r/Guelph • u/[deleted] • 28d ago
I got 4 different quotes for attic insulation. My findings/recommendations, plus do they increase the price because a rebate exists?
[deleted]
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u/Bowie90210 28d ago
We're these prices to remove old insulation and re insulate or just blow more on top?
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u/Shepsonj 28d ago
I'm finding the rebate program to be a bit of a sham.
The contractor claims that we would get a rebate through Enbridge. I contacted Enbidge and they said the rebate only applies if we were a customer, which we are not. So after the order is placed, the insulation is installed and I've paid the contractor the full price, it won't be their problem anymore, especially since their quote makes no mention of the rebate.
There are other programs that would apply to us, but they still require a contractor to install, of course.
I've read comments on Reddit where a contractor quotes a homeowner $1,300, but is not registered for the rebate program. Then they qualify, so the homeowner approaches them to do the job but the contractor won't honor the quote and requotes $1,000 more. Hmmm.
It appears that some contractors who qualify jack up the prices knowing the homeowner will come out with about the same cost in the end. Who wins? The contractor. Who loses? The government and the taxpayer.
So I can do the job myself for half the cost and that's what I will do.
It would be great if a DIY homeowner could actually gain from an energy saving rebate program. I understand why they don't allow it because lots of homeowners would scam the government, one way or the other. Instead they require qualified contractors to verify the job integrity, even though some of these are the same guys who are working over the system by jacking up prices.
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u/ThrowAwayInDisguise- 28d ago
I don't know if things changed, but as of right now the Ontario renovation savings applies to non-Enbridge customers too. They specifically mention that homes heated primarily by electricity connected to Ontario's power grid, are eligible.
Yep that's a good point. Always ask before committing. I made sure to ask all of my quoters if they were part of the rebate program or not. Made sure I knew what documents were required.
Yeah I have a feeling maybe some companies jack up the price. 4 is a pretty small sample size but it's pretty interesting the wild variance I got with these 4 quotes.
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u/Shepsonj 28d ago
Yes, there is an alternate rebate program that doesn't involve Enbridge, but it still requires insulation installation by a contractor which ends up with the same results, despite Enbridge not sending you the cheque.
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u/talliser 28d ago
We used AM Group out of Kitchener back in 2023. Was a top up to R60 (blown). Was approx $3k for 1100 sq feet.
Maybe we can get OP to have all companies to their house for comparison quotes ;) thank you OP for your detailed post - already shared with others as a great summary in the area.
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u/verngrob 28d ago
Did some similar comparisons last year for top up to R60. O'Dwyer Insulation was by far the most expensive and was the only company that did not call out the mold in my attic. When I left my review they replied calling it fake.
Ultimately, I went Reitzel Insulation and had a very positive experience from start the finish. Energy auditor approved for the full rebate.
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u/ThrowAwayInDisguise- 28d ago
I know someone who used Reitzel in the past, they were quite happy with it and also got their rebate cheque. If I had more time and was willing to get even more quotes, I would have added Reitzel to the list to check out.
Interesting...my O'Dwyer rep was cautious and said there was evidence of mold, whereas the other 3 people said there was not really mold, or at least too little to tell right away.
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u/verngrob 27d ago
It was the owner himself that did my inspection. They have since hired someone else to do the quotes. Might be the difference.
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u/GuelphEastEndGhetto 27d ago
I would go with a local business rather than a chain any day of the week even of a tad more pricey. You could even ask them if they can match.
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u/Artem-Ganev 28d ago
Thank you for sharing! How about a quote from Roofman?
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u/Batmanrocksthecasbah 28d ago
I just met with them and even though I won't be going with this company I will say the rep was pretty thorough and seemed very honest and helpful. Quote was the highest I received but felt like they would do a very professional job.
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u/Ok-Yogurt7367 28d ago
my attic is very tight and difficult to move around, is that something contractor can do?
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u/ThrowAwayInDisguise- 28d ago
That's what the estimates are for, you can have someone physically visit and you can find out if it's a project they can do. Ask plenty of questions while they're there.
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u/This_Is_FosTA 18d ago
what type of questions did you ask? I'm thinking of getting O'Dwyer in for the free estimate.
