Woodworking F.

Our house has been suffering from pretty severe thermal gradient discrepancies between the main floor and the second floor so this year we decided to finally do something about it. I purchased a set of nice Panasonic exhaust fans and replaced the existing bathroom fans with them. I redid the shoddy ducting work done by the builder in the attic. Despite being quite handy, that experience convinced me that I really didn't want to bother installing baffles in the attic to allow for increased blow insulation depth. At the same time, my furnace's venter motor began whining (as it does every few years when it needs to be replaced) so we decided to get the furnace replaced as well. We got in touch with EcoStar upon the recommendation of friends and they came in two teams on the same day---one to replace the furnace and one to do the attic insulation work. Both were carried out in very timely manner and EcoStar actually helped coordinate the energy audit needed for claiming the energy rebate. The furnace installation looked impeccable with all seams nicely taped (far better than the builder job). Old furnace was hauled away with no real trace of their visit. I haven't examined the attic work but the energy auditor said it's nice and thick and showed the wife a picture in my absence. Note: the energy auditor actually recommended us to cover our clothes in the walk-in closet where the attic access is both prior to insulation installation and after. I'm not sure if this is typical but it's something to take note of. The weather has warmed up for the last few days but the new furnace is definitely far more powerful (being a two stage) so temperature gradient is noticeably smaller. Time will till whether the increase to R60 in attic insulation makes a noticeable difference but I'm looking forward to some colder days to find out!

I preface my comments by stating that I didn't have the pleasure of hiring Nick and his crew to finish my basement. The unfortunate economic downturn coupled with an expectant special needs child, unfortunately, made cost a sudden high priority over anything else. Nick's bid was a bit beyond what I was hoping to pay in my situation but, otherwise, well within reason. I must commend Nick for his most excellent pre-sales consultation. Nick arrived on time to assess the basement and was extremely courteous and professional. I was shown photos of his work (which was excellent) and his devotion of time and knowledge to discussing the basement was somewhat shocking in light of the "quick and dirty" service that pervades society today. When Nick was unable to send me a final quote on the exact day he initially specified due to unforeseen circumstances, he was courteous enough to call me up to inform me and to ask whether it would be acceptable. Other contractors that I contacted would leave me waiting with no follow-up until I initiated contact. In a series of email exchanges with Nick, he offered the most professional advice out of all contractors I solicited on how to finish the basement. Even when I made it clear that I likely wasn't able to hire him (which I really did want to do), he was still willing to render advice. I believe this demonstrates his true passion to provide utmost service to everyone. While I wasn't fortunate enough to have Nick and his crew finish our basement, I'm absolutely confident that his services rank among the upper echelon of the industry. My experience in dealing with Nick proved to me that Google doesn't always yield the best results for the end consumer and I'm glad that I found Nick and his company here on HomeStars. Clearly, Footprint Construction is worthy of the high ratings it has received thus far.