BUYER BEWARE
A few weeks ago, I received an invitation to a free dinner if I would attend a seminar on energy saving ideas for my home. Interested in learning more, I decided to take up the offer on a free dinner. I called the number, reserved my spot, and set the date.
The presentation ended up being about how spray foam insulation could save me thousands of dollars in energy costs. I found out that the presentation was being given by a group who travel from town to town seeking customers interested in home energy savings. They had many ideas, from new insulated windows to thermal insulated doors, but their primary interest was showing the savings that I could get by using spray foam insulation in my ceilings and attic. I was astonished to find out that my home of 2,000 square feet attic space was going to cost me $8,200 to $9,600 depending on which options that I chose. Since this has been a hot topic within the pest control industry, I decided to ask a few tough questions:
Q: How would this affect my shingle warranty?
A: You will need to check with your shingle manufacturer to make sure that this does not void any warranties provided by them.
Q: My parents have a home built on a crawl space, will this product void any warranties provided by their termite company?
A: As with all structural alterations, you will need to check with your termite company to see if your existing warranty will be cancelled.
Q: If I need to remove their product due to a roof leak, how would I do so, and what products would I use?
A: (To my astonishment.) They had never been asked how to remove their product. They would have to get back with me on how to remove their product. They did not have a procedure in place on the removal of the product so that a repair could be made.
All throughout the presentation, we were constantly assured of the savings that would occur if we were to purchase the spray foam insulation packages. At no time during the presentation were we ever given any hard numbers on the savings that we could expect. When another guest asked the question of an estimated savings, the answer finally given was a couple of hundred dollars a year on an average sized home. Doing the quick math, it would take about 40 years to recover the initial cost to spray foam insulate my home. In summary, I could lose my shingle warranty, in most cases lose my termite warranty, and take 40 years to recover my investment. So, in closing – BUYER BEWARE.