Common Health: Healthy Homes

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It was snowing Wednesday morning, but that didn’t stop me from driving to WERU to participate in Jim Fisher’s Common Health radio program. Bobbi Harris of Washington Hancock Community Agency and Maria Donahue of Healthy Acadia were also in the studio, and we had a lively talk about how to maintain safe, warm, healthy homes.

Some of the highlights:

Being cold is not just a comfort issue. Aside from the obvious mental health benefits to being comfortable in your home, there is plenty of evidence that people with respiratory problems, arthritis, high blood pressure, and a host of other issues feel better – and have shorter hospital stays – when their homes are warm.

Moisture is a problem for almost every home in Maine. It’s a function of our geography, and it’s not going away. Treating basement moisture with encapsulation can reduce the risk of asthma by a third and improve overall indoor air quality, so it’s worth addressing.

Lead paint, carbon monoxide, and other toxins are serious concerns. Serious enough that I’m going to devote the next few blog posts to tackling these. Stay tuned.

There are solutions for Mainers at all income levels. Efficiency Maine offers long-term, low-interest loans to help homeowners spread out the cost of improvement. If improvements are still out reach, low-income homeowners can turn to their local CAP agencies or Midcoast Habitat for Humanity’s Weatherization program.

I’ll post a link as soon as the audio archive of the show is up.

Contact us today to learn more!

207-594-2244

Evergreen removed and replaced the insulation in my attic. They did a great job!, Crew was excellent, and the whole thing went smoothly, and the attic was NOT easy to get into or work in, so kudos to some hard work done well!

Joel A.

Portland

Led by Brian Robinson, the Evergreen Home Performance team just completed an insulation refit at my home. It was truly a great experience from start to finish, a period of time that was a fraction of the time that I originally anticipated due to the team's unbelievable work habits and professional knowledge of their tasks. As impressive were the communication skills and friendliness of each and every member of the team.

Anne W.

Rockport

Thorough, smart, informative, integrated, and communicative -- that's how my experience was with Evergreen even with the covid interruption midstream. The team picked up where they left off, insulated basement and air sealed attic and knee wall in 100' temps under the eaves! This business group was a pleasure to work with.

Karen W.

Gray

I waited a year to write this review. Evergreen finished our job late last winter. Terrific results!!! we've gone from 12-day propane deliveries to 30+ day propane deliveries. The house is noticeably warmer. The Evergreen crew was/is professional, prompt, thorough, scientific, gracious and immaculate with respect to keeping our house clean. Money well spent.

John E.

Boothbay

Update 12/2018: Evergreen has completed Phase II of my house (insulating and installing air/moisture barrier on exterior walls, replacing old windows) and now that heating season is upon us, the difference is astonishing. The house is tight as a drum and so easy to keep warm. Worth every penny. Thank you all! Working with Evergreen was a positive experience from start (no charge energy audit) to finish (a MUCH more comfortable home). Brian Robinson spent a lot of time with me on the audit, explaining clearly what he was finding in my ca.

Rebekah W.

Rockport

Evergreen is a terrific company to deal with. Polite and efficient crews, meeting deadlines and major reduction in our heat bills. They corrected a lot of issues we suffered from doing work with a shoddy building contractor. We would recommend them to anyone.

Mary Carey

Evergreen has a professional and reliable team of people who do excellent work. If you want the best of the best in the area, select Evergreen to accomplish your insulation needs.

Mary E.

St. George

Professional, friendly and hard-working staff. The product/approach they use for insulation is top notch. We felt the difference immediately, both from added warmth and eliminating drafts. The team and management were easily available to answer our questions or coordinate meeting times. Highly recommended.

Kevin J.

Yarmouth

I was extremely pleased with the professionalism and quality of service that I received from the Evergreen team. I met Richard to discuss options for insulation. I knew immediately that I wanted to do business with them because he did not try to over-sell extra services that I did not need. Dave was the project manager. He was not only kind, but very respectful of my home. I would highly recommend this company.

Darlyann M

Bath

Evergreen has insulated two homes that we've owned now and both times we experienced exceptional service and craftsmanship. Our rep, Justin, went above and beyond answering questions and the installation team was attentive to every detail, including pulling out old poorly installed insulation and redoing a bathroom fan that wasn't up to current code. They also left the place spotless every day! Our home is already so much warmer this fall and we are looking forward to using less oil this winter.

Eva G.

Falmouth

A thorough inspection of our (older) house and its energy needs. Competent and personable work crew.

Jacob Watson

Very Satisfied with the work performed by Evergreen. Professional employees, high quality work done in a timely manner. My sales rep was Justin, and he was phenomenal During the initial walk around my house, he gave me great ideas for how to improve the efficiency of our home. We will consult with Evergreen for our future home projects.

Adam G.

Westbrook

We initially contacted Evergreen through Efficiency Maine for an energy audit, which was conducted promptly and professionally by Justin McEdward, one of their Energy Advisors who is BPI-certified. After a thorough inspection of our newly purchased home, Justin explained in great detail what we needed and did not need. It was agreed that Evergreen would remove all of the existing attic insulation, which was not adequate, and replace it with blown in cellulose, to a rating of R-60.

Thomas W.

Scarborough

In the final stages of selling our home, and with a closing date set, an inspection came across an unanticipated issue in our attic. We quickly called in contractors, but nobody was able to identify the source of the problem. Then we thought of Evergreen. Brian Robinson was on site the next morning and immediately identified the source (a faulty roofing job completed three years earlier which had effectively sealed up portions of the ridge vent and restricted air flow - not easily visible with a quick inspection).

Robin McIntosh

Camden

Thanks Evergreen Home Performance for helping to make our home more efficient. Many thanks as well to Bryan for the initial walk through and recommendations to make our home more efficient and to Dave, Roland, and Jacob for a job that was done professionally and courteous. We were amazed at the level of efficiency and everyday they made sure to protect our floors, carpets, and furniture. We had daily discussions with Dave about progress and what was being done and where they were at in the project.

Carol Fink

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