Spray foam insulation

Mikenlfc86

We are interested in having open cell spray foam insulation installed in our loft. Obviously we have heard a few horror stories but what is my biggest worry is it effect my chances of borrowing on my mortgage or selling our house. Iv researched a lot and keep finding mixed information.  Does anyone have any experience with spray foam insulation? Have their banks refused to accept it? Am I better off talking to my bank? Any people's experience of this subject would be great. We are not planning on selling any time soon, maybe remortgaging and we are worried trying to keep our house warm and bills lower could ultimately cost us more.
Thanks

Mstty

If you aren't going to sell probably not an issue. 

If you are best you talk to every bank as potential buyers could mortgage with any one of them.

From what I have read it's not worth the potential issues come sale time for us as we tend to move every 5 years.

[Deleted User]

This link explains the issues:

https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/insulation/spray-foam-problems

I am not sure that it is worth the risk. I would seek independent advice from a surveyor.

Tucosalamanca

Lots of other alternatives. PIR insulation, any number of thermal insulation quilts that are very easy to install.
Even 270mm loose lay will work for most people. It's not difficult to get the u value down.

As a roofer, I'm yet to hear of a client who's been happy with the result.
Although I've had lots of call outs for various issues, surveying and writing reports, giving people bad news that the only solution is expensive refurbishment (time to remove and volume of waste generated, along with cost of new roof will invariably be into five figures)
Most concerning is the high pressure sales and the elderly who have it installed within hours of a sales rep doing a home visit/survey. I've heard (and seen) some absolute horror stories to be honest...

doodling

Hi,

I would not buy a house that has had spray foam insulation installed in a loft.

Many surveyors will, when valuing a house that has had spray foam insulation installed, either value it as £0 as the guidelines from their customer (bank / building society) say that they will not accept it, or will assume it needs an immediate full roof replacement and deduct the £40k to £100k as appropriate from the value.

If you are never going to sell or mortgage the house and you don't have any intention of passing its value on to your heirs then go for it.

There are many other alternatives to spray on foam and pretty much all of them are better.

FreeBear

There have been a few postings over on the home buying section where surveyors have given a zero valuation on properties with spray foam insulation. And for good reason.

The spray foam can trap water up against the roof timbers (perhaps after having a slipped tile during a storm) and cause unseen rot to set in. The first you would know of it is a slow collapse of the roof followed by an very high repair bill that wouldn't be covered by insurance.

If the loft space is just used as storage, then you should be insulating at the ceiling joist level - No point in heating an unused space that is designed to be cold an draughty. 300mm of fibreglass will cost you less than £500 and take a day to fit - It is a simple enough job that most able bodied people can do themselves.

[Deleted User]

FreeBear said:

It is a simple enough job that most able bodied people can do themselves.

Although I've been putting off doing mine for months with images of falling through the ceiling in my head.

ariarnia

for me its looking at the stuff in the shop and feeling that itch! 

fantasyvsreality

Hello, I recently tried to purchase a house that was found to have spray foam insulation and the Natwest mortgage valuation came back at 0. Natwest told me that I could only proceed if the vendor had a roofer strip out all the spray foam in line with building regs. A roofer on here kindly explained that it would not be a cheap job for the vendor to do. I pulled out of the purchase and two months later I notice that the vendor has recently resisted the property to rent - perhaps because the cost to do the work was too high.

FreeBear

fantasyvsreality said:

Hello, I recently tried to purchase a house that was found to have spray foam insulation and the Natwest mortgage valuation came back at 0. Natwest told me that I could only proceed if the vendor had a roofer strip out all the spray foam in line with building regs. A roofer on here kindly explained that it would not be a cheap job for the vendor to do. I pulled out of the purchase and two months later I notice that the vendor has recently resisted the property to rent - perhaps because the cost to do the work was too high.

Budget something in the region of £10-20K plus four large skips - That assumes there is no rot in the timbers and 90% of the tiles can be reused. Definitely not a cheap job.

rowdy75

My in laws have just had to have all the tiling removed and a new roof membrane fitted and re tiled because they had spray foam insulation put in the loft. They were told by the mortgage company they would not be able to sell it unless it is removed. Avoid.