Energ Shield

About a year ago, one of the contractors for EnerG Shield came to our door offering a free inspection. We had just purchased our home at the time and noticed that the heat was running all the time and the house didn’t stay warm, so we thought this was a perfect.
Jesse came by for an appointment to inspect our home and spoke with us about what energy upgrades could be done to better improve our living and comfort. He was extremely knowledgeable and really seemed to know what he was talking about. We really only wanted the ceiling installation replaced, but he let us know about a energy rebate you get if we did 3 upgrades. So he talked us into getting the whole house with new installation, which apparently the walls didn’t have any! Silly Californians. He was a little pushy and stayed a little longer than we thought he would. We were honestly a little nervous at first because the quote seemed very reasonable, but we didn’t really do any research or know if we could trust this guy (who came to our door offering a inspection).
After speaking with my wife about it we decided the price was right and the contract looked detailed enough. SO WE SIGNED on the spot. Gave him a small deposit and hoped for the best.
His guys came and started the work the next week. It took them a few days over a few weeks time frame, because of our schedule and the amount of work, but everything went smoothly.
We noticed a difference immediately. It really was amazing how something like that make a big impact on the temperature of the home and the cost savings.
All in all if you can bear with a little sales pressure from a really nice guy, it is worth the outcome.
We recommend EnerG Shield and Jesse.

A couple of weeks ago, Jesse came by for an appointment to inspect our home and speak to us and let us know what energy upgrades could be done to better improve our living and comfort. He was extremely knowledgeable and really knew what he was talking about, and was super polite and made us feel really involved and well informed.
He went through the whole inspection and demonstration of the energy efficient insulation that is used by NASA, and everything seem to make sense.
So after the appointment, we obviously came to Unilocal to see some reviews and decide whether we should do the business with him or not. After reading some of the negative reviews I can understand why people might be hesitant to work with him or think he’s pushy, but I didn’t really see that as a bad thing. We called Jesse to discuss things further and clarify with him what these reviews were about.
I’m not quite sure why he’s getting all this negative feedback as everything he explained to us seem to be fair and at the end of the day his job is to write up a contract and sell us some sort of package for our home. Is that really any different then any other job? All jobs include some sort of convincing and selling point to get what they need to get to.
He seems to be a very hard-​working individual and he explained to us his situation– he has a disabled daughter to take care of and so I can understand why sometimes he can be a little tough and pushy when it comes to closing a deal. This is how he makes his living after all.
He also explained to us that there have been a couple of times where people refuse to pay him for a job after it’s been completed which is what led to some negative reviews.
And in regards to the older reviews he also explained that whatever action that needed to be taken was taken in regards to fines, etc. He did pay all the fines that he had to pay and everything has been settled.
At the end of the day you can’t please everyone. There are five star restaurants out there who are getting one star reviews for one bad situation that occurred.
So after all this thorough investigation and long discussions with Jesse we finally decided to go with him and so far since they have started, everything has been smooth and I highly recommend him for any home improvement you may need!

My experience with Jesse was poor and consistent with other reviews:
–Arranged in home meeting to assess energy efficiency
–Spent little time on energy assessment and most of the time trying to sell us on other work
–Hard sell to sign up on the spot based on fuzzy quote
–Offer of ‘free’ Nasa insulation layer worth thousands of dollars
He didn’t respect our time and requests to end his visit in our home. The third time we said no we’re not signing contracts right now, he finally started to pack up. His charming ‘sales’ demeanor turned sour, and when I asked if he was going to leave the quote, he said «you can take a picture.»
I wonder if those who gave positive ratings got competitive quotes?
Beware of any contractor who does not offer a clear detailed quote for work to be performed!