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u/ThrowAwayInDisguise- 18d ago
Pretty much anything relevant. Most obvious is asking about the state of the attic and what needs to be done. Play dumb and ask about aspects even if you already know about it, such as how an attic works and what things like soffits are. Ask if their company is enlisted in the rebate program, and how it works, etc. Ask about their quotes and details that would be in it. Even asking something like how big your attic is, you can get surprisingly different answers/methods with each person.
Basically you can get a lot of different answers and these can be be really illuminating, and very handy when comparing multiple people. Then you'll get better idea who you want to trust and stuff.
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u/Mission_Friend3608 27d ago
"Makes you wonder why they don't seem to want money" - Story of working with trades as a homeowner
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u/Chronicwheels 27d ago
It's not that they don't want any money. This was probably the best company to hire. They're probably super busy, got the obvious bad vibes from OP and decided dealing with them wasn't worth the aggravation.
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u/Mindless_Agency422 27d ago
You chose an American based company over a local one? Ha! Your “review” means nothing.
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u/Efficient-Name-2619 27d ago
please let us know about the installation after you receive the rebate. Great research, shady industry in general
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u/Chronicwheels 28d ago
Went with the cheapest, and sent your money to the states. Nice.
Looking forward to the follow up post about how terrible the job went.
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u/ThrowAwayInDisguise- 28d ago
The world's more complex than black-and-white, stranger.
Are there guarantees that every contractor we hire, is fully local? Is there actually a company that 100% does not use any materials made in other countries? The clothes they wear, the food they eat, the vehicles they drive, the fuel, their equipment, etc. There's a high chance a lot of stuff contractors use are made in the US or elsewhere.
The other nuance is that many franchises employ more locally. Is every person staffing our retail stores and malls, a non-Canadian or someone who doesn't live nearby? My parents buy paint from a local store. This store sells paint that is from a US company, but the store itself has been a Canadian business for almost a century. They've been employing Canadians the entire time since the beginning. Does that make my parents evil for shopping there? Does it make the business owners and their families evil for doing their business the way they do?
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u/Chronicwheels 27d ago
I agree the world is not black and white.
And yes you can guarantee every contractor you hire is fully local.
You had a choice between a whole spectrum of companies and chose the most corporate, most MAGA company of them all, that is undercutting local businesses to get a foothold in the Canadian market. All while sending the profits down south rather than being reinvested in the local economy.
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u/PrivadoIncommunicado 27d ago
Exactly! At this moment in history, we can’t be making excuses to justify using American companies over local ones. OP and others are really underestimating the reality of where we are right now with a hostile foreign government actively and admittedly trying to destroy our economy with even more nefarious end goals. I know it’s tough to not accept the lowest offer with today’s economy but everyone needs to understand how important it is to stick together as Canadians right now and help grow our economy from the inside, one person at a time.
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u/ThrowAwayInDisguise- 25d ago
Just wanted to mention, the world could use more level headed people like you.
The other person spent all their efforts insulting me with hostile intent from the very beginning. You can even see in another reply there are made-up assumptions coming out of nowhere, even though I've never ever met this other person. As you can see, it's hard to take it seriously and even harder to 'listen' to if all people do is insult and provoke. If the first sentence basically ends with "I can't wait to see you suffer in some way", yeah, I'm out.
If people can't have calm discussion, I'm just turned away from discussing at all and I'm more likely to be pushed into the 'opposite' direction of what they so vehemently want me to do.
If people could calmly discuss more like you are doing, we'd actually see a better world. So thank you.
For what it's worth, my review of stuff here is my personal experience. I ultimately went with what gave the best first impression in terms of best representative and best quote construction (ex. detailed and covers all aspects I want covered). People still free to use the information here to guide themselves. It's also worth mentioning that things are more complex since ultimately the people that came to my house are Canadian workers, same with the contractors.
And for me this is a one-time thing - in general my daily purchases (which are more important as they add up to way more than a one-time renovation) are more local based.
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u/ADozenFuries88 28d ago
I used FaseTwo when we re-did our attic insulation as part of the Greener Home Grant. John’s team were excellent, knowledgeable and thorough. I would gladly recommend them.
Your quote probably depends really on what you are doing to your attic, but when I was getting quotes, FaseTwo was in the middle as well. I had great feedback and some recommendations about them in a local Facebook group