FranchiseVerdict
USA Insulation logo
FV-02861·MODERATEExcellent81

USA Insulation

Home Services - OtherFranchising since 2006Website
Investment
$266K – $410K
98th pct Other
Avg revenue
64th pct Other
Royalty
Units
101
70th pct Other
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $266K – $410K including a $55K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 75 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 150.0% CAGR over 3 years with 101 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
USA Insulation Franchise, LLC
Parent company
Threshold Brands, LLC
Incorporated in
Ohio
HQ
17700 Saint Clair Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44110
Auditor
RSM US LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$44.7M
vs $46.2M prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one USA Insulation unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restoration
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $266K–$410K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $30K–$50K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

20%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$75K
EBITDA margin
10.0%
Total invested
$378K
Payback
60 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

USA Insulation franchisees manage residential and commercial insulation installation and removal services. Day-to-day operations include customer acquisition/sales, job estimation, crew scheduling and supervision, material procurement, and quality assurance on insulation projects (spray foam, fiberglass, cellulose, etc.). Most franchisees operate as owner-operators with 5–15 employees.

CEO
Theodore Demarino
Founded
1985
FDD year
2024
States available
26

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$266K – $410K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$30K – $50K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$55K
Royalty
Greater of 5% of Gross Sales or $1,000 per month
Ad fund
Greater of 2% of Gross Sales or $500 per month
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
101
Opened
9
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
99%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+69.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+150.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
100+9
Franchised units
2023
59
Franchised units
2024
40
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 23 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 23 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
75
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

56
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE56 / 100

USA Insulation presents elevated risk due to undisclosed financial performance, rapid growth without earnings transparency, and a high minimum royalty that may strain marginal locations.

Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — impossible to validate ROI claims or benchmark profitability
  2. 02MINORAggressive unit growth (69.5% YoY) suggests rapid expansion with unclear unit quality/sustainability
  3. 03MINORRoyalty floor of $1,000/month ($12,000 annually) creates break-even pressure for low-revenue locations
  4. 04MEDHigh initial investment ($265.5K–$410K) with no disclosed average net income creates profitability uncertainty
  5. 05MED101-unit system remains relatively small with limited brand recognition — fewer peer benchmarks and less operational maturity
  6. 06MINOR10-year term is longer than industry standard (typically 5–7 years), locking franchisees into dated economics

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Number of homes built before 1990
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Ohio

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
74 hrs
On-the-job training
28 hrs
POS system
QuickBooks Online
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

52 numbers

Locked
(574) 201-••••
IN
(512) 952-••••
TX
(803) 417-••••
SC

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

USA Insulation · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above