Phillip Norman Attic Access

Could not work on the fan but gave me valuable advise. Installation of the safety pole went quickly. I tested it and it is very secure. Gives me confidence that my wife or kids could get up and down safely.

Phil did quite a bit of work for me. He installed an attic ladder, attic insulation, an attic floor plus some minor electrical wiring/lighting in the attic in 2012. This was a difficult project because my ceilings are weirdly tall --- 12' almost. So he had to make some modifications to the standard Calvert attic ladder. That was all fine, but a few days ago, when I came home, I discovered the ladder had opened by itself and all of the folded 12 feet of it came crashing down. A couple of parts were broken and reason the latch failed needed to be looked at. I contacted Phil and he wanted to come as early as possible the next day - a Saturday. He was prompt and efficient in diagnosing the problem (probably the latch catch plate needed to be shimmed out a little). Calvert was no longer in business, so Phil had some ideas about how to fix the broken bits and re-attach the spring to the ladder hatch - making some parts himself. He proposed taking the entire hatch off and taking it back to his shop to make a strong and dependable repair. He came back with the repaired hatch and shims for the latch the next day. All was installed quickly and efficiently - and he asked for no additional money (beyond what I paid for the ladder originally in 2012).

NOTE: I apologize in advance for the length of this review, but the details matter. Over the New Year’s holiday, our attic ladder finally reached the end of its lifespan. Its hinges were bending, the legs were not aligned with the ground, and some of the bolts were beginning to shear. We contacted Phillip Norman, a specialist in attics, who was highly recommended on Angies’ List. From our interactions with him over the past three months, I can see why he received many positive reviews. However, as will be detailed below, our ultimate experience was quite unsatisfactory. Philiip came out to look at our attic ladder on the day that we contacted him. He quickly ascertained that the ladder was in bad shape. He also noted that the ladder location was in the garage, which is not ideal for convenience or sealing the interior of the house. These were issues that we knew of already, but it was good that he noted them. Phillip proposed two ideas — one was a basic ladder replacement in the garage, while the other was to move the ladder entrance into the main portion of the house. This would have been right in the middle of our kitchen. This second plan also would have required raising the floor of our attic several inches, possibly allowing for more storage space. He decided to make a bid presenting both options, and he even admitted that he thought we would probably choose the more basic ladder replacement. He was correct. After we selected the basic attic ladder replacement, he suggested that he should be able to work on this in February, a time that was acceptable for us. Unfortunately, all did not proceed as planned. Phillip contacted us later in the winter to let us know that he was working on another job, and he would have to postpone our project. This was fine for us. We didn’t hear from him again until late in March, when he said he was close to starting. He needed to prepare the ladder, which was a unique design from a Polish company, and it was the first time that he would be installing this type. Over the last week, he sent daily notes indicating that he was still getting ready, pushing further into April. Again, all of this was fine by us, though it was a bit puzzling. Finally, Phillip contacted us in the middle of a week to state that he was ready to proceed. He wanted to come by the next day, which was a weekday. Both my wife and I were scheduled to work that day, but I was able to arrange a small window when I could be there to let him in. I also noted that my wife would be free all day the following weekday, but he wanted to start right away. On the date of the project, Phillip was delayed by traffic, so I left the garage door open for him and left for work. Three hours later, I received a phone call from Phillip. He started by saying that he was done with the old ladder demolition. Then, he said that we had to discuss the plan again. After the ladder removal, he found that he would need a taller structure for attachment of his new ladder, which would require adding a new floor. As noted previously, we were not interested in a new floor from the beginning, and I asked why he couldn’t simply build a support right at the ladder opening. He stated that this might create a trip hazard, and he would not install something that might cause a safety issue. He also said that he didn’t want to have a liability concern. To be honest, I appreciate the safety emphasis, yet I felt that he was being overly worried for our sake. When I asked what other options we had, he said that there were none. Either he installed the new floor, or he wouldn’t do the work. I pointed out that he had placed us in an unfair situation — he had already taken apart the previous ladder, and then he was requiring us to use his solution. I told him that I did not want him to proceed further, and we decided to meet again when I returned home from work. Later that evening, we met to talk about the plan. He tried again to explain why he must install a new floor, and he even suggested that this had always been part of the plan. It was not, since his final bid listed only the ladder. I explained that my main issue was not his work or his concern for safety, but rather the fact that he was requiring us to change the plan after he had already removed the old ladder. If he was not willing to do the installation without this additional work, he should have told us beforehand. Most remarkably, he then suggested that we were trying to gyp him, even though he was the one changing the plan. I offered a few compromises, including offering to pay for his work on the demolition and his ladder. He refused, partly because he really wanted to make his unique ladder a success in this country. Without another option available, that was the end of the project. He left with his materials, and we have a hole in our garage ceiling and no ladder. Overall, I found Phillip to be a competent, meticulous worker, and I was impressed by his attention to detail and concern for our safety. I am sure that many people will be quite happy with his work. However, he made a very bad decision during our project, and he refused to recognize the unfair situation he presented to us. I wish him well with his specialty ladder.

