Unless used in the construction process for real purposes it’s pretty useless anyway , seems like a niche con. Inhabitable loft spaces should be breathable spaces surly is more beneficial to insulate more at truss level to prevent heat escape into the loft . Wouldn’t the escaping heat coming into the space prevent heat trapped from recirculating back down to the habitable living spaces anyway ?

It's not to do with being installed badly.. Nothing should be installed that can't be easily removed. Sheets of insulation are just as efficient and can be removed in the event of a problem. Spray foam like every other crass government approved energy saving fiasco has cost Britain billions... Grenfell is just the top of the iceberg. All the government's fault like the post office scandal.

So is open cell foam insulation ok?

I'd put cellotex etc in between the rafters if anything but the majority of heat should stop at the ceiling anyway. just put more effort into insulating the attic floor...

I don’t imagine any building of that age is very airtight. Ventilation will be more than adequate. The foam has clearly been doing its job without issue. Mortgage lenders should take each installation on an individual basis.

What was impressed on me when I had my Home Energy Audit was that Air Infiltration is the prime suspect when it comes to money spent keeping warm. This was further reinforced by visiting the US D.O.E website. What this means for you, is your money is best spent on plugging up the leaks, not on more insulation, assuming that back in the ‘70’s your home was brought up to date with blown in cellulose and those old leaky windows were replaced. If that wasn’t done, now would be a good time to get it done. As for the new foam insulation, you would be better off if you just gave it a pass. Urethane Foam is essentially Gorilla Glue and just as hard to remove and every bit as flammable. Contrast this with blown in cellulose and fiberglass which are definitely not any of those things. Urethane Foam is one big pain to remove, you can’t just roll it up or vacuum it out, and you definitely do not want it on wiring, piping, or ductwork. In fact there are building codes that address just that. Plugging up the leaks is pretty easy, the only real tools you need are your hands. You feel along on a cold windy day and every leak is very evident. More stubborn or less obvious leaks will be found with a Home Energy Audit. I have found that the rubbery foam a lot of electronics come in cuts easily, is very stuffable, and is clean to work with. Top off the foam plugs with a smear of water clean up latex/silicone caulk and it’s bye bye leaks. You’ll be amazed at the difference. Back to spray foam, the key to success with it is the same as a good paint job, PREP IS EVERYTHING. Spraying foam over air leaks is not useful, something always gets missed. Seal the leaks first. If the company you hired isn’t doing this on your job they are wasting your money and leaving you with a headache once that foam has turned into a rock. And if you think they are going to dig out badly done foam because you still feel drafts later, you’re deluding yourself, they’re just going to spray more foam on top of the problem. The other big issue is dirt, just like painting over dirt, spraying over it ends up with a problem with adhesion and drafts. In conclusion, If you do decide to go with foam, watch them like a hawk, make sure before they start spraying that the air leaks are plugged, the area to be done is properly vacuumed, and the continuous vapor barrier (if it’s a dirt floor) is fitted neatly, sealed to the wall with double lines of Butyl caulk at the base and at its termination roughly 6” from the sill plate. If they aren’t doing it right, the best time to stop them is before the spraying starts. If they balk, throw them out of your house.

I had this on my previous house. Cost in region of £5k to remove and that’s the average price they all charge. The workers did it by hand rather than a machine and it took 3 days to remove. Luckily there was no serious damage and the house was sellable. It wasn’t the building surveyor however it was the mortgage valuator who said it had to come off as since 2022 no mortgage company will lend if this is installed apart from nationwide if you have the original paperwork and even then it’s highly likely they will still turn it down.

This is typical sensationalistic "journalism." We don't need to see a nice woman in tears, but TV reporters absolutely thrive on getting women to cry on TV. Just explain the science involved so viewers can make informed decisions. This report is classic TV reporting, do it cheap and fast, with minimum research, and no specialized graphics that would show what is actually happening.

Unbelievable, paid cash, no survey and then says the cost is on her........yeah, it's YOUR house and as you say, deal with the problems as you find them.......utterly maddening when people cut corners and then cry about it

Have the owners tried using a " Solvent ".....it would remove the foam by disintegration....with no need to take tiles off

Hard to feel sorry for her - she took a risk not getting a survey done and has exposed herself. No one to blame but herself

It's not just in the UK. In the U.S. some insulation contractors push hard for what's called a "conditioned attic." Rather than insulating just the living areas, they tell homeowners to insulate their attic too. That typically means blowing foam between the rafters. Instead, I went with blown-in cellulose for my home and I am delighted with the result. I not only have excellent insulation, cellulose also provides sound-proofing, insect-proofing, and great fire protection. Cellulose is very resistant to burning. It's only weakness is that it doesn't like to be wet, so I used fiberglass around my eaves. The key factor in this dispute is, I suspect, that most homeowners can install blown-in cellulose insulation themselves. Home improvement stores will even loan them the blowers to do that. In contrast foam insulation requires skills most homeowner don't have and thus requires a contractor.

Why not remove the roofing tiles to inspect the framing instead of ripping the closed cell foam out?

I agree that closed cell spray foam applied under the roofing tiles of that very old house was a really bad idea. Nevertheless, forcing people to remove the spray foam, when it was apparently performing acceptably for seven years makes little sense. The surveyor did not actually discover any rotten wood and did not seem to report excessive moisture content in the rafters. There may also be ways of mitigating the risk without ripping out the whole roof. Lenders should be able to verify the status of installation on an individual basis rather than fully excluding one technology. There are plenty of bad installations of external wall insulation systems using polystyrene for example, but lenders do not seem to care about the risk of these.

I deal with this all the time as I work for a company where we deal with getting people money back for both installation and extraction, but there is a caveat, did you pay on credit card?

Sad to say, but that is why you get a survey.

Her own fault for buying the house without surveying

Can we claim from the insurance backed guarantee

I might be able to assist this client if they want to get in touch

completely unfair on homeowners and legit installers. Surveyors punishing them for the issues caused by the minority

Wait, why was she crying?

RPSA is a breath of fresh air to individual property surveyors. RPSA are certainly setting and raising standards and genuinely aim to help their members. Well done and thank you! Keep up the good work!

Well done Alan

Awesome news. Well done 👍🏻

Interesting and useful session Alan, thank you. TD

I just checked and our information had dropped off the bottom of the displayable section of the website in wix so wasn't viewable when you looked at the website. I've moved it up so it's visible now, cheers.

Fantastic video Alan, look forward to the next one