FOAM OF AKRON INC

Stay away if they ever show up again. Foam they did put in just falls apart. Also they forgot to seal couple of holes they drilled. Had 2 other companies look at work That was done they were appalled. North side of house they had to run out of material because there's hardly any foam in walls.

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I am writing this concerning my experience in 2010. There are two very important facts homeowners must be aware of. One is the quality of the foam being installed . I recently opened up one of the walls and can now see where the foam did and did not go. If you lightly touch the foam, it disintegrates. What a joke. The second issue is unseen obstructions in the walls of any home (original batt insulation or pieces of 2 x 4 running horizontally between studs), There is no guarantee that the foam is in fact, filling up the entire area between studs (despite what a contractor tells you). Also, Contractors have the ability to adjust the density of the foam and it is not like the foam you get out of one of those cans of foams you buy at Home Depot. If there is too much air in the mix, it is as good as nothing. The only person it's good for is the contractor who uses less chemicals to make the foam. I was skeptical during the installation because it seemed like they were blowing soap suds into the walls. I was told it would harden up. The owner did not come to the site, two guys came with equipment that looked very worn and of poor quality. they tried to vacuum up the over-foam with a shop vac that barely worked. The last portion of the house they did was the garage. I asked them not to plug the holes, that I would do it. The next day, I looked at the job in the garage and noticed that foam was not even coming out of the holes they had drilled. It had sunk. I started drilling holes in the walls in my garage just to see if there was really foam there. Guess what, I had trouble finding the foam. I called the owner and complained so he came back out and looked at the job and agreed it wasn't right. I had saved samples of the foam to show him. He said there must have been a problem with the equipment. So he sent the two guys back out to redo certain areas with a more stable foam (He was supposed to come with them but he didn't show). This time, they showed me they were putting in a better product in the areas that I asked them to redo. I have never felt that this work was worth any amount of money. Homeowners must be very wary of this process from any company. Unless you have x-ray vision and can see into your walls, this product will only go until it hits an obstruction. I actually called the company who makes the chemicals the contractor used to make the foam and they indicated that the cured foam should form a crust and be solid. This was not the case with my foam. Also, had the foam been applied correctly, there should have been foam seeping out around outlet boxes, which never happened. You must be aware of the consistency of the foam and that when it cures, it will be stable and hard. I would not allow a contractor do this work if you are not there to see what they are or aren't doing. Once they plug up the holes, unless you drill new ones, you're don't know if anything was put in your walls. Good luck. I believe this product is a waste of money unless it is installed between studs before dry wall is put on. Otherwise, short of drilling lots of holes in your walls to see what is really there, you are throwing your money away. I believe this service is only one step above a scam regardless of who does it. There are too many negatives that may not be explained to homeowners. On the surface it sounds good, but buyer beware.

See expanded detail above.

After the initial quotation process, it took me some time before I was able to sit down and assess the competitive quotes. All quotes were very clear so it was an apples-to-apples comparison. I chose Foam of Akron not only for price, but also because the owner was involved in the process. We scheduled a date for the crew and they were on time and very courteous. It was a cold and rainy day, but the attempted to not track in dirt or wet from outdoors. The crew explained what they would be doing and how the job would progress. They also let me know early on the first day that they would not be able to complete the attic the same day because of the length of the job and they did not have the cellulose insulation with them. They would be back the second day after they loaded the truck. The crew drilled the holes in the interior walls and as soon as one room was complete, the team split and one continued drilling while the other began working with the foam injection. I worked from home that day because I did not make arrangements to board the dog that day and both of the crew members were very respectful of the dog and our space. They cleaned as they progressed and toward the end of the day they plugged and patched the holes. Since they were returning a second day, they committed to put a second application of dry wall compound on the area so that i would not have to do as much when I had time to finish the areas before painting. I could not stay home the second day because of work obligation so I let them in the house and returned home at noon to see their progress. They had completed the attic, completed the second dry wall compound applicaton, and were politely waiting in their truck on the street for me to return. They were very professional, and while the house was not spotless upon their departure, they had done quite a lot to maintain cleanliness and orderliness upon departure. I would hire them again should I ever move and need insulation.

I own a 1927 home that had cellulose blown in approximately 20 years ago into the attic and walls. I had contacted USA insulation, Foam of Akron, Lucas Insulation, and one other company which escapes me. Lucas insulation did not return my phone calls after I left a voice mail and also spoke with someone. I was told that in order for them to give me an estimate after 4 p.m. on a weekday that it would be up to the salesman since it was after hours. Not sure how they expect to do business when people are at work. USA Insulation gave me a qoute of $4,300 and had a nice presentation and appeared professional. Foam of Akron gave me a qoute of $3,500 and was definitely the more locally owned type of company. In fact the fourth company that I called about the foam recommended Foam of Akron to me since they weren't a franchise and it's basically the same thing. The fourth company did not remove siding. I chose Foam of Akron based on the price and the view that blowing insulation is the same and I felt the foam is essentially the same. Overall, it was a good choice getting the foam. My house is substantially quiter and you can really notice a difference with the drafts gone and having insulation much higher in the wall cavity. My only concern was that when they removed the siding there was some bedning of the "j" channel around the window. This was remedied but in some places it appears they used a rubber mallet. But this is an older home with aluminum siding so some damage was expected. Overall they were clean but I did find quite a few hole plugs throughout my flower beds. Another point to consider is that if you were to go to the Dominion East Ohio Gas website there is an energy audit program you can have done on your house. Your cost is about $150 and based on the recommendations you can have certain home improvements completed with preapproved contractors and you will get rebates directly from Dominion. USA Insulation is one of those contractors and Foam of Akron is not. Foam of Akron should try to become one of the preapproved contractors. The energy auditor will also come back out after the project (e.g., furnace installation of insulation) and double check the effectiveness and safety of the work. Plus all of the contractors are screened to get on the list. I believe the home insulation maxes out at $200 but it's better than nothing plus your bills will go down.

We declined to use them. The service, reliability and punctuality stood out. We were set to go with them but there was a program through our local gas suppler that was less expensive to go with. They were not one of the suppliers that the gas company would go through.

Don came at the scheduled time to explain what and how the work was to be done. He explained how the foam would be installed along with the results I could expect.. I felt he gave me a fair price for the job to be done and did not try to pressure me. His men arrived on time and were very friendly and did my dog's pen as requested first so they could be left back outside. They were done in a timely manner and cleaned up when finished.

Jeremy was very prompt in giving me an estimate. He did not not pressure me in anyway. He was very easy going. I was very pleased with results and their price was very reasonable.