Prudent Homes

I don't remember the amount of money I spent, but Absolute Insulation came out and gave me a very good estimate. They explained all the options, the pros and cons of each, and provide a recommendation. The crew was great. They were friendly and cleaned up well after themselves. They explained what they were doing and afterward showed me the completed results.

They provided an accurate and detailled WRITTEN estimate beforehand, and discussed my options ahead of time. I had a crawl space under my house that had old insulation in it from an old addition (30 years old) and a newer addition with 5 yr old insulation in it. Both spaces were not sealed well. Absolute "installed" the spray foam insulation in the entire crawl space area. We've had a couple of cold nights since then and I was totally amazed at the difference in the room from last year. In addition, their work was quick, clean and done properly. I would recommend Absolute Insulation of Manassas to anyone (and am considering having my attic done, as well).

Great experience! The first day, the guys showed up to remove the old insulation, followed by the second team that sprayed the foam insulation. On day two (Saturday) the guys were back (on time again) to spray the cellulose insulation. The whole experience was excellent, and the right choice, too. My house is nice and cool !!

Overall great experience. I received multiple bids from other "larger" organizations and found Absolute Insulation to be much more competitive. The one strange thing is that they did not use baffles to prevent the insulation from blocking the soffits. That said, David (the support manager) said they have a 2 year warranty in case anything goes wrong I can call them back any time. I will update further if there are any issues down the road but for now, it seems very positive.

Everything went very smooth. It was a two day operation. They sprayed the open cell foam the first day and came back to spray in the cellulose. They brought my house from an original (house built in '67) of R-9 to R-55. Crew was very professional and cleaned up behind themselves. The owner, David, who did the estimate, was extremely professional and helpful with all my questions. I noticed an immediate difference from the added insulation. On a side note, I had a separate HVAC company do some work recently and they asked to see the insulation (they also do home efficiency jobs like insulation). They were very impressed with the install and said the company did a great job.

David was friendly, efficient and provided excellent explanations. Company did not mind me saving money by removing the old insulation which I thought was amazing. David provided extremely quick turnaround on paperwork so I could get Virginia rebate.

They put a hole in my ceiling when they were putting in the insulation, and they never came back to fix it. I had talked to their receptionist about it, and she said that they would call me back and take care of it, and they never did.

Overall, everything was great - easy to work with and everyone was pleasant. They were very accommodating of our schedule and time constraints. They worked efficiently and thoroughly. We would recommend their services to others.

We had gotten an estimate from a competitor (Long's) which was twice to three times as expensive, so were quite pleased with Absolute's estimate and overall price. We immediately noticed a difference in the temperatures between our first and second floor, so had first-hand experience that it was worth it! The crew arrived early, but waited until we were fully ready to receive them. They laid down some canvas in the areas where the tubing was to go, and got to work! They finished in around 2 hours, and cleaned up after. All in all, a good, quality experience. We recommended them neighbors, who also seemed happy with the service.

The discussion about the spray foam went okay. However, once they saw that the batt insulation installation would require custom insulation and cutting each roll, the became very unwilling and arrogant. They indicated that we should just restructure the entire ceiling (thus our existing roof) to allow for standard insulation. They also stated they weren't sure they could pay anyone enough money to go through the process of cutting all the batt. A few day later, they called and said that they had a change in employees and could no longer do spray foam and were unwilling to offer us a quote. As an insulation company, you would think they would have offered other ideas for easing the labor burden of insulating our attic based on the existing conditions. They also don't understand structure and the issues of recommending something to the average homeowner could cause huge problems. Basically, they were a big waste of time and obviously didn't need the work.

