Our story · Family owned since 1986
Three generations of insulation contractors, and we make our own cellulose.
I’m Peter Johnson. I started doing this with my dad in 1988, my sons Noah and Eli now help run it, and we manufacture our own cellulose in Tiaro before we pump it into your roof. Same family, same standards, since 1986.
Peter Johnson
owner & installer, on a roof where he belongs
Who you’re dealing with
Peter Johnson, in his own words.
Peter Johnson is the owner and installer behind Comfort Zone Insulation Team (Comfort Zone Insulation). He has personally insulated more than 6,000 roofs with cellulose since the 1980s, more than 12,000 as a family business, makes his own cellulose in Tiaro, and runs a third-generation family business.
Our family got into insulation through my father, Lyle Johnson, who started contracting back in 1986. He worked for one of the biggest insulation contractors of the day, Insul-safe, and became the go-to man for every tricky job in Brisbane, so I’d worked on some of the hardest roofs in Queensland before I was 25. I started doing this with my dad in 1988, and I’ve been crawling through roofs ever since.
I point that out because in this trade a lot of companies just sub the work out to the lowest bidder and don’t pay them enough to do the job properly. We don’t. Your job is done by our own family or by a Comfort Zone franchise partner, an owner-operator running their own family business to our systems and standards, building their own reputation in your area, not a cheap subbie who moves on to the next job. It’s a dangerous trade, so everyone follows the same installation checklists, carries public liability and property-damage insurance, and every job is photographed, and the photos are checked before you’re invoiced. Most customers never see inside their own roof, so we show them.
I now make my own cellulose as well as installing it, so I control the quality from start to finish. We’re one of very few companies in Brisbane and South East Queensland who both make and install their own cellulose. It’s manufactured by our family business, Cellulose Products Australia, at our factory in Tiaro. When you ask why I only recommend it, it’s because I know exactly what’s in the bag.
I don’t believe in overselling people just because I can. Sales reps in this trade get paid more to sell more, so a lot of them will push roof vents or a far higher R-value than your climate actually needs. You just need the products that work, installed well. That’s the whole business. If you want the technical case, every figure on why I recommend cellulose is backed by an Australian Government, CSIRO or Australian Standards source, with the links.
“I quote to complete the job properly and not have to come back and fix it.”Peter Johnson, owner & installer
Where it started
My dad took the roofs nobody else wanted.
My father, Lyle Johnson, started insulation contracting in 1986 at Insul-safe, one of the biggest contractors of the day. He earned a reputation as the go-to man for every tricky job in Brisbane: the steep ones, the low-pitch ones, the steel-frame ones, the roofs other crews quietly said couldn’t be done. That’s the work I grew up around.
By the time I was 25 I’d already worked on some of the hardest roofs in Queensland. You learn fast when the easy jobs go to someone else and the awkward ones land on your truck. It’s why we can still insulate roofs other companies say can’t be done (raked, flat, Super-6, exposed-beam and steel-frame homes), because that’s the trade my dad taught me from the start.
The family timeline
Same family on the tools for three generations.
Peter's father, Lyle Johnson, starts insulation contracting at Insul-safe, and becomes the go-to man for the tricky Brisbane roofs nobody else wanted.
"I started doing this with my dad in 1988." Peter learns the trade on the hardest roofs in Queensland, on the tools before he was 25.
As best we know, insulation stops being a licensed trade in Queensland around this time. From here on, anyone can call themselves a contractor, so systems and training become the real difference.
Peter's sons Noah and Eli are part of the business, and we're growing into a family of franchise partners, other families running their own businesses to our systems and standards. We make our own cellulose in Tiaro and install it across SE QLD. Three generations, same family, same standards.
The next generation, and a family of partners
My sons Noah and Eli, and the families joining us.
I can’t be on every job anymore. Nobody can. So instead of stretching one family thin, we’re building a family of Comfort Zone franchise partners, other families running their own businesses to our systems and standards. My sons Noah and Eli are part of it: Noah grew up in the business and now helps run the factory; Eli keeps daily operations moving. The second generation has been on the tools since they were kids.
Here’s how the quality actually holds up: everyone is trained to one standard and an owner-operator earns the right to run a job on their own only after years on the gear. Every job is photographed and those photos are checked before you’re invoiced. That’s our system, the same on every job. Your job is done by an owner-operator with their own reputation on the line, not a labour-hire body paid by the job. That’s the whole point of not subbing the work out.
What that actually buys you
Why a family that makes its own insulation does it differently.
Three generations isn't a slogan. It changes how the job gets done.
We make it, so we know it
Our cellulose is manufactured by our own family business in Tiaro. We control the quality from the bag to your ceiling, not a product we buy in and hope is good.
An owner-operator, not a cheap subbie
Your job isn't subbed out to the lowest bidder. It's done by our own family or a Comfort Zone franchise partner, an owner-operator trained to our standard with their own reputation on the line, and every job is photographed for review before you're invoiced.
Honest advice is the family rule
We won't upsell you roof vents or a higher R-value than your climate needs. I quote to do the job properly the first time, not to come back and fix it.
The honest bit
Since around 2006 (a date worth checking), insulation hasn’t been a licensed trade in Queensland. That means any bloke with a ute and a ladder can call himself an insulation contractor, no qualification required. I’m not saying that to scare you; I’m saying it because it’s exactly why training, systems and checked job photos matter. When the law stopped requiring a standard, we kept ours. That’s the difference a family name on the truck is supposed to mean.
Honest answers
Questions people ask about the family business.
How long has Comfort Zone Insulation Team been around?+
Our family has been insulating Queensland homes since 1986. Peter's father Lyle started contracting that year; Peter joined him on the tools in 1988, and Peter's sons Noah and Eli now help run the business. Three generations of the same family.
Do you use subcontractors?+
No, we don't sub the work out to the lowest bidder. Your job is done by our own family or by a Comfort Zone franchise partner: an owner-operator running their own family business to our systems and standards, trained to one standard and building their own reputation in your area, not a cheap subbie or a hired labourer who moves on to the next job. Every job is photographed and the photos are checked before you're invoiced.
Do you make your own insulation?+
Yes. We manufacture our own cellulose at our family factory in Tiaro (Cellulose Products Australia Pty Ltd) and install it ourselves, so we control the quality from the bag to your ceiling. We're one of very few companies in Australia that both makes and installs its own cellulose.
Is insulation a licensed trade in Queensland?+
Our understanding is that since around 2006 insulation has not been a licensed trade in Queensland, meaning anyone with a ute and a ladder can call themselves an insulation contractor with no qualification required. That's exactly why training, systems and checked job photos matter so much, and why we do them.
Join the family business
Want to run your own territory?
We’re building the team beyond our own region, and we’re looking for the right people to run exclusive territories, husband-and-wife and father-and-son teams especially. You come and see the factory in Tiaro, you train with us, and you sell the same honest, anti-upsell job we do. If that’s you, have a look at the opportunity.
Three generations. Same family. Same standards.
Thanks for reading about us. Whatever you decide, I’ll give you an honest quote and an honest answer, and if you go ahead, your job is done by our own family or a franchise partner trained to our standard, with their own reputation on the line and properly insured.
Peter Johnson
Owner / installer · Comfort Zone Insulation Team® · Since 1986