Phillip is very innovative in his approach and is an excellent problem solver. He is very passionate about his work and always dependable. He will provide you with photographs of the work he is doing. You can be assured that you will know exactly what is going on. I really appreciated that. I have had Phillip do other projects on my home and he is extremely efficient and reasonable. I highly recommend him.

My husband and I entered into this project wanting a few slabs of plywood installed in our attic space and more insulation for our home. When we agreed to an initial bid with Phillip we truly had no idea just how wonderfully Phillip would transform our attic space. We are delighted. Phillip is methodical, thoughtful, and determined to do what is right. He installed fire rated stairs to our attic space via our garage. He modified those stairs for the best fit in our space including building the frame and adding the needed supports. He insulated the entire attic space and constructed new walls with insulation in the attic around our vaulted ceiling. He even put batting over the top of the vaulted ceiling. He fully sealed our attic floor with flexible grout. Phillip removed the loose fill insulation and added batting to at least R38 or better in key places. He added electricity and lighting in the attic and at our request installed new LED lights for us in our hallway, front living room and kitchen. Phillip added extra air baffles that he designed to our soffit vents. Then he added three levels of decking for us! Phillip is very concerned about energy usage and while working up in our attic space he noticed that our current bathroom fans weren’t vented properly for best function. So, he realigned our vents and installed higher powered fans that are way quieter than our old fans with ceiling hoods on the roof that he designed. Phillip fully documented the entire process with a detailed 284 page photo album pdf. I wish all contractors were so visible with their process. Without our asking, Phillip researched and found an Energy Trust Rebate and filled out all of the necessary paperwork for us to file. We are looking forward to working with Phillip again in the future. To anyone looking for this type of work, we highly recommend Phillip Norman of Attic Access.

Philip came over on time. When he evaluated my attic it was quite clear he had an agenda to replace the attic stairs, which seemed completely unnecessary to me as they are perfectly functioning and safe. Replacing the stairs was a "prerequisite" and he is on a self-described "campaign" to replace all attic stairs. So, the bid didn't get off to a good start. I needed to have my attic insulated to make my home more energy efficient. Phillip decided the job would involve raising the level of the attic floor to allow for more insulation. He also recommended that I replace all my lighting with LED lights. A good suggestion, but not within my budget. When I asked if he'd still be willing to do the project I wanted, instead of what HE wanted, he replied, "It would take my heart out of it." I'm a first-time, new homeowner and don't have a huge budget for unnecessary upgrades. Having Phillip come over and try to up-sell me on a plethora of upgrades isn't what I wanted. While I think Phillip's heart is in the right place, his unwillingness to do the job without addressing his agenda rubbed me the wrong way, and I denied his bid.

