Do you need your spray foam removed?

How to tell if you have it

Citizens Advice says that if you have spray foam in the roof, you'll see a bumpy cream, yellow or blue foam between the rafters when you look in the loft^[1].

What can go wrong

• Citizens Advice says spray foam can reduce ventilation, which can cause condensation and dampness, cover up problems in the roof like leaks or damaged wood, and be very difficult to remove before making repairs^[1].
• RICS warns that a roof leak behind some types of spray foam may go unnoticed, and an undetected leak can lead to rotting timber^[2].

When removal makes sense

• Citizens Advice says that if your spray foam isn't causing you any problems, you might not need to get it removed^[1].
• Citizens Advice lists the reasons you might want it removed: it is causing damp and condensation, it is damaging the property, or you need to make a repair, such as to a roof covered in foam^[1].

Get an independent view first

Citizens Advice says to check with a building surveyor before you pay to have spray foam removed, and that the Property Care Association lists specialist spray foam assessors who can tell you whether it needs to come out^[1].

RICS advises using independent experts who are commercially separate from the installer and the manufacturer^[2]. A removal firm has a reason to recommend removal, so a separate survey is worth having before you decide.

Watch out for cold callers

Citizens Advice warns that being cold called or pressured into having spray foam removed might be a scam, and that some traders have installed spray foam incorrectly and then charged to remove it^[1]. Don't agree to work on the doorstep.

If you arrange the work at your home rather than at the firm's premises, Citizens Advice says you have a 14-day cooling-off period to cancel and get a refund^[3]. The cooling-off period begins the day after you give the go-ahead for the work^[3].