Warning, avoid spray foam insulation installation!

ThisIsWeird

Lokolo_2 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Lokolo_2 said:

Just wanted to post a quick warning to anyone considering installing spray foam insulation. 

I fell for home logic sales spiel a few years ago and now when trying to sell the house my buyers had their mortgage valuation declined and I had to spend considerable amounts of money to not only remove it but also get part of the roof re roofed due to the poor installation and damage it caused.

In hindsight I should have done my research, their sales people are very persistent and try to get you to sign a deal on the day and feed all sorts of lies.

So I am hoping that people considering installing it see this and take heed of the warning. Similarly buyers would be wise to get a survey done to discover if this is installed and of course any other issues as this makes it near impossible to sell on unless you can find a cash buyer!

Thanks for the warning - it cannot be given too many times.

Could you tell us what actual 'damage' it caused in your case? Thanks.

It was badly sprayed on and stuck to the roof felt, made stains on the rafters that can only be removed by sanding which you can't do on rafters! £16300 lighter after the re-roofing and removal of the spray foam insulation!

Did it actually cause damage?
What roof was it applied to? An attic space, or a lift conversion? 
Why are stains a problem?

Lokolo_2

ThisIsWeird said:

Lokolo_2 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Lokolo_2 said:

Just wanted to post a quick warning to anyone considering installing spray foam insulation. 

I fell for home logic sales spiel a few years ago and now when trying to sell the house my buyers had their mortgage valuation declined and I had to spend considerable amounts of money to not only remove it but also get part of the roof re roofed due to the poor installation and damage it caused.

In hindsight I should have done my research, their sales people are very persistent and try to get you to sign a deal on the day and feed all sorts of lies.

So I am hoping that people considering installing it see this and take heed of the warning. Similarly buyers would be wise to get a survey done to discover if this is installed and of course any other issues as this makes it near impossible to sell on unless you can find a cash buyer!

Thanks for the warning - it cannot be given too many times.

Could you tell us what actual 'damage' it caused in your case? Thanks.

It was badly sprayed on and stuck to the roof felt, made stains on the rafters that can only be removed by sanding which you can't do on rafters! £16300 lighter after the re-roofing and removal of the spray foam insulation!

Did it actually cause damage?
What roof was it applied to? An attic space, or a lift conversion? 
Why are stains a problem?

Yes, impossible to remove it without ripping the felt, it was in the loft (not conversion). 

No idea about the Stains, when you hire a contractor with near 100% good feedback on Checkatrade you tend to trust their word, you seem very defensive in favour of spray foam insulation I daresay! 

BarelySentientAI

Lokolo_2 said:

you seem very defensive in favour of spray foam insulation I daresay! 

That's massively out of order.  Bad form to jump to "you're a shill" just because you're feeling frustrated.

It was a legitimate question - a £16k reroof because some rafters were a "stained" does seem OTT, so asking whether it had done some real damage that required such a large amount of work is quite sensible.

Surely there was some significant damage if it was such a big problem that the property could not be mortgaged?

It's an 'interesting' stand you're taking here - "I fell for a scam before but this contractor is deffo legit - the internet says so"

eddddy

BarelySentientAI said:

Surely there was some significant damage if it was such a big problem that the property could not be mortgaged?

I'm not sure if I'm understanding your comment correctly... but the mortgage refusal wouldn't be due to damage, it would simply be due to the presence of spray foam insulation.

As far as I can gather, no mortgage lender will lend on a property with spray foam insulation.


The problem with spray foam insulation is that it can 'help' roof timbers to rot, and you wouldn't be able to see the rot - because the timbers are covered in spray foam.

So even if there's no rot today, the spray foam causes an increased risk of rot in the future (which you probably wouldn't be able to see, until the roof starts sagging).

Lokolo_2

eddddy said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Surely there was some significant damage if it was such a big problem that the property could not be mortgaged?

I'm not sure if I'm understanding your comment correctly... but the mortgage refusal wouldn't be due to damage, it would simply be due to the presence of spray foam insulation.

As far as I can gather, no mortgage lender will lend on a property with spray foam insulation.


The problem with spray foam insulation is that it can 'help' roof timbers to rot, and you wouldn't be able to see the rot - because the timbers are covered in spray foam.

So even if there's no rot today, the spray foam causes an increased risk of rot in the future.

This is exactly the point. If you have it and are fortunate that removal is easy and no damage has been done by it then it's still a few grand expense but not what I had.

@barelysentientAI I've already explained earlier in the thread about the damage to the felt. Your trolling adds nothing useful to the thread so I won't further entertain your comments as is my perogative.

BarelySentientAI

So veiled accusations that someone is shilling for an industry are fine, but calling you out on it is trolling?

Very mature decision there OP.

eddddy said:

BarelySentientAI said:

Surely there was some significant damage if it was such a big problem that the property could not be mortgaged?

I'm not sure if I'm understanding your comment correctly... but the mortgage refusal wouldn't be due to damage, it would simply be due to the presence of spray foam insulation.

As far as I can gather, no mortgage lender will lend on a property with spray foam insulation.


The problem with spray foam insulation is that it can 'help' roof timbers to rot, and you wouldn't be able to see the rot - because the timbers are covered in spray foam.

So even if there's no rot today, the spray foam causes an increased risk of rot in the future (which you probably wouldn't be able to see, until the roof starts sagging).

Yes, badly phrased - I was more meaning the potential for damage which you've explained quite nicely thanks.  I couldn't see why stained wood and something stuck to the felt constituted such severe damage that the entire roof needed replacing, and it seems it doesn't.

ThisIsWeird

Lokolo_2 said:

Yes, impossible to remove it without ripping the felt, it was in the loft (not conversion). 

No idea about the Stains, when you hire a contractor with near 100% good feedback on Checkatrade you tend to trust their word, you seem very defensive in favour of spray foam insulation I daresay! 

Please read my very first sentence in my first reply to this thread - I'm very much with you on this :-) 
I think I understand the situation with spray-foam insulation, including the simple fact that it cannot even provide 'insulation' in many cases, such as in a normal ventilated loft. In these cases in particular, it has undoubtedly been mis-sold.
I understand the main long term issue is how it seals against the rafters and prevents them from being ventilated. Water can become trapped underneath, and they can therefore rot away undetected.
I was therefore interested in what actual 'damage' was caused in your case - was it a matter of rotting timber? From what you describe, the damage was seemingly caused by the foam's removal?
I have pondered on another thread whether a potential alternative to full removal could be to slice down alongside each rafter using a blunt-tipped knife, and then again at 45o to remove a wedge of foam and fully exposed the sides of the rafters. Could this allow the rafters to breathe ok, and save having to remove the whole caboodle, I wonder?
Yes, a pure scam in many cases.