We have had Phil do many projects for us over several years. His work is meticulous and very cost effective. He does not cut corners, and is good at planning out the work and showing diagrams for major projects. On this job it was an activity that we knew would take several weeks. As the house was empty between renters leaving and selling, Phil was able to completely remove the insulation from the crawl space and replace it, a necessity after rodent issues. That was the original commissioned work. He also noted the novel idea for boarding up the insulation from underneath to help deter the rodents, which we also agreed to have him do. During his insulation work he noted the issues of the rodents getting into the duct insulation, as well as poorly connected ducts, and even a fallen duct. We added this work on. Even though it took longer than we originally anticipated given the additional items to be done, Phil finished all the work in a timely fashion to meet our selling timeline, and not interfere with the start of realtors coming onsite. And with one that he accidentally ran into, he even talked up the house and neighborhood on our behalf. Thanks! Post all this work the crawl space looked beautiful, and certainly turned a dismal space into a selling point. Feel free to check out the photos Phil took during the process: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byj-qncyomXmN1lnLThUZkxvSHc/view?usp=sharing Along with the crawl space work we asked him to replace two support boards on both sides of the garage door. The garage door installer had used untreated wood, and left it exposed unpainted. It was that way for more than a season and it had already started raining out. Phil painted treated wood inside the garage ahead of time and replaced it to look outside as if it was a perfect match and fit, and original. Lastly on this project we asked him to replace a failing ceiling light in one of the spare bedrooms. He convinced us to replace it with a more energy efficient LED light that provided more lumens to the room than the original incandescent. This was surely an additional benefit during house showings. Overall this project went great. Another testament to Phil's engineering skills and quality, at a very reasonable price. We definitely recommend him!

Our reason for calling Phillip was for insulation installation. The home we bought late Summer has little insulation and none in some spots. I was impressed with Phillip in the beginning. He came over right away to bid the job. First thing he told me was he was very busy and if he's going to do the work then he's going to to do it the "right way" or not at all. In other words, his way or no way. He had great ideas, however I couldn't afford to do it all at once. He was great at up-selling except, like I said, I couldn't do it all at once. He proposed an additional attic access point, which I supported. He wanted to cap off two of three of my ceiling air intakes (which my HVAC neighbor said he would definitely not suggest this) and put in 736 square feet of decking for storage (great idea, however price seemed steep, even after he came down on price). He wanted to replace exhaust fans and install a bunch of attic lighting while he was up there. Lots of stuff going there. I wasn't prepared for such a large expense. I asked about breaking it down into phases. He said he'd look at my email breaking down the possible phases and get back to me. I haven't heard from him since. I guess that was the his way or no way mentality. Phillip was very thorough and I appreciated his knowledge and ideas. He definitely thinks outside the box. The low overall rating was due to lack of responsiveness and professionalism. I believe his work would be great. I would reconsider the score and hiring if the above shortcomings were addressed.

I asked Phillip to give me a quote to fix an attic ladder at my older rental house. A few days later he sent me a pretty rude email saying "I want nothing to do with the poor attic floor....." And then he went on to critique my "China-made" ladder. Sorry, if my ladder and my older house is not a perfect house, but all I was asking is that he give me a quote to possibly fix the ladder, and possibly do some drywall repairs. But, when he didn't schedule an appointment to meet with my renter right away, I found other quotes for the drywall. Phillip is too much of a perfectionist to work on older houses that may need tlc. I would NVER recommend him to even get a quote on a small/minor job, unless you want to get a quote to replace your entire garage. If he doesn't want to do small jobs, he shouldn't advertise saying he will do small jobs.

This is a very overdue report. Phil did great work on our house. It's now easily accessible, thanks to the new ladder, and very useful now that we can store things up there. Phil is a very meticulous and opinionated guy, as genuine and passionate as they come. I suspect he may rub some the wrong way, but I very much appreciated it. He simply cannot abide anything less than the best thing for your house, and he'll take on a lot of extra work (at little to no extra charge) in order to satisfy that requirement of his. And the homeowner benefits. Highly recommended, there's no reason not to make your attic a useful space!

There were some delays because of external issues. He kept us informed and we worked the schedule as needed to complete the job.

Phillip was very conscientious and meticulous. Because our ceiling height was not standard he modified the ladder so it was easier and safer to lower and retract than the factory design. He sealed the ladder and installed two handrails. The ladder is very functional and safe. It was a pleasure working with him.

The way my attic was constructed required Phil to do "his magic" to make everthing fit... The results were wonderful.

Mr. Norman replaced unsafe attic folding stairs and relocated their placement. He also installed a safety pole at the top of the stairs and repaired the ceiling around the entry area. He was very thorough in analyzing what needed to be done and prompt in submitting a description of the work to be done with a bid. Mr. Norman does very exacting work with outstanding finishing. We feel that the stairs are now an asset to our property.

