Great Northern Insulation was founded in 1980 and quickly became a leading insulation company. We have since moved beyond insulation, and service all of Southern Ontario. We offer a complete lineup of services for every type of building, including air sealing and weatherization. We specialize in new construction and retrofits, and offer multiple read more...
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I saw the other reviews here and thought I had made a good choice in moving ahead with GNI for a hybrid attic installation on my home. NOPE--it turned out to be THE WORST EXPERIENCE I'VE PERSONALLY HAD FROM ANY CONTRACTOR THAT HAS WORKED ON MY HOME over the last 13 years of home ownership. Below is my honest account of some (not all) of the low-lights of this experience.
[TL;DR]
1.) the install was scheduled to take only 3 days to complete but ultimately spanned over approximately 11 calendar days, causing significant and unnecessary disruption to my family
2.) disorganization and poor internal communication led to incorrect foam type being installed in the corners of my attic. I had to spend considerable effort to advocate for this to be addressed and resolved. GNI needed to return to remediate to prevent future mold issues.
3.) GNI labourers needed to borrow basic tools from me because they either didn't have them, or theirs were broken.
4.) there was poor preparation work done to properly protect my refinished hardwood flooring. Had to purchase and setup my own flooring protection
[DETAILS]
Disorganization and poor internal communication led to GNI not installing "froth kit" foam in the corners of my attic before installing the blown in cellulose. This "froth kit" style of foam was determined to be necessary by the GNI spray-foamer due to the shallow slope of my roof line. Resolving this matter required me to spend significant time and effort to advocate for a resolution. GNI's Production Operations Manager emailed and acknowledged that their oversight could potentially cause mold and mildew to my home in the future if not remedied. Remediation was eventually completed.
After the first day of removing existing attic insulation it became very clear to me that I would need to hastily take time off from my work to be present while the remainder of the install was being conducted. I felt this was needed so that I would be able to properly advocate for things to be done correctly, and also ensure that my property was treated with a reasonable amount of care and respect.
I feel that GNI performed very minimal prep-work to protect my refinished hardwood floors, and after the 1st day of work I felt it was necessary to go purchase and setup my own flooring protection. I also feel that GNI completely missed the mark on reasonable cleanup of materials and debris removed from my attic. Some garbage bags of debris didn't properly make it into the driveway dumpster and instead blew around in the wind requiring me to have to spend my time cleaning up my and my neighbors' front yards, driveways, and walkways.
Some GNI labourers were not equipped properly for the job, and borrowed MY tools (with permission) on several occasions as they didn't have them in their truck, or theirs were broken. These basic items included: screwdrivers, tape measures, vacuums, and extension cords.
Also, GNI installers were not equipped with a sufficient amount of rafter venting product to meet the scope of the contract, and used material that I personally procured on a previous occasion, rather than simply going to a nearby retailer to purchase.
This relatively simple installation was an awful experience from the very start and right through until the very end. GNI acknowledged these issues by offering a discount of approximately 7.7% in an attempt to make up for the experience and to cover the additional materials I needed to purchase. While the items in the scope of work were eventually delivered, I feel this discount is not sufficient given the amount of unexpected disruption and chaos that my family needlessly experienced.
Hi Josh. Providing reliable and professional service is important to us so we thank you for your review. This gives us an opportunity to provide our teams with customer feedback and help improve our processes. Unfortunately, the scheduling delays you mentioned did result from a change in the scope of work mid-project. This ultimately meant reconfiguring your project to meet the new requirements. We can appreciate that living in a home with ongoing renovations is a challenge and we do apologize again for the home disruption you experienced.
We appreciate you choosing Great Northern Insulation and are pleased that our crews were able to complete the work as scoped. We re confident that you made your home more energy efficient and will experience the positive effects for years to come.
Although it isn't really cold yet, I can feel a difference already.
Tiffany and Sabrina did a fantastic job. They were prompt and very efficient. They answered any questions I had in a polite and informative way. They worked diligently and cleaned up after themselves.
Chris and Brandon were very professional and polite during the install. They took care in covering the floor area with plastic before the work started and vacuumed the area after work was completed. I was very happy with the quality of work that was performed and wouldn't hesitate to recommend this company to anyone.
This is a great company! From the time I was notified that I had an opportunity to have this home improvement to the time the work was done I was kept in the loop, remember Covid-19 slowed things down, but the communication between the company and myself was unhindered.
The gentleman who came to the house to do the testing was very professional, friendly, maintained the Covid-19 protocol and was very clear in what I could expect from his visit.
The two gentleman who completed the blowing in of the insulation Dan and Chris were very professional, friendly, maintained the Covid-19 protocol and got the job done well and in a timely fashion.
Very easy to work with this company.
Maureen Kelly
Due to delayed on my renovation I had to rescheduled, they were flexible and accomodating . They arrived on time explained what they were doing , allowed me to ask questions , extra attention to details , the product was applyed evenly wihthout any extra work from my part. Spotless job and professional team. Im located in London.
On my personal home I am doing a full gut renovation with an addition I had great northern insulation out to spray foam all my exterior walls. Dave H was the individual that was actually doing the spraying and he was professional, very accurate and very diligent in what he was doing! I would totally have him and this company do more work for me again on any of my projects.
Great Northern Insulation has a TrustScore™ of 3.7. The average TrustScore™ for other businesses providing similar services in Woodstock and the surrounding areas is 3.7. For detailed information on how TrustScore is calculated, click here to learn more.
The following elements are used to calculate TrustScore:
Customer Reviews | Last 12 Months | All Time |
---|---|---|
Total Received | 0 | 342 |
Approved | 0 | 340 |
Unverified | 0 | 2 |
Suspicious | 0 | 0 |
Overall Rating | 4.7/5 |
Complaints Received | Last 12 Months | Last 3 Years |
---|---|---|
Suppliers & Creditors | 0 | 0 |
Employees & Sub-Contractors | 0 | 0 |
Transparency | |
---|---|
Posted License Information | Services listed by Great Northern Insulation may not require a Trade License. Check local laws to confirm license requirements before hiring. |
Posted Liability Insurance | Not yet provided |
Posted Workers Compensation | Not yet provided |
Company Website | Yes |
Social Media Profiles | |
Endorsed by Peers | Not yet endorsed |
In Business Since | 1980 |
Member of TrustedPros Since | 2017 |
TrustedPros does not validate certain information provided by contractors and vendors in conjunction with the creation or maintenance of their profile and we cannot endorse or guarantee the performance of any contractor. TrustScores are provided for informational purposes only. We urge you to use the TrustScore™ in conjunction with the tips provided in our Hiring Guide to maximize the probability of hiring the best professional for you project.
Caulking, Energy Inspections, Insulation,
Great Northern Insulation was founded in 1980 and quickly became a leading insulation company. We have since moved beyond insulation, and service all of Southern Ontario. We offer a complete lineup of services for every type of building, including air sealing and weatherization. We specialize in new construction and retrofits, and offer multiple types of products to suit your need.
Main contact(s) | Robert De Medeiros |
Listed with TrustedPros since: | 2017 |
Residential work | Yes |
Commercial work | Yes |
Warranty | Warranty details not yet provided |
Accepts credit cards | Yes |
Year established | 1980 |
Offers financing | Yes |
24 Hour emergency service | No |
Legal structure | Incorporated |
Licensing information | Services listed by Great Northern Insulation may not require a Trade License. Check local laws to confirm license requirements before hiring. |
Insurance information | Contact Great Northern Insulation to request insurance details. |
Check local laws pertaining to license requirements and verify license and insurance details provided by the contractor prior to hiring.