When we had PG&E bills peaking at over $ 600 per month in the winter months, we knew we had a problem with energy efficiency. My wife and I hired Jesse Almari and EnerGhield to examine the situation in our house and make improvements. Jesse and his team put did thorough testing to find the issues and added insulation in all of the outer walls, plugged leaky gaps in light fixtures, added insulating material in the attic, re-​did our venting and duct work for our furnace, and recommended LED lighting. After all of the changes, our costs in the peak winter months are less than half of what they used to be. It was a huge improvement for us.
Jesse and EnerGShield did such a great job that we hired them again to take care of our leaky roof and repair the interior damage after a rain storm in December 2014. They re-​did our entire roof and added additional roof venting to keep it cooler in the summer to reduce our use of fans and electricity. We are happy with the work again from EnerGShield.

Jesse, Raffi and his crews do WAY more than insulation. Yes, they’ve done interior and exterior walls insulation for us. They’ve also done redesign and installation of duct work. Plenty of Energy Efficiency work!
More recently, we had our very old tar and gravel roof replaced to a quality shingle roof with ventilation and a new gutter system. They also did the interior work — ceiling, paint, replacing and refinishing hardwood floors, and some minor electrical work.
They do quality and excellent work. They show up on time and finish on time. All the workers are respectful and answer questions. Jesse either is on site — or always available by phone. He’s on my speed dial!
Jesse even dealt with our insurance company because the interior work was more extensive on the floors than we expected. Thankfully insurance covered the interior damage repairs.
I can’t say enough good things about Jesse and everyone at EnerG Shield and all the sub contractors he works with. Jesse really explains and helps you to understand the options.
He does suggest other projects we could do — and this is a GOOD thing. Many of those things we haven’t done yet. But perhaps sometime in the future.
I highly recommend them. I would hire them again. I don’t hesitate to call him for even small things. Questions? Ask me!

We had Jesse Almari come to our house to give us information on replacing our heater and heating ducts and to install central AC. He started by noticing «defects» in our house and saying «I could put a sun tunnel here so it’s not so dark, I could remodel this bathroom for you… etc.» I was taken aback but we just continued with him. We didn’t have him there to discuss any remodeling of any kind.
The longer he was there, the more uncomfortable we were. He really wanted us to sign a contract right then, which we wouldn’t do. He used very «fuzzy math» to come up with the total price for the work we wanted done… The total was $ 13,000 and he said «I’m giving you this item for free and this other company charges $ 6,000 for it, so you’re really only paying $ 7,000 for the work, since you’re getting this item worth $ 6,000 for free. Huh?
Now I regret having had him in my home at all. He’s just a very slimy salesperson. I didn’t think to check the Calif Contractor’s License Board before having him come out, but I should have.
His «bid» did not specify brand, size, or type of furnace, AC unit, or ducts.
The whole thing was just bad, bad, bad.

We are very pleased with the work done on our home by EnerG Shield. Jesse and Rafi satisfied our concerns about the few negative reviews that have been posted here on Unilocal,and I used the 3-​business-​days cooling-​off period to check that their pricing was competitive and to speak with another EnerG Shield customer. True, Jesse’s sales style is aggressive. He explained that they had a work crew with nothing scheduled for the week ahead. I was skeptical that they could start the project so quickly but they did, and it all progressed at full speed. The subcontractors who handled the new air conditioner and furnace installation, attic vents and lighting upgrades did a quality, professional job. The crew who installed the under-​floor insulation and replaced the old ducts were courteous and kept things tidy as they worked. Rafi measured the air leakage before and after the job was done; we’re now down to under 2% leakage and in line for a hefty Energy Upgrade California rebate.

