Acorn Home Improvements Inc

Acorn sales tech nice. Since I am not an expert at insulation engineering I cannot say he was knowledgeable. Talked a lot and waved around a thermal imaging machine showing hot and cold spots (it was about 85 degrees outside on this day). I do understand R49 and R60, baffles, soffits, cellulose, cost, and this was a job consisting largely of labor and not skill so I was reasonably certain the move with Acorn would be OK. Back and forth several times on e-mail with contracts, asking questions about permits and timelines was tedious. Call came day prior to install the crew would be onsite between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM. Crew arrived at 9:00 AM in a less than new Acorn truck that dumped its poorly packed contents on the driveway. Both crewman were very nice and courteous, but obviously very tired. Our house is a Cape Cod style with a low roof pitch. The physical size of the crew was a concern because I have difficulty accessing the attic ? this would be impossible for these guys. Somehow they pushed on. Crewman asked about a vertically aligned board attached to rafters running length-wise to house. Wanted to know if he could remove the board so he could access the eaves. No you can?t. Unless you are 100% certain this board is not part of the structure ? don?t think about removing boards. After completing the rear of the house soffit removal and baffle insertion, the crew cleaned the area and moved to the front of the house where the process of installing baffles went smooth. With the front complete cellulose blow-in began. After sorting out an overloaded circuit the guys began the spray of cellulose. The first floor eave was also insulated and the guys cleaned up after completing the job. I anxiously await the benefits of the insulation and reduced fuel oil bills. Would I use Acorn again?ask me in the spring. By then I can better answer if I experience any water damning or snow melt. Ideally I would have liked the salesman to come back with his thermal meter in January to see if there is a difference in hot and cold spots.

Our attic probably hadn't had any insulation added in decades. One of the representatives came by and inspected the entire house. They gave us a couple of options, some of which were expensive, but they recommended we start with just adding insulation to the attic, attic stairs and a couple of other small enhancements, which was more economical than re insulating walls. He also showed us how to direct air on the vents to help with the colder parts of the house. It was a good education. The work was completed in one day. The workers were very professional and cleaned up. We'll probably contact them again if we need to take our insulation a step further but for now we're happy with the results we've gotten thus far.

Excellent service, price and very timely

Great- Michael the owner was very responsive. We made an appointment for an estimate, he was on time, very personable. I scheduled the appointment for a few weeks later, the team came out on time, worked hard all day. They were friendly and worked hard. I would recommend them and I would use them again.

My issue was water running down between the exterior and interior wall. The contractor diagnosed the cause as frost getting in under old roof shingles that needed to be replaced. Old roof was less than 20 years old and was only one layer deep. The other part of the issue was poor insulation in the attic. The recommended solution was to replace the roof on house and install an air vent and blow insulation into the attic. Replace the roof on the garage was incidental since they were going to be there anyway but was not considered a part of our problem or our solution for the water. The steps were: - Remove the entire shingled roof and a portion of the plywood that got wet. - Blow insulation into the attic through the opening created by removing the plywood to avoid having to go through the house. - Install new state of the art roof with barrier and shingles. - Replace garage roof - Replace trim around house and garage. faction to heart. Workers showed up on time every day. All the work went as planned for the insulation, house roof, vent and trim. The garage roof presented more challenges. The trim was put on in two pieces, because "they did not have the right trim cutter to use on piece". Nails were placed all over the trim and looked very unprofessional. House walk around also showed issues with the finishing touches on the main roof but mostly the garage. That was a bit frustrating since we only did the garage because they were there anyway, arrugghh. One call to the Company and our Salesman was back at the house, reviewed our photos and did a walk around as well. Within one week all the issues were resolved. I was pleasantly surprised that the issues were addressed so quickly and completely. Good company that clearly takes customer satisfaction to heart. I believe that any contractor will have issues with customer expectation compared to work performed. The real test of a quality contractor is how they mitigate those issues. Acorn did a very good job in this regard. I would recommend them to anyone looking for work on their roof or insulation.

Acorn Home Improvements was on time for the estimate, clearly explained what needed to be done to solve the problem I was having, provided a clear estimate, explained the price, showed up for the job as promised, did the work professionally as expected, and completed all clean-up promptly. Their staff (estimator, office staff, and staff who did the job) were courteous, responsive, and easy to deal with. I'd definitely use them again!

I hired Acorn to re-side my house, along with insulate all of the exterior walls. The price was fair for the amount of work that was being completed, and was done so in a very timely manner. Michael came out quickly to speak with us about our options. He spent two hours with us on his first visit, and helped us understand everything there is about siding and insulation. He was very thorough, and got us a quote the next day. Once we made our decision on the type of siding, he came back to show us larger samples. His team worked efficiently and with care. Our house looks new. I would highly recommend Acorn for your siding/insulation needs.