Phil has stepped up to deliver many things that save energy and create useful storage space in our home, beyond our imagining and beyond our expectations. It began in 2010 with correct advice and referral, as ground of the crawl spaces was drained and sealed by Cleanspace methods. Next came a remarkable transformation by Phil, of the attic, in 2011. This dark jungle of trusses over a sea of deep cellulose insulation became accessible, brightly lighted and free of some large energy bleeds. Leaky attic floor can lights were fixed with a first batch of conversion LED disk lights. Through Phil's enthusiastic leadership we are happy early adopters of beautiful and inexpensive Sylvan 70732 lights from Lowe's, and that is the subject of this review. We like the view that LED lighting will persist as simple bright plates set mostly upon ceilings, replacing short-lived light bulbs and all of their awkward and expensive fixtures. We believe these lights will serve without maintenance for as long as we own our home, for many years. Adding to the LED lights in the attic floor and in our kitchen, in July 2014, Phil fixed all our remaining indoor can lights and most of our surface-mount bulb fixtures. What fun to save a lot of electricity and at the same time to double cheerful brightness. Phil claims electricity savings will pay for the new lights in about four years, and that matters a lot. The maintenance-free brightness matters even more, especially that of a small number of fixtures in the garage, now brightly lit. By this review we want to promote Phil's work in lighting as a good example to all other contractors and to sponsors of weatherization. Don't you agree that light set upon a ceiling surface is prettier than one recessed darkly and wastefully in a can?

Phil showed up ready to work and spent 3 hours over the course of two trips (two different days). He explained what was wrong and what needed to be done. He showed examples as well. He cut insulation to better fit. He pulled insulation down and repacked it so that it was all touching the ceiling surface of the crawl space (maximum insulating effect). He also added some insulation where there were deficiencies. Overall it looks much better, and will insulate much better.

If you've read any of the previous reviews, you already know that Phil is an exceptional contractor. I would say his overriding characteristic is a passionate commitment to quality, energy-saving home weatherization. I had started out wanting only to seal and insulate my attic but after discussions with Phil at a local Better Living show I also ended up with much more useful attic access and storage. The ladder was installed with great attention to fit and location and it was modified so that the angle was shallower for easier access. He removed a large portion of the old loose fill insulation while installing the raised-deck framing and sealing and then replaced it all back and increased the insulation with fiberglass batting. When installing the roof vent Phil realized that there was no safe way to get onto our upper roof. He modified a spare ladder he had and left it for us so that other contractors would have a safe approach for roof access (I'm not the roof climbing type, myself). I've learned quite a bit from him and certainly enjoy reading his blogs on topics from insulation to flexible grout, to lighting (just Google his name). I recommend Phil highly.

Mr. Norman replaced our unsafe, worn-out folding attic stairs with upgraded, safer, sturdier, durable stairs. He was creative in his analysis of the installation. His finishing work is very neat and he was very easy to work with.

Our 1925 house had a variety of old and inefficient ceiling lights/fixtures. When I began discussing their replacement with Phil he became very enthusiastic. Even though Phil had done an amazing job with our attic several years ago, I had no idea how much he knew about lighting. Phil has extensive knowledge of state of the art lighting. He has read the literature exhaustively and conducted his own demanding tests. Phil has a blog on which he discusses lighting and especially LED lighting, highlighting its economic and environmental benefits. Every light required a custom installation since all the junction boxes were either too small or too recessed for the lights. He did a fantastic job of custom fitting each light and in the case of one doing a great patch job on the ceiling where he had to cut in a new junction box. I have never had a contractor who was so passionate about the benefits these lights offer and who was willing to work for such reasonable rates. Phil sees the installation of the lights as a public service and to get the word out prices his work accordingly. For example, four of the lights were in the $35-38 price range. Phil installed each fixture for about $27. If I had used another contractor, just about any electrician would have charged my about $90 hour plus the cost of the light. The total price of $400 included the 5 lights and the installation.

Phil Norman did plaster repair for me a number of years ago, and did a wonderful job. He has also recently gave me some of his flexible grout, a product he makes himself, to use for crack repairs in my lathe and plaster walls. The grout is great! It is easy to use, but I won't be able to say how it holds up long-term for a while yet. But I am very optimistic. Phil is a joy to work with.

Phil did a very good, thorough job. He optimized the attic for efficiency and usability.

