THOR CONSTRUCTION

I am pretty sure they may have subbed out this job (workers). So all this is due to unprofessional insulators being subcontracted to do this work. They were supervised and the job was overseen by Thor manager, owner, or supervisor at the time, named Scott, so they have to take the blame. Its too bad its been a few years to find out the additional unprofessional findings. Since he wouldn't unseal the door due to the energy program being "over with" I didn't even try to get him back here to re-do it. The fix up is taking 8 hours today. This occurred in fall 2011, or maybe spring 2012 I'm reviewing them now because I let the ceiling repair go, I let the poor customer service to ask to unseal my door go, but now that this new inspection shows MAJOR MAJOR flaws that I paid for and let them seal the door shut so no one could go up and see without a saw to cut the door open all these years. It started with an energy audit on my newly bought old 1900 home. I was recommended to "add vents and insulation" So I called Thor because they were on the local list. (I now regret I did) I didn't know if it was subbed at the time Just after I called owner about the sealed door a few years later he sounded like he had sub contracted it out most likely at that time of energy audits and tax breaks. Problems, First, one of the workers was up in one section of my attic as it then cracked my plaster ceiling down while up there, I mean serious 3 x3 section of plaster fell down hole and dust. I watched it happen. I didn't end up calling insurance because I was too nice, and dumb they kept insisting it had to be rotted rafters on my house, so I believed them since I did already have cracks in that plaster before. I let that go unfortunately. They offered to screw up an old 3'x4'board. Its still up there, because I can't afford to put the ceiling repair on the front burner even today. After the fact I still had ice dams on the roof, with NO improvement what so ever all these years. After they were done insulating the attic to specifications such as wrapping heat ducts and blowing in insulation, (cellulose) that actually put it up over the recommended height of insulation. (not best product) and putting things in for air flow, they SEALED the door shut with liquid nails. So... no one could open it. A couple years later I called the company to ask since they used liquid nails and I could not get up in my attic, could the company come unseal it for me, since they had made it non accessible to me without a saw. He would not come out, (owner) he said "No, that program is over with". I was a little suprised he didn't help since his workers sealed it shut (likely on purpose) without telling me I'd need a saw. So I had to pay someone to saw it open with a special saw. Then, we find this year in my inspection (as to why the h*** my ice dams are still bad) ALL the plastic air shutes they put in are fallen down because they didn't secure them at all, and they were 4' shutes and I needed 6 ft ones in order to work anyway. They were not stapled on, so they all had fell. They blew in cellulose, which I was told would not be done these days, as not the best thing for various reasons, plus, they blew cellulose OVER fiberglass! Dumb, because fiberglass is the waterproof product it should be on top. (ie. they should have used fiberglass blow. (not paper) If they had blown in fiberglass, it would be more spendy, but more standard, and Way better and cleaner air. Now its a dust bin up there with various types over various types. EVERY vent was not breathing because the shutes were not put in properly, and they didn't properly seal my furnace vent. They did NOT wrap my furnace vent at all, and that was the (main) source of the heat all these years, I thought they did what was supposed to help prevent hot air leaks. They tried with metal but did it wrong and the inspection now says they did not actually seal it at all properly so all these years I've had SEVERE ICE dams because my furnace heat was still escaping into attic. Also my access door was supposed to be sealed by them, they just put a big thick foam on the back of it but not around edges it, so the foam did almost nothing since the heat escapes around it. There was other things we found done very messy or missing being done. We have the first photos, since door was sealed, and they show the short non secured chutes fallen, the unwrapped furnace stack, cellulose was blocking my sofit vents all the way around. So I now am paying more to undo what they did and re-do what they did wrong. I am mad because all these years I thought they wrapped my furnace pipe in the attic during that audit, I wish it had been inspected, but no true inspection of it ever occurred obviously. (costly to me for many reasons)

The Thor team arrived on time, were very attentive to detail and completed the job ahead of schedule. The quality of their work is very good, and they did a great job on my home. The workers and supervisor were professional and courteous. The price for the extensive insulation work they did was very reasonable.

We contacted them by phone after getting their name from a list of contractors provided by the Center for Energy Efficiency (CEE). The initial contact was pleasant and professional. A field supervisor came out to do an initial check on what was needed, including using an infrared camera on the house. He presented a list of recommendations that was consistent with the audit from CEE. We agreed to the plan and set a date and time for the work. The two person crew showed up on time, they set down floor protectors, and performed all the work as specified very efficiently. The final blower door test showed a decrease in drafts of 800 cubic feet per minute.

The people from Thor Construction were very punctual and professional; and even though they ran into a few problems completed the work within the deadline.

It was a little tricky to nail down the date that they would do the work once we decided to go with their quote. They explained this was due to the increased workload from the recent tornado in north minneapolis, which seemed like a good reason. Once we got a date nailed down, they showed up on time, completed the work while I was at work. The supervisor came by later to finish paperwork. The work was done very well and I am 100% happy with it.

The workers arrived on time, and worked efficiently throughout the day. The temperatures on that first day went above 100 degrees, so thankfully they knocked off by 2pm. I was very pleased with the work, enjoyed working with Sterling and his crew. They communicated what was going on very well and kept me in the loop. Because the work was part of an energy audit and involved a neighborhood loan and two separate energy rebates, there was a lot of paperwork involved. Curt and Scott knew exactly what forms needed to be filled out and worked with me to get everything submitted correctly. They even met me at the neighborhood Housing Resource Center to sign final loan papers after the work was completed. Made things very easy for me.

The quote was provided the same day in which they scoped the job and the work was completed for the stated cost. The workers showed up on time and while it lasted a little longer than anticipated, they were able to complete all of the air sealing, which will hopefully translate into lower heating costs next winter.