So this nice college kid knocks at our door a few Saturdays ago, Scott answers, and next thing I know, Scott and the "insulation salesman" are up in our attic measuring it for insulation. Let me tell you, before they knock on your door: even if you feel sorry for them and even if you have some son or nephew or friend out in the world going door to door selling alarm systems or whatever and even if you like the tax credit you'll get for insulating your house and even if you are assured by them that the installers are experts...
...just say "NO." Yesterday, I really wished we had said no when I saw Scott and Mike and the other insulation installer looking into my laundry room with their mouths hanging open. Yes, the installer had slipped a bit, just stepped off the beam in the attic and gone right through the sheetrock which happened to be the laundry/sewing/scrapbooking room ceiling. Luckily he didn't fall through - he caught himself and he wasn't hurt.
The plastic bin that you see in the photos is used to protect our stereo speakers from getting dirty - you can't see it but the speaker is now on the dryer below. The swamp cooler cover is hanging down behind - and there's a crack across the ceiling to the light fixture. I couldn't believe my ears when Scott told me that he had suggested to the installer that he be very careful and that he had asked why they don't use planks to walk between the beams. The guy told him that he'd been doing this a long time "and never had any problems." Scott asked, "How long?" The kid said, "Four months."
The absolute worst part is that all the old insulation came showering down from up above. This is a cleaned-up view - there was a lot more on my floor. And a dusty dirty layer of it on every surface in the room, including the clean clothes that were hanging above the dryer. No, the worst part is the hours that Scott and I have spent cleaning up - and the time it's going to take to get it repaired and back to normal. The company has promised to pay for everything - we'll see how that turns out.
