The survey found spray foam: what now?

Surveyors write short notes, and a line about foam can read alarmingly. Usually it says one of two things: foam is present, or part of the roof could not be examined because foam covers it. The second is the more frequent source of concern, because a surveyor cannot sign off timber they were unable to reach.

That is different from a finding of damp or rot. Look carefully at what the report says. Does it describe a defect, or only a limitation? A limitation is a gap in the evidence, and a gap can be closed by looking. A defect needs a repair. Knowing which you hold changes what you do next, and what you say to the seller or the estate agent in the meantime. Do not sign anything that commits you to a price change until you know. A sensible buyer waits for the facts, and a seller who wants the sale to go through will usually allow a short delay for a roofer to look.

Start with the people who decide the outcome. If you are buying, tell your solicitor and mortgage adviser at once. The RICS consumer guide advises asking the mortgage provider whether its policy allows foam, and a trade report in November 2024 found lenders divided on the subject. Your lender may want more evidence before it releases funds.

Ask the surveyor what they would need to see in order to lift the limitation. Some want a specialist report on the roof timbers. Ask also what the foam is, if they know, and when it went in. Your questions work better with those answers in hand, and they help any roofer who comes to look. Write the replies down, with the date and the name of whoever gave them. A short email confirming what was said gives you a paper trail if the lender later changes its line.

A loft visit finds out what the surveyor could not. We see what the foam is touching, how deep it lies, and whether it is the soft kind or the hard kind. We study the eaves, the ridge end and the places where the coating stops, and we probe any bare timber. Staining, a musty smell or soft wood goes in the report with photographs.

We also look for signs of past leaks around chimneys and valleys, since foam sprayed over an old stain is a different story from foam over dry felt. Some visits find dry, sound rafters and nothing to worry about. Others find a leak the foam has been hiding. Either way you receive a recommendation you can act on, and nothing happens to the foam on the day unless you have asked for it. We sit down with the photographs and go through them, so you can explain them to a lender or a seller in your own words. Our guide to the spray foam survey covers what is checked.

If the roof proves sound, photographs of dry rafters help you show the lender that the position is understood. If problems turn up, perhaps soft timber near the eaves or felt that has been torn, a written quote follows, covering the job for a single total, and you can use it in talks with the seller. Some buyers ask for a reduction, some for the work to be done before completion, and some walk away. That decision is yours, and your solicitor can advise on the legal side of it.

Time is tight in a sale. Tell us your dates at the outset, and say whether the seller will allow access. If it is a property you already own, you have more room to plan. Our answer on selling a house with spray foam looks at the same question from the seller's side.

Foam is not always the villain, and a note in a report is not a verdict on the house. Where the roof is dry and the timber sound, the foam can stay, and a recommendation to leave it costs you nothing beyond the visit. The report we give is useful either way, because it is a record that a buyer or lender can read for themselves.

If the answer is to act, you get the least work that cures the problem and the photographs behind it. Send us the report page that mentions foam, along with loft photographs if you have them. The main spray foam removal page explains what the work covers, and our answer on whether spray foam needs removing helps with the decision.