Insulation installer regulation/complaints?

DrPhilG

Insulation job just completed this week on my attic. Endless problems and I feel I should report this crew. My job is fine because I checked up on their work repeatedly and made them fix it. But I would imagine that most people getting insulation installed would just trust the professionals to do it right.

My list of woes include:

-laid insulation in the same direction instead of cross batten.
-laid 8" of insulation under a floored area with a 4" batten which meant it was compressed.
-broke one of the bulbs in a bathroom down lighter and tried to cover it up.
-disconnected the pipe on an overflow in the attic. No harm done because I spotted it and got it reconnected but my father in law who is a plumber said that if any of the ball cocks had failed the house would have flooded.
-left sheets of plastic and wood between the layers of insulation.
-left gaps of up to 3" at the gable ends and in between the runs of insulation.

Some of these issues I found during the job and made them fix, others like the disconnected pipe and broken light bulb I only discovered after they had finished.

Is there anybody I can report all this too? Or is there any point? To be honest he can just deny most of it.

Citroen2cv

You should have just attempted the job yourself. Its easy, and at least you know it will be done the way you want it done.

Murphy14

You say job is fine and any issue you raised was resolved to your satisfaction now if your concerns had been ignored that is a different matter

DrPhilG

Murphy14 wrote: »

You say job is fine and any issue you raised was resolved to your satisfaction now if your concerns had been ignored that is a different matter

I’m not sure if you’re misunderstanding me or I’m misunderstanding you. You seem to be saying that I addressed the issues already with the installer so anything that I discover after the fact is tough luck?

Some of the issues were noticed during the job. The laying of insulation in the wrong direction, the inadequate raising of the floor, the gaps in the insulation etc. Those were raised and addressed. However I don’t think that this just makes everything OK. Most people wouldn’t have checked in my situation and so this guy may be doing the same crappy job in every house and getting away with it.

Secondly, many of the issues were not found until after they had gone. I checked over the job before paying and all seemed fine. The installer had denied all knowledge of anything happening to the light so I assumed that the bulb had just been knocked loose. When I peeled back the insulation the next day to access the lights and change the bulb I found that the bulb had been broken off and the “stump” left in the socket. I also found a length of wood (that they had presumably been using to move around on) left underneath the new insulation.

And the most potentially serious issue was the disconnection of the pipe at the water tank which again I only found while accessing the downlighter to sort out the bulb.

I am annoyed that such a shabby job was done but at the end of the day the end result has been achieved. My attic insulation has been increased by the amount I paid for it to be increased. But my issue is that this guy is a cowboy and if he did such a hatchet job of my installation, he may be doing the same thing to others who aren’t aware of what he is doing wrong.

It took me 5 minutes of research online to see that insulation should be cross batten and not compressed. He is a professional and broke both of those rules straight away and would have walked away claiming a job well done if I hadn’t gone up and checked. I think he should be held accountable by a professional body or regulator to ensure that others are not scammed like I nearly was.

Jakey Rolling

Where are this company located?

I had similar problems with insulation companies in Munster. The guys pumping the cavity with beads obviously went easy on the glue, as anytime we had to cut into the cavity the beads came spilling out. Now I'm suspicious whether they skimped on the quantity of fill, but can't check this without a full thermal imaging survey.

The company doing the loft insulation and airtightness eventually declined to perform the remedial work I requested - the list was long - so I withheld full payment and completed the work myself. Given that they didn't argue with me on this, they knew they were in the wrong, had probably underpriced labour to get the job done properly so just let it go. I pity their next customers. Worryingly some of their basic practices and assumptions were flawed - e.g. they wanted to spray foam insualtion direct to roof felt with no spacers for air circulation.

What annoys me most is the lack of any effective building control which would have picked up on some of this. Most of the trades bodies also seem happy to take in membership fees with little regard to actually regulating their members, so I'd question the value of any such certification.

DrPhilG

This lot are in the North West.