How a Job Actually Runs

1 · The call

Five minutes. Age of the house, what you can see at the hatch, whether there is a room that is always cold, and whether anything has ever been in the attic. If from that we think the attic stream will not pay you, we say so on the call.

2 · Does anyone need to come out first?

Often, no — and this is the part most contractors will not tell you, because a visit is how they get a salesperson through your door.

What we actually need before we can quote is the depth of what is up there now, the condition of it, and whether the soffits are clear. There is more than one way to get that:

• You already have a report. A home inspection from when you bought, or an energy assessment, usually states the attic insulation type and depth. Send it and we can very often quote from it.
• You can see it yourself. Open the hatch, hold a tape or a ruler against the side of a joist, photograph it. Depth at the joist, a shot down the run, a shot towards the eaves. That is enough for a straightforward attic.
• The house is a known quantity. Age, roof type, storeys and what you can describe at the hatch will get most standard attics to a firm number.

In those cases the first time anyone from this company is in your house is the day the work is done, and the quote you were given is the quote you pay.

3 · When somebody does need to go up

We ask for a visit when the answer genuinely cannot be known from the outside:

• Staining, damp or a smell, which means the sheathing has to be looked at.
• Any sign that animals have been up there.
• Vermiculite, or anything that might be, which is not disturbed and not guessed at.
• A cathedral ceiling, a flat roof, a finished attic, or no safe access.
• Depth readings that do not agree with each other, or an attic that has been partly done before.
• A knob-and-tube suspicion, or wiring that has to be seen before anything is buried.

When someone does come up, the depth is measured at the joist — away from the hatch and away from the eaves, because those two places always read wrong. Soffits checked for blockage, bathroom fans traced, hatch inspected, sheathing looked at for staining, photographs throughout. You get the depth, the tier, the rebate figure and the photographs whether or not you use us.

4 · The quote

One page. The work, the material, the target depth, the invoice total, the rebate tier, and the arithmetic of the fifty per cent cap applied to your number. If removal is needed it is priced separately so you can see what it is costing.

5 · The day

Machine outside, hose in through the hatch, containment at the opening. Air sealing first, baffles second, insulation third. The installer who arrives is named on your file. Most attics are one day.

And no, most attics do not need stripping first

Removal is sold far more often than it is needed. If what is up there is dry, undisturbed and simply not deep enough, the correct answer is usually to air-seal, fit baffles and blow over the top of it. The old material keeps doing its share and you are not paying for a day of vacuuming.

It has to come out when it is wet or has been wet, when animals have been in it, when there is mould on the sheathing, when it is contaminated with droppings or debris, when it is vermiculite, or when something underneath has to be reached and repaired. Those are the reasons. “It is old” is not one of them.

When removal is genuinely needed, and what it involves.

6 · The proof

Depth markers left standing in the attic. Photographs before, during and after. Material, coverage and bag count recorded. The installer is named on the file.

7 · The submission

We prepare and submit the rebate file and give you the reference. The programme pays you directly. If it queries anything, the photographs and the depth record are already in the file, which is the entire reason we take them.

Paying for it

Financing is available on any project, so the invoice can be paid monthly, and the rebate is unaffected either way. How the monthly option works.

What we do not do

We do not take deposits on attic work. We do not use commissioned salespeople. We do not insist on a site visit we do not need. And we do not quote a rebate figure as a discount on our invoice — the rebate is paid to you, by the programme, after the work.