Thermowall insulation

“We’re fairly quick to turn on our Tradies”, says Tony Naidu, Executive Director of HeatSavers. “And why wouldn’t we be? We’re spending good money for a quality job, and we’re all too aware of the horror stories. None of us want to be the patsy, and so trust in the relationship is vital.”

Craig Cargill of HeatSavers, Auckland knows more than most about the coal face of the job. He says, “Looking after the customer is number one. At its most basic, that’s turn up on time, do as you say you will and leave the place tidy. But that’s the just starting point.”

Eamonn Kilgariff of HeatSavers, Wellington puts it like this, “I say to the guys, if you’re on the way home from a job and you think of something you could have done better, then go back and do it. Whether that’s as simple as to hose off the driveway, just do it. Nobody’s ever been put out by our guys turning back up – in fact they’re usually really impressed.”

Cargill says, “If we’re insulating from the outside, then we’re talking about uniformly putting 25mm holes in the weatherboards, into three or four boards. Then we use marine filler, sand and prime, and then paint the whole board, not just the spots. Home owners can provide the paint, or we’ll match it. And we tidy up after ourselves – properly; if that means sweeping the whole driveway, we do it. And we’re done most often, in a day and a half.”

He continues, “I did a job at a student flat in Hamilton – insulating the walls. They couldn’t get over how green the whole process was. We turned up, did the job and took away half a vacuum cleaner full of waste. They were comparing that to removing the Gib and all that kind of mess. Perhaps that’s just the younger generation. But yeah, we leave a property tidier than we find it”.

As Kilgariff says, “It’s that old Kiwi approach to tourism. You know ‘take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints’. That’s the way we operate. We never forget we’re in people’s homes. It’s their private space. We just treat it with respect”.

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