Smart Sealed

I recently worked with Smart Sealed and was not happy with my experience. Upon receiving our deposit, Smart Sealed sent out a team of insulators, but never informed us of the date or time. So their men showed up for the job, but we were not aware of it and had to scramble. This was not helpful! While they finished the job in a timely manner, as soon as they finished, they emailed us multiple times a day to receive payment — it felt desperate and extremely pushy. Because the job was done for a client, we needed to inspect the work before final payment (i.e. one day later) and I felt like I was being stalked/​hounded for money. Not professional at all.

I recently had Smart Sealed out to insulate the attic of my 1930’s farm house in La Grange after I realized that I had only ½″ of old fiberglass insulation up there. The quote they gave me was for blowing in celulose, sealing air gaps, and using closed cell foam in the rim joists within the basement. The price once it included the state of IL rebates currently in effect were very reasonable considering the quality of insulating job they perform.
When the crew arrived on site I was absolutely amazed at the level of professionalism. Not only did they put the fabric booties on their shoes, they also put down tarps in the main walking areas and put plastic sheets over the clothes in my closet where the attic access area was located.
I own an interior design business and deal with contractors all of the time for our client projects as well as my own. It is rare that you find a contractor in any of the trades with this level of professionalism.
Keep up the great work Smart Sealed.

Smart Sealed did a pretty good job of insulating my attic roof line and basement rim joists. They honored and price matched a lower bid from a competitor. They used a product called BaySeal closed cell spray foam that is odorless even during the installation process. The crew is very professional, courteous and cleaned up after the job. The real test is when it gets really cold outside; but so far I have seen a big difference in the comfort level up there. I definitely recommend and will use them again for future insulation needs. I knocked off a star because they were supposed to check back with me post installation and take pictures with thermal imaging camera to ensure there aren’t any air leaks in my old house, but didn’t hear from them. Not a big deal, but would have been a perfect job!

Redoing insulation is expensive. So I talked with my home inspector before buying a home and this was one of the two places he recommended. So after reading Thomas’s review I was a little hesitant.
So my process was as follows. I called a few places and got quotes for foam insulation in my attic. I did my research, so my first question (even before I would let them come to my house) was what foam they recommend for the attic ceiling. The correct answer is open cell foam as the closed cell foam can trap water and cause roof rot. So after weeding some out I was left with three.
The first two gave quotes between $ 2500-​$ 3000 for the attic work. Then Smart Sealed came with a much higher quote. But this quote also included rim joists in the basement with closed cell (underground so you want to block water) as well as sealing my crawlspace and stopping air flow from around windows and fireplace… They then said that through Energy Impact Illinois I will get $ 1750 off the bill. And this was not a rebate that I wait to come in. They will charge $ 1750 less to me and will do the paperwork to collect the rebate.
I checked if the other contractors are affiliated with Energy Impact Illinois and they were not. So my choice was use one of the first two and just get the attic or Smart Sealed and get everything done for what will be the same net price to me.
Now that everything is installed I couldn’t be happier as my furnace turns on so much less frequent. What is more all the places were I felt a draft (especially around the fireplace) is gone.
I was happy that I got the most for my money out of this place. And they even told me how much I would save if I removed the old insulation myself as opposed to have them do it, how much replacing some light canisters to weather sealed LEDs would cost, new venting…). So either they started giving more price specific information or Thomas didn’t ask the correct person.

NOT recommended. Came to our home to give us an estimate for weatherproofing our home (which is less than 20 years old). We expected to get an estimate that included low-​cost items like sealing windows and doors. What we got was an estimate for nearly $ 3K in work.
But that’s not the worst of it. The estimate told us what tasks they proposed doing, but it did not tell us how much each task would cost. There was no breakdown between parts and labor! When I asked for a revised quote to tell me how much they intended to charge for parts and labor, the reply was «management won’t allow us to do that.»
This is a total RED FLAG that we were about to be ripped off. Folks, never do business with anyone who doesn’t tell you what their labor charges are, or give you an inkling of their markup on parts.
When I told this story to a few pals of mine who manage the construction of big buildings, they booth rolled their eyes and confirmed my worst suspicions.