I called the company in October to request a quote and to try to get an installation date before year-end to take advantage of the tax credit. The estimator was very thorough and explained all the options. He warned that removing the floorboards in the attic might cause some damage, but that was actually not a problem. He provided the estimate, and I scheduled the work for late December. A few days before the installation date, the scheduler called me and asked if she could move my installation date to January. They had experienced some equipment problems, which prevented them from completing work for some customers who were scheduled before me. She told me that this would not affect my tax credit, as my depost was more than the material costs. I agreed to reschedule to January. The work was done exactly as specified, with no problems. The workmen were courteous and cleaned up adequately. There were bits of blown celulose around the attic, but I doubt this could be avoided - it's the nature of the product. What happened next was very unusual. The scheduler called me and said she had made a mistake, and that I was not eligible for the tax credit after all. She had found out that the materials had to be delivered before December 31st, not just paid for, in order to qualify. Because I had agreed to move my installation date based on her error, the company was going to refund me the amount I would have received as a tax credit. This was not a huge amount, as I had done other insulation work with them earlier in the year, so this job did not entitile me to the full credit. Still, I thought it was awfully nice of them, and I was ready to nominate them for a "Pages of Happiness" award. Except the check never came. I called the company a few weeks later and left a message, but my call was not returned. I called a couple of more times, but no one answered the phone. I suspect they were using caller ID to avoid taking my calls. Had they followed up with an explanation of why they could not give the refund, I would have given them a higher rating on professionalism, but failure to follow up in this case shows a serious lack of judgement.

Job was very organized, the workers were very polite, the cleanup and customer service were excellent.

Went well. They did what we asked and did it on time and on budget.

It took one week of rescheduling to finally have the insulation installed. The company was supposed to arrive on a Monday between 8:30 -9:00. By 1:00 they had not arrived and had NOT called with an explanation. When I called to inquire I was told that the truck broke down -- I feel this is something they should have called me about and they seemed surprised to hear from me. The appointment was rescheduled, which they again canceled because of a broken truck. During all this, I also left a message on the company voicemail which they either did not receive and did not return. I am a stay-at-home mom and my schedule is more flexible--I cannot image if someone had taken several days off work and the company did not show more than once. I was satisfied when the work was finally complete,but the HUGE headache of scheduling installation and the somewhat nonchalant attitude of the office staff was disappointing.

When scheduling an appointment it was difficult to schedule an estimate in the afternoon. I was told they wanted all estimators back in the office by 4pm to complete paperwork. When I explained mid-late afternoon was the only time I could get off work, an appointment was found. The first appointment was canceled an hour in advance after I emailed to confirm that the appointment was still taking place. I was annoyed because I had already taken off work unnecessarily but the estimator was sick---so it was a completely legitimate reason---I just wish I had been told instead of finding out on my own. When the appointment was rescheduled a week later I was told the estimator would be there by 3pm. Again I got off work and no one was there by 3pm. I was called by the estimator just before 4 and she told me she was on her way. I was given an exact appointment time---she explained there is an appointment window---3-5pm of which I was never told. The estimator was really nice, explained the process thoroughly and sent an estimate less than a week later. She represented her company very well. Unfortunately, because clear and/or correct communication was lacking from the main office, I decided to hire another company.

The process of having the work estimated was easy. Unfortunately, we had to get some preliminary work done before we could go ahead with the insulation installation, so it was about six months after receiving the estimate that I called to schedule the work. Absolute Insulation Services still honored the price in that old estimate, which really impressed me. I originally was told that the work would take one day, but when the workers arrived, they pretty quickly assessed the job and said that it would take another half day to complete. That wasn't such a big deal to me, but for some people, it may have been an issue, especially if they had something scheduled. Because we were going to have the additional time, I asked for a quote for having the back room's exterior walls filled with cellulose as well since the room had been very cold. They told me the price later in the day, and we agreed to go forward with the additional work. The quality of the work itself was very good. The team of two workers left reasonably small holes in the walls and ceilings and the patching work was sufficient (I had to go over the spots with joint compound, but the estimator had told me that I'd have to do that anyway, so there were no surprises). The house was kept very clean, and I had to do almost no cleanup after they left on either day. Most importantly, my house is now warmer and more efficient at retaining heat (I hope the same applies during summer). I like that Absolute Insulation uses cellulose to insulate homes and that they clearly describe the amount eligible for the energy tax credit on the invoice. I had a really positive experience with Absolution Insulation Services. The work was done well, and I'm pleased with the end result.

The operations manager, David Sampson, was very nice and quite knowledgeable. He gave a reasonable estimate. They were less expensive than most of the competition. The people who came to do the job were two Hispanics. One did not speak English and the other didn't speak English very well. They were well schooled by David Sampson as to what we wanted done. I went through it again with them, and they went up and did the job exactly as I told them not to do. I went up and I could see that they were not doing the job the way they were supposed to. I asked them to pull out what they did and redo it. They did it and were very nice about it. They did not follow instructions. In other words, one has to supervise them, unless it is a very easy and straightforward job. The supervisor had quality, but not the laborers.