Salesman who came to the house for assessment was very knowledgeable and polite. Provided a detailed contract that addressed concerns that I had about old clapboards splitting. Installation was good, though messy; clean-up was good. Installers did not cut through the moisture barrier but began to rip it out until I protested. Thereafter, they cut through it and covered it over with tape after installing the insulation. I also had to request and point out some of the places where spackling was needed after the clapboards were replaced. The workers were very polite and did that everywhere I requested. I would have liked for them to be a bit more proactive.

It went well, in and out in one day.

Their estimate was a little high. They were very friendly though. I would definitely consider getting a quote from him in the future.

Everything went well except they were late both days due to vehicle problems. It was at the time the two coldest days of the year. The truck was run down and apparently unreliable.

I called two weeks ago for an estimate and he showed up the following day to look over the job. He said it would take him a couple days to get me the estimate since he planned to travel out of town for a couple days. I waited 3-4 days and called the office to see if the estimate had been prepared. A woman answered, took my information and said he would be calling me back. A couple days later I get an email from him apologizing apologizing for the delay and it would take him until the end of the day or the next day to get it to me. I sent a reply shortly after asking a separate question about how soon they would be ready to go if i approved the proposal. No response and another 5 days have passed; and still no estimate!

Acorn did all of the major instillation of the patio door and screen. Thy also cut out a new air/heat vent area for the new vent to ne replaced. The vent was in the wall and the new vent want on the floor. A did different company installed the vent and tubes The inside and outside were left painted where the new wall was put in. We were aware that they did not paint or do smoothing of the wall to paint.

Acorn was great. Good office scheduler, got apt to look at drafty kitchen. Michael walked though house and provided insulation pointers. Not sure we are ready to do full insulation package, but acorn has offered to do in phases. Will def use when we are ready to do more blown in insulation work.

They seemed to do a good job in their evaluation and the estimate process and if we want to do this kind of work, I am pretty sure we would use them. It is too expensive right now. They were efficient and professional. They gave me a good quote.

Everything really was great. They were on time, they all couldn't have been nicer, they took great care to keep their mess to a minimum, as well as clean up after themselves. The insulation in my home, which I've only been in for 6 months, hadn't been updated since it was built in the 60s. I was hoping to ride out this winter and address the issue before next winter, but with the arctic temperatures we had this year the pipes to my kitchen sink had been freezing (luckily not bursting) so I decided this needed to be taken care of sooner than later. The difference was immediate, and my heating bill has already gone down by 20%. A few weeks after all the work was done, on a very cold night, the pipes to my sink froze again. I called to tell them what had happened and they came back the very next morning. Since their 1st visit, I had found numerous "in progress" pictures of the renovations that were done to my home before I bought it (by a different contractor), and learned the exact location / route of the pipes in question. While looking at the pictures with Mike from Acorn, we were able to identify what the problem was and they solved it at no charge. (The problem was that the insulation installed during the renovation in the area of the pipes was put in wrong, and blocked the blown-in insulation from Acorn from getting to where it needed to go) It's worth noting that I had another contractor at my house for unrelated reasons shortly after Acorn finished their initial work, and that contractor tried to tell me that I must have been lied to and Acorn never opened up the exterior walls of my kitchen to insulate them because there was absolutely no evidence of any shingles being removed. However, I watched them remove the shingles in question, so I know for a fact it was done. I guess that other contractor just isn't used to seeing work done to that level of quality.

It went great. Michael arrived on time for our first meeting. He walked me through our house showing where we had insulation and where we needed more. He sent an estimate a few days later. We agreed and they did the work the following week. It took two days. The weather outside was 6 degrees but the guys still came. They were extremely hard working and courteous. They cleaned up well after. I would use them again.

Owner very nice, came out and before estimating the attic insulation cost performed a short, quick, free, home energy audit and gave us a lot of great advice about areas to improve the house. Estimate on attic insulation was excellent. Great communication with the office when we had to re-schedule the insulation. The workmen who came out to do the insulation were first rate, professional, polite, covered everything in the attic with plastic, layed down drop clothes from entrance to attic to bring up some equipment, ran the insulation hose from their truck in our driveway through the attic window. They finished somewhat early! I think 1-2 hours early. They checked the insulation packing via a thermal x-ray gun. It showed packed tight and well, temp. of attic a pleasant 70 degrees F. Overall my absolute best experience with a home improvement company. Couldn't be happier.

