Spray Foam Loft Insulation Nightmare

An estimated 250,000 homeowners in Britain have spray-foam insulation in their loft, according to the Property Care Association (PCA), a trade body for building specialists. However, the industry has been riddled with cowboy installers whereby their poor-quality installations can leave moisture trapped behind the foam, which can then rot the roof timbers.

Recent reports have indicated that a growing number of homeowners are finding they can’t sell or remortgage their properties, because insulation work they had carried out badly, has scared many lenders off.

Even if the roof is not damaged, it can still be difficult for surveyors to declare it safe, because they are unable to see the timbers behind the foam. As a result of this uncertainty, lenders often refuse to provide mortgages, which leaves some homeowners in the difficult position of being unable to sell or remortgage their homes. Even when the supplier of the spray foam insulation have provided a warranty, this is still not accepted by many mortgage companies.

The industry and surveyors have been trying to break the stalemate. In March 2023, the PCA introduced the Sprayed Foam Insulation Inspection Protocol, in an attempt to establish uniform standards for surveyors to inspect foam lined roofs. At present, there are nine professionals trained to provide risk assessments for homeowners, with more on the way, according to James Berry, the Deputy Chief Executive of the PCA.

“I haven’t got any doubt that some lenders will provide finance if the foam was installed correctly,” says Stephen Hodgson, a Building Consultant and former Chief Executive of the PCA who inspects spray-foamed roofs for homeowners and also trains surveyors. “But the vast majority of installations that my colleagues and I are looking at are problematic and never should have been done. There are defects.”

Of the 45 inspections Hodgson estimates he’s done over the past year, he calculates that around only three were carried out properly and would pass the appropriate test with lenders.

He also finds that there appears to be 3 common problems. Firstly, lofts that already had insulation on the floor, now also have spray foam on the underside of the roof. Having both, can pose a condensation risk, he says.

Secondly, the ‘vast majority’ of installations he has seen are sprayed onto roofs already lined with bitumen felt membranes (non-breathable or high resistance underlays), typical of most houses built in the UK between 1900 and 1960. “If you install something that allows vapour through - ‘breathable’ open cell foam – and then back it with something that isn’t breathable, like bitumen, the vapour goes through the foam, stops and gets wet,” says Hodgson, who is also a fellow of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers. “That’s when the risk of decay occurs.”

Thirdly, the quality of installations is a problem. “Many have holes and inconsistencies in the foam. That creates cold patches where water builds up.”

The latest research available backs up the concern that has been expressed by surveyors. In April this year, the previous Government’s Health and Safety Executive released a report on the moisture risk of spray foam applied to timer roofs. Its modelling predicted that the risks are “high” when open-cell spray foam is applied directly onto the underside of the roof. And it further predicted that 25% of the timber would decay over a five-year period in roofs where open-cell spray foam is applied to a high-resistance underlay such as a bitumen felt.

Risks were deemed low when open cell foam is applied in line with official guidance – for example with a breathable underlay or an air gap behind it. The problem according to Hodgson is that for a long time “the industry has ignored its own guidance”.

That said, homeowners should not panic and rush to have their spray foam insulation removed, Hodgson advises. Many of the cowboy companies that installed the bad insulation, have now dissolved and reinvented themselves as removal companies, sometimes charging from £5,000 to £10,000. Some do inferior jobs that do not resolve the issue. His advice is to wait until the current panic is over and prices settle down. “In some circumstances, you can leave it alone: if it’s a newer house and foam is built into the roof with a vapour barrier on the warm side, for instance.”

If however, your house was built before the 1960s, with foam sprayed directly onto the roof, or on to a bitumen felt, “you should be thinking about talking that out at some point”, Hodgson recommends.

In addition, if you need to sell imminently, assemble the necessary paperwork and call the PCA for their advice and a possible risk assessment survey to show lenders.

If you opt to have the spray foam insulation removed, in the first instance, it is advisable to research the history of a removal company on Companies House, before instructing them. If they were previously an installation company, they may not be trustworthy.

You might not have a choice but to remove the spray foam if you want equity release on your house, says Andy Wilson, the Director of Andy Wilson Financial Services, an equity release specialist. “All lifetime mortgage lenders still will not lend on properties with foam in place,” he says. “One lender, Live More, has introduced a lifetime mortgage that can be taken out even if the foam is installed, on the condition that it is removed within 90 days of completion of the loan. This product will help those who are unable to finance removal up front. But it has higher interest rates than alternative providers”.

Simon Baker the President of Huntsman Building Solutions, a global manufacturer of spray foam insulation based in Texas, warns against using cold callers who claim they can get you compensation. “There are a number of unscrupulous installers, and not all installs are the same. We only sell to authorised contractors and we make sure they have been through our Huntsman Building Solutions University.” The company runs 5-day installation courses in the UK.

Baker disagrees with some of the findings of the Health and Safety Executive’s report and insists that open cell spray foam applied to non-breathable membranes is approved in certain scenarios, for instance if moisture surveys are performed. “The UK needs more insulations and spray foam is one of the best solutions”, he says.

However, he is unable to guarantee that his customers will receive a mortgage if they have spray foam saying, “It’s impossible to guarantee. But we’ll work with the lender and the surveyor to make sure that the foam is correctly understood. We’ve found a huge lack of understanding of spray foam in the surveyor community. It’s not as difficult to get mortgages as it’s portrayed to be. We find 999 out of 1,000 times homeowners can get a mortgage, once the documentation is explained.”

Whilst Hodgson acknowledges that spray foam can be a great insulator, he doesn’t believe that installing it in a cold, uninhabited loft space is actually worth the risk. Instead, he believes traditional loft floor insulation is cheaper, just as efficient and keeps lofts ventilated and timbers dry. Adding that UK homes are built differently to North American ones.

Paula Higgins, the Chief Executive of the Homeowner’s Alliance, says the industry needs better regulation. “The installation companies should be upfront with customers that if you have foam installed, you may not be able to get a mortgage.”

The installation of spray foam in uninhabited loft spaces is not supported by the most recent green retrofit project - The Great British Insulation Scheme, despite the fact that it was initially recommended by the previous Tory government when they were in power.

A department for energy security and net zero spokesperson from the previous government had said that “All spray foam insulation funded by any government grant must be installed by a Trustmark registered company. It is the certified installer’s responsibility to recommend an appropriate product that meets the standards required. The last government consulted installers, lenders, surveyors who have now published protocols to allow an assessment of spray foam installations to provide reassurance to lenders”.