Solo Drywall

May 2024

Google

PETER VALKOV

Lars was recommended to me by a colleague. So, I called him on a house remodel job. The first part was demolition and Lars was out of town, so we spoke on the phone and texted. We agreed on the demo, and then to discuss the quote for the remainder of the job, once Lars is back in Fargo. The demolition work was a complete farce. Lars' man Martin showed on time the first day of the demo work with his hands in his pockets. I explained the scope and he said he needs to go back for "tools". And hour and a half later Martin came back with a roll of paper and couple of rolls of tape. He taped the floors in the two corridors (approx. 100 SF) leading to the remodel (demo) area. Then he sat in his truck for 15 - 20 minutes and then left. He texted he was done for the day. The next day was similar - he came, he went back "for tools"; then he had some helpers coming late in morning. They worked for a couple of hours and then left for couple of hours on an, what I perceived, an extended lunch break. 3 pm they were done. Third day was even slower. Forth day I got a text from Martin that he is not showing up for work at all. Meanwhile Lars texted me a quote for the completed demolition one that was 4 - 5 times higher compared to our initial agreement. Then he also quoted me the remainder of the remodel - with prices "though the roof." He then decided to blame it on me "I was just trying to help you out". Overall it was a "building a long-lasting relationship" exercise which I had to cut short.

February 2018

Google

Mark Kerk

I own an older 1.5 story home. These types of homes present unique insulation challenges. After living here for many years, and dealing with melting snow on my roof and the inevitable ice dams that formed along the eaves... all of which can only be causes by heat loss, I decided to research the problem and do something about it! I eventually met Lars, the owner of Solo Drywall and we discussed ways to fix my problem. When I started the project my original intent was to use spray foam insulation on the parts of the structure I could get to, but in the end I made the decision to go all out and strip the top floor to the studs and spray the whole roof deck. The results speak for themselves in the pictures posted of my frosty roof deck. You can see in one picture where heat escaping from the roof has melted the frost on a good share of the roof and in the second, halfway through the job where the roof deck over the un-occupied area of the top floor (right) had been insulated with spray foam. When the job was completely finished, the whole roof deck now remains frosty (when the weather is right) until the sun melts it off. Ice dams are largely a thing of the past! Lars and his crew(s), both insulation and drywall were consummate professionals and very polite. They took care to keep the work area clean, and minimize the impact to the rest of the home while they did their work. Their advice was invaluable making the job a complete success. The economic results of the project save me over 1000 Kwh of electricity monthly (currently about $60) using an air source heat pump for my primary source of heat. That coupled with solving the problems of ice dams on my roof that always had to be dealt with to mitigate damage to the structure made the project well worth while and a smart investment. If you have a challenging problem like this one to deal with, give Lars at Solo Drywall (and insulation) a call and he will help you figure out a solution!