Electrical fire after insulation installed incorrectly!

I had a traumatic experience with this company who installed isotherm insulation in my ceiling in September.

An electrical fire broke out in my ceiling a few days after the insulation was installed. This was not a coincidence.

The fire department were quick to respond and able to contain the fire. They said it was fortunate I had not been asleep at the time as I could have died from the smoke. My home was filled with smoke, I had to clean curtains, furniture, carpets etc. and part of the ceiling where it had burned through, needed to be replaced, along with rewiring. I was fortunate to have a team of workers over the next 4 days to clean up an expensive mess.

The insurance sent electricians and assessors to investigate and they confirmed that the blame was entirely the fault of Roof Rats.

The reason the insulation caught fire was twofold: Firstly, it was the responsibility of the insulation team to advise me to replace all 14 halogen light bulbs in my down lights with LED bulbs, which do not heat up as much, before proceeding with laying down insulation. This was confirmed by friends who also had new insulation installed by other companies.

Secondly, at the very least they should NOT cover a downlight in the ceiling with insulation, but cut a hole to accommodate it, which they didn’t do. As a result the insulation caught alight from the halogen bulb heating up and short circuiting. Electricians have since replaced all halogen bulbs with LED ones, as well as rewiring an entire section of cabling in the ceiling which had burnt out.

I also needed to take another week of leave, which was unpaid, to be home to sort out the situation. I’m currently working in Dubai and was home in Cape Town to enjoy a relaxing 3 weeks off.

To add insult to injury, there was absolutely no apology, accountability or conversation with the people in charge of this company, just a terse email from admin letting me know that their insurance had paid for the repairs.

A most traumatic and disappointing experience overall.