the process. They even answered questions I had about things I've been thinking of doing as part of my remodel, without pushing me to use their company. The team knew I was under a time contraint and were able to provide me a well-written report. The team didn't just drop off the report; they went through the report page-by-page to make sure I understood (again) what was done and what the recommendations are to correcting any deficiencies. The report also prioritized the actions to be taken into consideration. I appreciated a contract being drawn up, with no obligation, for my consideration should I decide to have Complete Home Solutions LLC perform the work. They also drew up an estimate/contract for separate work based on conversations/questions about the other work I'm considering doing. There may be those who might frown on this and opine the company was being presumptious. Frankly, I was glad they did include the free estimates, which I consider the first viable bid on any future work. Finally, the company sent a follow up thank you e-mail.

From start to finish, everyone at this company was professional, friendly and communicative. I called many companies before deciding on a company to perform my home energy audit. Complete Home Solutions took the time to talk with me in detail to explain what to expect from a home energy audit and whether an audit was a good choice for our family. The energy audit was very thorough and they took time to diagnose each area of our home. About two weeks following the energy audit, we received the comprehensive audit report. We were impressed with the detailed report and it was apparent how much time and effort was put into the energy audit and findings. All throughout the process, the office kept in touch with us to confirm appointments, letting us know when to expect work crews and keeping us in the loop. We highly recommend this company.

This company was difficult to work with and was ultimately unresponsive. I requested an estimate for insulation work and was interested in an energy audit. After nearly two weeks of back and forth communications I finally got an appointment. Then, the day before the appointment they cancelled on me with a vague explanation. When I requested another appointment they said they were too busy and could not help me. I suspect they are only interested in large (industrial sized?) jobs and are not interested in the regular homeowner market. I was very disappointed, they wasted a lot of my time. Save yourself the trouble and find another company.

They are a great company. They communicated well and did a good job.

The energy audit was amazingly thorough, although I'm sure at least some of that is because of BGE"s requirements. Nevertheless, the followup report was detailed, as was the consultation that went with it. The work itself was on time, and followed the agreed cost sheet. If anything, the company did a number of minor repairs that were not scheduled and did not charge anything. ALL of the workers were courteous, dependable, and professional. We trusted them completely, so we were able to work with a lockbox key arrangement. We did not feel the need to constantly be there while work was being performed. Now that winter is here, I have had the opportunity to better evaluate the results of the project. All I can say is, I wish I had met these people sooner. My house has never been this comfortable. Additionally, these were the third or fourth contractors that I've worked with over the years, and they were by far the best. Communication seemed to always be in "real time". Never any lapses. I highly recommend these folks.

EXCELLENT WORK. CHS was low bidder of 3 bids taken. They were curteous, efficient and very capable. I have recommended them to several of my friends. Audit was thorough and matched consumer reports recommendations for what a good audit should be. CHS spent considerable time explaining results and cost/benefits of repairs. Subsequently BGE Auditors inspected their work [22 Nov] and informed me it was first rate. Strongly recommend them. Will use them again.

I believe the experience went very well. They were somewhat competitive on price; they weren't the lowest, but not the highest either. They also provided great quality control. Whenever I had problems or concerns, they were quick to respond and fix it. For instance, there were nails that were not going into the 2x4 boards and going into the wall, which had the end of the nails pointing out. I also noticed a door that was not shutting properly. I called to voice my concerns, and the owner quickly sent one of his guys out to fix the problem. I respect that this company stood by their contract, start to finish. The only problem is getting another appointment for a job I need to have completed. The word is getting out how great this company is that they are steadily getting busier. But, I plan to wait because they are that good.