Go to
. Jesse Almari personally held no license to contract nor was a registered salesperson until April of 2014. He is now a registered salesperson, NOT a contractor. Before April 2014, he could not legally sign contracts for EnerGsheild for work in the state of California until April 2014. The job he kept my deposit for was signed by him, before April 2014. In any case, he still cannot ACT as a contractor on ANY job for anyone.
Meantime, he and Energsheild are under investigation by the Calfornia Sate Licensing board as i write this. This is simply a matter of public record and can be verified by anyone calling the CSLB. He also was not the business owner as his updates to the very favorable 5-​star reviews state. Someone else listed on the above link was. I sent the true sole owner of Energsheild a demand letter threatening to sue for keeping my deposit, which was submitted when Jesse was not a registered salesperson– and it was returned to me – because the contract was illegal and the deposit was being kept illegally, so i am updating this review with some recent, real world experience. If you have outstanding work that is unfinished or a deposit being held with no work being done and was signed by Jesse Almari before April 2014, contact the CSLB.
please note that Jesse tried to smear me and write a false comment to my review, stating events that did not occur and directly contradicting the state of his own personal license at EnerGSheild that was in violation of Unilocal’s terms of use agreement.
From Unilocal’s site:
«You may expose yourself to liability if, for example, Your Content contains material that is false, intentionally misleading, or defamatory; «:
I flagged him by clicking on the flag button on his comment, and the comment from him was removed by Unilocal

Honestly, this is a time-​share type scam! We had EnergG Shield come out ot give us a bid on redoing our attic insulation. Anjad met us at our home and looked over everything. We immediately found numerous things «wrong» that our other bidder did not. He said we had asbestos in the duct-​work? I have never head of this and we dont have asbestos in our home otherwise. It seemed fishy. At first he had my husband going along with him, nodding and saying «wow, I cant see that…» but over time the real reason made itself clear. By the end of everything, a simple blown-​in insulation quote turned into a 40K bill to replace our whole heating system, duct-​work, insulation, and so on. But dont worry «there are up to 4500 in rebates to retrofit» so he just minuses that off the bill to show you your «out of door price.» Well, this is not true. The rebate is for houses that never had insulation. He planned to strip it, then take pictures proving there was never any, then re-​insulating. So sketchy!
We we started saying we REALLY needed to wrap things up, the real sales pitch got going. He brought out the mini roof «science experiment,» and started with the HARD sell. This guy could sell sand to the desert, I tell you. He want us to sign and commit to his astronomical bill ON THE SPOT. We asked if we could have time to think about it and he just kept pushing. When we said if it is either a yes or a no right now, then it has to be a «no,» because we NEVER decide on big purchases without mulling them over as a couple, he got downright hostile. This was NOT a man we wanted to do business with and is a clear indicator of how he handles his business.
Please BE WARE of his sales antics and know you will have a hard sales push at the end. DO NOT SIGN WITHOUT THINKING ON IT FOR A DAY OR TWO!

