Problems with your spray foam roof insulation?

Not all spray foam installations are bad. However, a significant number of them over the past 30 years have been carried out using what’s known as ‘closed cell foam’ which effectively prevents air circulation in your loft leading to the roof timbers getting damp and eventually causing the roof structure to rot. Because spray foam often covers the roof support timbers, it’s impossible to inspect the timbers. Becuase lenders don’t know which spray foam installations have been correctly carried out and which have not, they generally refuse to offer loans on properties that have had spray foam insultation installed effectively making it impossible to sell your home and making it pretty much worthless.

To have the original spray foam removed and your home re-insultated with approved quality materials such as Rockwool or Kingspan Insulation Boards. Provided the work has been carried out by professional contractors such as Local Spray Foam Removal, that should satisfy lenders to lend on your property again.

Yes. Aside from the fact that your home will remain effectively worthless which can be an issue if you intend to leave it to your family after your death, there is a more immediate problem. If the wrong type of spray foam was used during the original installation, your whole roof structure could eventually fail causing your roof to collapse if the situation is not remedied. That’s why, in most cases, it’s recommended by bodies such as The Property Care Association that spray foam be completely removed.

That all depends on how big your roof is. It also depends on whether damage has already occured as a result of the spray foam. For example, with some earlier installations, the roof felt was removed and the foam sprayed onto the underside of the roof tiles or slates which has the effect of gluing the whole roof together making it impossible to repair the roof without entirely dismantalling it and putting on a new roof or having the foam professionally removed from within your loft. As experienced contractors and roofers, we will remove the foam without causing further damage and are able to effect any repairs which may been needed to the roof trusses for example. That’s why until we have inspected your spray foam installation, we cannot give you an accurate cost for removing it.

It’s not recommended as you could cause further damage to your roof and potentially any electric cables which have been covered during the original spray foam installation. The foam itself may also be toxic. Removing spray foam is not as easy as it might appear and requires to be done carefully by trained professionals.

Our specialist teams around the UK have all the necessary equipment, training and experience to carry out spray foam removal work. The method we prefer is known as dry ice blasting to avoid damage to the roof structure. Dry ice blasting removes foam without causing pitting or damage to any fixed roof tiles or wooden trusses. It also removes spray foam insulation in large chunks rather than the traditional way of scraping the foam off manually.

Yes, we can also install traditional insulation methods after removing the original spray foam. We use traditional Rockwool material or if preferred, Kingspan insulation boards. Both products are excellent.

Well if you have been unable to sell your home, you should let your estate agent know that the removal work as been professionally carried out and we will provide written evidence of this. A survey will be carried out by the potential buyer as part of their mortgage application which should satisfy the lender.

We work throughout England, Scotland and Wales including Aberdeen, Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Blackpool, Bristol, Brighton, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Carlisle, Colchester, Chester, Derby, Dumfries, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Falmouth, Fort William, Glasgow, Hull, Inverness, Ipswich, Leicester, Leeds, Liverpool, Livingston, London, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newquay, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Paisley, Perth, Peterborough, Peterhead, Plymouth, Sheffield, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, Torquay, Truro, Warrington and York.

Possibly. You would need to go to a solicitor for advice on that. However, if the firm which installed it is no longer trading, then recovering the money spent on the original installation will probably be impossible.