Mario was extremely pleasant on the phone when I called. He is prompt at returning calls, answering questions and at arranging the visit. The installation was pushed back due to the cold winter of 2014, but one crew agreed to work at our home on the following Saturday, March 8.
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In negotiating with Mario, I told him I would prep the basement, and I did, taping off the windows with plastic and having the perimeter completely clear for them. I left the stud walls 1" or more from the foundation walls. The crew (Chris and a helper) agreed it was well prepped. I paid for 2" of insulation on the walls and 3" in the headers. Mario popped in part way through. We took a quick look when he did, but I didn't linger because of the fumes. He collected his fee from me, and the crew finished up in about two hours.
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When I inspected, I found a lot of missing foam. The glaring issue was the headers, where it was obvious they sprayed from the ground and didn't use the two ladders I provided. I could see the rim boards and rim joist in a number of places if I got on a ladder, and some places, I didn't need a ladder, as they missed 6 entire feet of rim joist, and one entire wall of my cold room. I sent them back down to get these obvious deficiencies, and they were gone. We left the house for March Break.
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When we came back, I did a more thorough inspection. Where I paid for 2" of foam, I got maybe 1", on average. Many places, especially in the corners and behind studs, there was no foam at all. And you could feel that the basement was cold. The headers were worse, with many glaring omissions. You could feel the draft between the sill plate and the rim joists. I took pictures and sent them to Mario on March 17. To his credit, he was very sympathetic and said he would fix it right away, and that we would have to leave our home on some weekday when he could get a crew here.
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Being away for March break was fine, but having to leave our home for a day on 24 hours notice because of their mistakes was too much, and on March 21st I told Mario how disappointed I was, and that only a Friday (March 28th) would work. Where he was going to give me one days notice to leave our home, I gave him one weeks notice to make one crew available to fix their mistake.
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He asked me to call him, and when I did, he was irate on the phone, telling me that he has "lost all respect" for me and demanded an apology(!). I wasn't happy either. I told him to calm down over the weekend.
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If anyone wants to read my email that set him off, I'd gladly forward it, if that's possible.
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I weighed my options and decided to swallow my pride and offer an apology on Monday (March 24th) for the tone of the email, even though I still think it was reasonable. I agreed to have the work done whenever he could get here. He was better on the phone and said I would be his "first priority".
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Now I had more prep work to do, as the previous installation had cut off access to the outside corners of the foundation walls. I drilled 1 1/4" holes in the corner studs with a spade bit, at 8" o.c. That worked out to more than 200 holes I drilled because of their mistake.
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Turns out, his "first priority" was attended to on Friday, April 4th, 9 working days after that final conversation. We had 24 hours notice. At least it was a Friday.
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The new crew, with Dylan, was amazing. Completely different from Chris. Dylan was very appreciative of the holes I drilled, and used them for access, filling all the cavities Chris left behind. Dylan explained how Chris should have sprayed behind the studs, then filled the 16" space between the studs. Dylan fixed all of Chris' mistakes, including spaces Chris said were "impossible to reach". Where the original crew was here for just over 2 hours, Dylan spent 4 hours, and who know how much in materials, fixing it. Dylan didn't do touch-ups, he did a complete respray. I had a respirator this time and watched while I cleaned up. with the helper.
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At the end of this saga, I have a basement that is properly insulated and warm, but my schedule was delayed by three weeks (the actual calendar delay was 4 weeks, but I was away for one week after they sprayed), and I wasted so much time and effort to get to this point. I did not underpay, and in fact, my area estimate was over the actual sprayed area, so if anything, I overpaid. I expected Mario to check my dimensions, but nobody did. At one point I wanted that money back, but as it dragged on, I just wanted the job fixed more than I wanted a couple hundred dollars back. I guess I should have underestimated the area, but I don't operate like that.
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If you use Foamism, ask for Dylan to spray your project. He is very good at what he does. Mario, the owner, is the consummate entrepreneur. You can imagine him with all the spreadsheets calculating costs and productivity and all everything measurable. He knows exactly what to say to you to get the job. That's not a bad thing - sales is part of the job, and he's a good salesman. Dylan wouldn't tell me, but my guess is Chris is fired by now, and that my place wasn't the first time that Dylan had to fix Chris' work, so Mario has been bitten by Chris as well. But Chris is Mario's responsibility, not mine, and my low score is a reflection of Chris, Mario's employment of someone like Chris who is lazy and/or incompetent, the three week delay to my project, and Mario's conduct on the phone after I demanded a more convenient date for the respray. It would have been a lower score, but Dylan is really good, and I'm happy with the final job. The effort and drama to get to this point is inexcusable.
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*****
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As a footnote to this review, just minutes after it went live on Homestars, Mario called me, just to tell me to "[something] off". Seriously.
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Also, to reply to his claim that I don't pay contractors, I paid Mario the balance of the $3680 owed, less $50 I was short, *during* the initial spray, for a job he later admitted, in email, was worth closer to $3390 with the correct dimensions, so I certainly didn't pay that additional $50. I also liked him a lot initially, and I never threatened him with bad reviews - he asked me to write a review here when we were done. I wanted to help him out with good reviews. I wish I could have, but he sent a bad crew, he delayed me terribly, he has a terrible temper, and now he's telling people that I don't pay, when I overpaid him before the job was even complete. And now I'm sabotaging his company? What am I supposed to do? I'm thankful that the job was eventually completed to my satisfaction, but it took weeks, and now I've been yelled at twice over the phone for my troubles. That's not right.
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*****
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As a second footnote, now Mario in his comments is saying I still owe him a lot of money. My reply comes straight from an email I have from him, dated March 17: "I also remember the invoice being shy 50 dollars which is not a big deal but I would like to rectify that when we are finished."
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This is completely consistent with my comments above.
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If any contractors believe Mario and don't want to deal with me, that's fine. My full name is Craig Hansen. I live in Nobleton. That is not a large town. I have nothing to hide.
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One correction: When Mario called after this review initially went live, he didn't tell me to "[something] off." He told me to "go [something] myself." My mistake. The operative word was the one that stuck with me. He could have simply reminded me that I did, eventually, get a good spray foam job, and worked at repairing the relationship. Instead, my lasting memories are of the delay, the 200 1.25" holes I drilled which slightly injured my wrist to this day, and being yelled and later cursed at over the phone. The unrefunded overpayment is the least of my concerns.
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I'm sure Foamism does some good work, and you could have a good experience with them, if nothing goes wrong with the job. He has an excellent sprayer in Dylan. Just don't get Mario mad at you by making any demands if his forces do a bad job. Wait patiently and quietly. After all, you are his "number one priority."
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