It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the quality was stellar

Phil did for our crawl space what he did for our attic. Clean and simple design and installation, improved access to crawlspace as well as rerouting the ducts. He replaced the old original air ductwork with flex-pipe, allowing for better access to the crawlspace itself as well as vastly improving the ability to move around once in the crawlspace by rerouting the ducts to the periphery of the space whenever feasible...Streamlined! Phil did what another paid contractor failed to do...he provided meticulous, thoughtful installation of subfloor insulation and installed it in way to guarantee contact with the floor above. This serves two main functions: allows the stated R-value of the insulation to be realized to the greatest extent possible and excludes rodents from finding ideal habitat for nest building. This was done by ensuring SNUG contact with the subflooring above it. If only others would follow Phil's excellent example the world would be a better place indeed. Look for details of his work soon on his website/blog.

Our ranch style home was built in 1969, had minimal insulation, hazardous vermiculite content, and minimal head room. We wanted all the old material removed and new insulation installed. I looked on Angies List for a provider. Phil Norman Attic Access stood out to me due to customer reviews. I called Phil and he came out the following evening. He looked in our attic and saw minimal insulating bats with vermiculite sprinkled throughout. He said he would need to take samples of the vermiculite for the asbestos content before he could give me a bid. The lab fee would be $75.00. I agreed, and he took six samples in different areas, and sent them to the lab for testing. About a week later I received an e-mail from Phil with a copy of the lab report. The vermiculite tested less than 1% asbestos content. That was a level at which he could do the work. He gave me a bid of $5225. We agreed on the price and Phil went to work about a month later. The attic access was in the garage through a 2x2 foot opening. Phil covered the garage areas with plastic. It took about a week to carefully remove all the old bat insulation, vermiculite, and diligently vacuum the entire attic. Phil talked to us about the attic not breathing properly, and he would suggest enlarging the fascia vents. We agreed and Phil did the work. Phil also talked about the benefits of LED lighting in our home. He demonstrated one, and we decided to have five new fixtures installed. He did sheetrock patching and matched the ceiling brocade perfectly. Phil changed out an old bath exhaust fan with a high quality quiet fan. Phil air sealed all wall headers and floor pits. He installed CFL lighting in the attic with convenient switches. He built and installed soffit baffles. Previously there were none, restricting attic ventilation. He then carefully placed new John Mansville and Owens Corning insulation bats between the joists, then covering them, three layers deep! Phil then built a raised plywood flooring of approximately 800 sf. where there was adequate headroom. This is nice for attic access and additional storage area. Our attic looks beautiful, well lighted, and clean air to breathe. We have been enjoying the comfort inside our home ever since. Our energy bill has decreased substantially. I would recommend Phil Norman if you want the job done right. It was a big job and took five weeks from start to finish, as Phil works by himself. The final bill was $6403 as there was additional work we wanted done as I indicated in this report. We trusted Phil in our home when we were gone. Phil handled all the paperwork necessary for us to get the maximum Energy Trust of Oregon rebate. I would recommend Phil Norman to anyone who wants a great job.

We had a squirrel and rat problem in our attic/crawl space, and we hired Phil to clean up the mess, find and plug the entrance holes (after a professional exterminator had completely failed), and redo all the insulation. Phil proposed to install a drop-down ladder for easier access, put in plywood flooring and LED lighting to make the space useable, replace a noisy and inefficient bathroom fan, and redo all the tangled wiring. We are delighted with the result, even though it turned out to be a bigger project than we originally planned. Phil is a fastidious perfectionist, for whom sloppy workmanship is not just unprofessional but downright immoral. His flooring is the sturdiest (and certainly the most level) in our old house. He is constantly reconsidering the best way to do the job, and is unsatisfied with anything short of an A+ performance. He cleans up meticulously at the end of every day. He is man of scrupulous integrity (he found an 1888 silver dollar on one of the rafters, apparently left by a superstitious builder; we told him to keep it, but he absolutely refused). He insists on sticking to his original bid, even when the job has taken far longer than anyone anticipated. He loves to explain what he is doing, and I have learned a lot from him. He has taught me clever methods for repairing damaged sheet-rock, tricks for installing electrical boxes when there is no accessible stud for an anchor, wiring LED lighting, and leveling an uneven floor. Phil was a pleasure to work with. My only regret is that I feel we exploited him.