Do not hire. Jesse lied bold faced to me, broke the law, and endangered the health of my family. If you have any asbestos, definitely DO NOT HIRE EnerG Shield.
What seemed to start out fine turned the worst contractor experience I have ever had. We were going through our kitchen remodel and in the process validated that our ductwork was shot in the attic and in the crawl space and needed to be replaced. Knowing that I needed new ductwork and insulation, I thought I’d reach out to get some bids. Jesse was initially responsive and showed up for a bid request to replace ductwork and insulate our attic. He’s a personable and persuasive salesman.
Jesse said that the ductwork in the garage and in the attic had asbestos and needed to be replaced in order to get the PG&E rebate. I have 3 small children with the youngest being 2 months old. Safety is a HUGE concern and I stressed this when we discussed the asbestos. I asked if EnerG Shield had their asbestos abatement certification b/​c I wanted this to be done properly. Jesse told me «yes» very confidently. His quote was high, but I thought I was getting a top notch contractor who was asbestos certified and who could justify a premium price. However, that was certainly not the case!
They started work soon thereafter, a Friday and moved very quickly. I worked from home that day and was helping loading up the kids in our car to get them out of the house when I noticed that they had just ripped out the asbestos ducting and it was lying on my driveway next to my car where my kids were! It should also be noted that we had setup our temporary kitchen in the garage due to the remodel and the ductwork was ripped out next to all of our stuff in the garage, where the family had been spending a good amount of time. I asked him if that was safe and he said «oh yes, as long as you don’t disturb it». (didn’t you just rip it out?) Then a normal trash haul away service came by and took away the ductwork. The whole weekend I was bothered, and on Monday I called the contractor’s board to enquire about EnerG Shield’s qualifications and proper asbestos removal. It turns out that EnerG shield does not have their asbestos certification. In addition, they did not take the proper safety precautions in their removal, nor did they treat the ductwork as hazardous waste and have it removed by a specialized trash removal company. At this point the damage has been done and my family and newborn had been exposed to asbestos!
There is more to this saga — I tried to give Jesse the opportunity to make things right (I was still thinking he was an honest guy who made a mistake), but I had also started noticing that things were not completed per the contract or were done half ass. There were multiple times I had to contact Jesse or complain about the quality of work. It became clear to me that there was no contractor oversight on the work performed. I don’t know who the contractor is in this operation. Its listed as Lana Almari. I never saw this person. It was such a hassle and the work wasn’t getting done so I finally fired EnerG Shield and hired another contractor to complete the work. Jesse still owes me a refund for work not performed and I am trying to understand what recourse I still have since cash has been transferred. I am also trying to figure out what to do about the fact that my family and children were exposed to asbestos due to EnerG Shield’s incompetence.
This is a dishonest and under-​qualified company. Jesse talks a big game, but the proof is in the pudding. Stay away.

EnerG Shield did a fantastic job of insulating our attic and putting in a new furnace. All of the workers were very efficient and courteous and cleaned up really well. I would use them again and highly recommend them.
Nancy L

EnerG Shield replaced my furnace and insulated my attic. Their consultation was informative and their expertise in the home weatherization field is top notch. They did the job swiftly with minimum interruption to me. I have zero regrets.

I had my roof replaced with composition shingles and new steel gutters. Also, several energy upgrades were performed. Even though the weather has not been extreme, I have noticed the temperature does not increase or drop much, which it did before during the day to the next morning. The workers that did the work were very efficient, polite and cleaned up after themselves. Jesse, Energy Consultant, was very helpful and made sure everything was completed as specified and then some.

I highly recommend EnerG Shield. They did some retrofit and energy saving work in my home, as well as some upgrades to the kitchen. I appreciated Jesse’s overall concern for the work being done and his suggestions for work to be considered in the future for safety and cost benefits.
The work was scheduled and completed quickly. And, everyone was courteous and professional. I came home to a clean house everyday that they were working.
We noticed a difference with the heater right away. Because of the work EnerG Sheild did, our heater was no longer turning on constantly throughout the night. This was especially obvious in our two-​story home. Before the upgrades, the upstairs would get very hot while the downstairs would be chilly. Now the temperature between floors is stable. We also have been able to keep the heater temperature lower because the heat is not escaping. We are looking forward to seeing our PG&E bill go down.
EnerG Sheild also installed a Cool-​roof on the flat roof of our family room. This immediately affected the temperature of the room. It no longer heats up like a sauna and the temperature is balanced with the rest of the house.
Overall, we are very pleased with EnerG Sheild. And we are looking forward to using Jesse for additional upgrades to our home.

I had the heat shield attic insulation and solar fan installed last summer. It helps to keep the house cooler during summer days and warmer in the winter. The free demonstration of how it works is very interesting. Installation crew was polite and left everything as if they had not been there. EnerG Shield made every effort to make me a happy customer. They offer lots of other services and financing as well. I also had an reverse osmosis water filter installed. When I can afford further upgrades I will call them again.

I had the special EnerG Shield insulation put into our attic, as well as solar attic fans. I was AMAZED by the reduction in heat in my home this past summer! It was worth every penny. Our utility bill was reduced by 70% — no kidding! If you want to know more about this insulation, call Jessie and he will show you how well it works.
We are very happy customers.