This is a difficult review to write, as the workers who came to our home were professional, hard working, and polite. Our experience with the consultation and estimate was also fine, but it stops there. The difficulties for us all centered on bad management, poor equipment, and a lack of communication from the company. Overall, it was a negative experience (the only one we have ever had with a company that was recommended on Angie's List). I'll recount just one aspect of what turned out to be a series of issues. To be fair, I'll state up front that, eventually, the insulation was installed properly and we are satisfied with the results. We just were not satisfied with the process along the way. The first team that came to our home to work on spray foam insulation was here for hours longer than expected. That was not so bad, except that one of the gentlemen then injured himself while in the vehicle operating the equipment that mixes the two chemical compounds to make the spray foam. One hose broke and the chemicals were sprayed into the man's eyes. Once we realized what was going on, we brought the gentleman back into the house to help him. My wife spent a great deal of time flushing his eyes with water, while my son and I helped the second worker dismantle the equipment in the house and pack up the truck. We insisted that the workers seek medical attention, while it appeared they were advised otherwise by their management. That told us all we needed to know about this company. In the end, we insisted that they follow us to the nearest hospital, where the injured man was admitted and treated. (They chose, after following us out of the area, to drive themselves to another hospital that was more familiar to the injured man). We have no complaint about the team that came to our house, but we were, to be frank, surprised and disappointed not to receive a call early the next day from the company's management. They did not call to thank us for taking care of their injured worker. They did not call to reschedule the work (which was incomplete). They did not call to thank us for packing up their equipment and truck. Nothing. We had to reach out to them more than once to get any information on finishing this first phase of the project, not to mention scheduling the second, larger phase. Once that second phase was finally scheduled, it was canceled at the last minute due to faulty equipment. They eventually did finish the work, and we were just thankful to have it over with. Overall, our impressions of the company based on this project were: A) Competent, professional workers. The end product we received is fine. B) Poor communication with customers. C) Faulty or poorly maintained equipment. D) Questionable management.

I thought it went very well. Decent cost and the people were pleasant and professional. Well after the installation I was told that they had messed up on the tax benefit piece of this and would refund me around $100 because of that..... almost a year later, I've heard nothing and seen no check. Would not have been a big deal but they actually told me they were sending me the refund and just never did.

I had a good experience with the company. I thought that they were professional. They were on time. They did a decent job with keeping things clean.

Debbie came to my house and assessed how improved insulation would help the house heat more efficiently. Although she identified some areas where improved insulation would help, she determined that insulation would not cost-effectively solve my problem and that there were some other methods that would be more effective. She made the trip into the district and ultimately did not sell me anything I would not need. Although no service was done, I feel very comfortable in the honesty of the firm and will definitely use them if I need insulation in the future.

The worker from Absolute Insulation seemed very professional and knowledgeable for the 5 minutes that she was here.

There were some "issues" initially with the scheduling due to a breakdown of the company truck but when they eventually did come, we were quite pleased. They arrived more or less on time and were very professional, cleaning up after themselves and completing the work in less than a day. We had some concerns with the blown cellulose around our ancient air exchanger so they put batting around it instead which will make it much easier when we have to replace it which we expect to sooner rather than later. They also installed several soffit protectors which was an additional cost but we were convinced it was worth it. While we are happy with the work, it is hard for us to say how much of a difference it has made in terms of energy efficiency and comfort as we only moved in in August and don't have any information regarding previous heating and cooling costs but last night the thermostat was set to 67 and it read 71 so there is obviously something good happening!

Courteous, respectful of my home. Worked hard for 2 solid days removing old insulation and then blowing the foam into the attic. No problems - very pleased and would recommend.

I registered for Angie's list to find a well-rated insulator in my area. I chose the highest rated one near me (Absolute) and contacted them with high hopes. My initial interaction and impression was highly positive. After I received no response, however, I called to check on the status. I left a voicemail but received no call back. I called several more times, leaving a few messages, but eventually gave up since I never reached anyone to speak with and never received a call or email back after having left messages. I figure if this is the type of response I get pre-service, I can only imagine what it would be like if any issues were to arise after having service performed.