What should you ask before booking spray foam removal?

Start with the survey, because every other answer depends on it. Ask whether someone will climb into the loft in person, or whether the price will be named from a photograph over the phone. Foam on bare rafters is a very different job from foam glued to the felt, and only a visit tells the two apart.

Ask what you will be sent afterwards, and when. Pictures of your own roof should arrive with the quote, showing the foam, the timbers where they can be seen and any damp or staining at the edges. Ask, too, for a plain verdict: take it out, open it in places, or leave it be. A contractor who insists removal is the only answer before seeing the loft is guessing. Our page on the spray foam survey lists what a thorough inspection covers, so you know what to expect from the visit and can tell a proper inspection from a quick look.

Ask whether the work happens from inside the loft or from above with tiles lifted. When foam sits on bare rafters under a sound covering, working from inside is the route a roofer looks at first. When it has stuck hard to the felt or the backs of the tiles, the roof has to be opened in sections, and that changes the scaffold, the weather risk and the price.

Follow up with two practical questions. How will the rooms below be protected from dust, and what is the plan if rain is forecast while a slope is open? You want specifics: sheeting on the ceiling, a sealed hatch, and each opened section made watertight before anyone goes home. Our guide to how difficult spray foam is to remove explains why some lofts take far more effort than others, from tight bungalow eaves to boxed-in rafters.

Most owners remove foam to see the wood beneath it, so ask what will be done when it shows. Will the rafters be probed and read with a moisture meter? What is the plan if some are soft? Who decides, and how will you be told, with pictures or only a phone call? If a contractor cannot say how softness is judged, that tells you something.

A trace of foam may stay on the face of dry, sound timber, and a good contractor tells you where. Ask whether the felt will be inspected or renewed, and whether the air paths at the eaves will be freed, since foam often blocks them. If timber needs replacing, that is extra work to agree before it happens. Our page on spray foam and timber damage shows what failing rafters look like, so you can follow the answers you are given.

Get the price on paper, stated as a single total. Find out whether VAT and scaffolding are in it, because those are the two items most likely to be missing from a figure that looks low. National cost guides give typical ranges, but only the quote written after your own survey applies to your own roof.

Ask about cancellation too. If you sign at home, you generally have 14 days to cancel, and a contractor should begin inside that period only on your written request. A visit you asked for to deal with an urgent leak is treated differently. Our page on spray foam removal cost sets out what moves the total, from access to what the timbers turn out to need, and it helps when two figures you have been given differ.

RICS advises owners to find out from their mortgage provider whether its policy permits spray foam. Today's Conveyancer reported in November 2024 that some lenders turn such homes down while others look at each one on its merits. If you are selling or remortgaging, ask your lender or conveyancer what evidence they want after removal, and ask before the work starts.

Photographs at each stage, a written description of what was found and a record of the insulation put back are the usual answers. Removing foam does not guarantee a sale or a remortgage, and no contractor can promise that. Ask yours what paperwork they will hand over at the end, and whether it will include dated photographs of the bare timber once the foam has gone. A lender or a buyer's surveyor may want to see exactly that. Our page on spray foam insulation removal shows how we work, and the answer on remortgaging after spray foam explains what a lender may look for.