Free estimate was really FREE. Michael was great--on time, professional and informative

We had a new roof installed on our Victorian house last winter, and the roofer told us that the very old insulation bats in our attic rafters did not allow for a proper vapor barrier, endangering the warranty of the new roof. The roofer referred us to an affiliated company that recommended removing all the old insulation bats and installing new insulation bats in the attic rafters with a proper vapor barrier. That would have been very costly and would done nothing at all to improve our level of insulation. Fortunately, I decided to consult with Acorn before going further, because they have a solid A rating on Angie's List (the 10% AL discount did not hurt either). I was impressed by Mike Sheehan's approach. He carefully measured the space between the old insulation and the rafters and concluded that there was a sufficient vapor barrier there. But he pointed out that the house was seriously under-insulated, as we already knew from our high heating bills. He recommended leaving the old insulation in place, blowing R-49 cellulose insulation into the attic floor, and installing insulation bats in attic crawl spaces that had no insulation. He said that the new insulation bats in the attic crawl spaces located in a semi-finished attic room would make our second-floor den (located directly beneath the semi-finished attic room) much warmer. After 35 years of suffering from the cold drafts in the den, I was skeptical to say the least, but I decided to go ahead with Mike's plan, which was about half as costly as the original roofing company's estimate for a great deal more insulation. The workers came and did the job on the appointed day in May. We have central ac, and there was some improvement in our energy bill last summer, but nothing too extraordinary. But since Mike had told us that the real gains would come in the heating season, I decided to wait until the next winter to review Acorn in Angie's List. Well, this has been an exceptionally cold late autumn and winter so far in New Jersey, and the results have been truly amazing. For the first time in 35 years, our den is comfortable all the time, and the whole house is comfortable. The energy and cost savings have been dramatic. The heat just doesn't escape upward from the second floor anymore. Here is the most astonishing thing that happened. When the outside temperature got down to about 0 F. a few days ago (unheard of in this area), I heard a strange noise and realized that the central ac had gone on! The thermostat for the ac on the second floor was set to 76 or 77, and because the ground floor is not as tightly sealed now as the second floor, in the extreme cold the disparity between the thermostat for the house heat on the ground floor (set at 70 degrees) and the upstairs heat, normally about 1 or 2 degrees, had increased to 6 or 7 degrees because of the insulation! In short, we could not be more pleased with the job that Acorn did or the investment that we made in insulation.

I received a bid from a local provider who participates in the NJ program that subsidizes energy use for our town. I paid $49 to this other company for a "home energy audit." The results came back and it would cost around $11,000. NJ would give me $5,000 and I would then be able to finance the remaining $6,000 at no interest. This seemed like a great bargain but then someone told me that the state program requires vendors to jump through hoops which makes the total cost more and because there is "free money" vendors sometimes throw in bells & whistles that are unneeded. A friend recommended Acorn so I called. Because a friend recommended them, they agreed to come further south in NJ than they usually travel for a free estimate. Their rep (I forget his name but he was very nice - maybe Mike?) was super knowledgeable. Scheduling the work through their office was easy. The install was done very well and everything was as promised. This is the first winter with our newly insulated house. We can feel the difference. Right now I only have one month-to-month (2012 to 2013) heating bill to compare (we moved into the house in late 2012). I saw a 25% decline in my gas bill. I attribute much of the savings to the insulation. The cost was $3,200 which included installing insulation from the outside including some stucco and siding surfaces. It also included a vapor barrier in a crawl space in the basement.

It went well. The owner was very good at communicating. The experience was pleasant. The team replaced our roof in a day.

They did a wonderful job, the rooms are now warmer and the drafts are non-existent. The installers were total gentlemen, very polite, arrived on time and cleaned up thoroughly after the job was done. They checked their work with a monitor to insure all spaces were correctly insulated.

Showed lack of professionalism by not returning calls

ORIGINAL POST: They made a 1960 bi-level look like brand new. Their crew was prompt, courteous and friendly. Mike the owner of the company offer a low key sales pitch and explained everything in detail. UPDATED NOTE (Spring of 2015) - The following Summer after I had my siding installed by Acorn in the Fall of 2013, I had the roofer who installed my roof just months before Acorn had done their siding install, to come and clean out my gutters. The roofer was shocked by the amount of damage Acorn had done to the roof with their scaffolding & equipment. There were torn up shingles, nails left in roof, holes and other assorted damage. I reached out to Acorn and sent them pictures that my roofer had taken of the damage. I have yet to hear back from them about my damage. At least a return phone call was expected. PLEASE NOTE: My original review of the work done by Acorn scored a rating of "A", however I am revising the OVERALL score to a "C". They are a good company, but lack a something in Customer Service after the job is done.