Question answered
Is a spray foam guarantee worth anything?
The short answer
A spray foam guarantee is worth what its wording covers and what the firm behind it can still deliver. Many are limited to defects in the product or installation, exclude moisture damage or resale value, and depend on the installer continuing to trade. A long headline term does not tell you who pays if something goes wrong, so read the document itself.
A guarantee is a promise from a business, and it is worth exactly as much as the business is still around to honour it, and what its wording actually covers.
Read what the document actually covers
The length of a guarantee says little, and the headline term is the least informative part. See the spray foam insulation removal hub for the wider service. Look at what is promised. Some cover the foam itself, such as it shrinking or separating. Others cover workmanship at the time of installation. Check whether it covers the consequences: damp in the timbers, a refused mortgage, or the cost of removal. Those consequences are what homeowners have typically been worried about.
Look also for exclusions, which tend to sit further down the page than the headline promise. Many guarantees exclude damage from moisture that was already in the roof, from leaks in the covering, from alterations by other trades, or from failure to maintain the property. Check who must make a claim, in what time, and with what evidence. A guarantee that needs you to prove the fault came from the foam, rather than from something else, can be hard to use, particularly when the evidence is hidden behind the very material in question. Photograph and file the paperwork as soon as the job is finished, and put a reminder in your diary for any renewal date or inspection the terms require.
A guarantee depends on the firm behind it
A promise from a company that no longer trades has no one to enforce it against, however handsome the certificate looks in the drawer. Check the company's status before you rely on anything it signed. Some foam installers have closed or changed name, leaving customers holding a certificate and nobody to call. Whether a separate insurer or warranty provider stands behind the promise changes things a great deal, and that should be written in the paperwork, not assumed.
Ask what happens if the installer stops trading, because many installers are small and some change hands. Does a third party take over the obligation? Can you assign the guarantee to a buyer? A transferable cover that passes to the next owner is more useful when you sell, since a buyer's solicitor will ask whether one exists. Our page on what to do when the original firm is gone is the place to start, in spray foam installer gone.
A guarantee does not settle a lender's question
Owners sometimes assume that a long guarantee will reassure a mortgage lender or a buyer's surveyor. In general it does not answer their concern. Press coverage in November 2024 named lenders that declined foamed homes, with others judging each one separately. A surveyor values the house as it stands, and the RICS guide names foam as something that may sway that valuation.
The questions a lender cares about concern the roof's condition and moisture risk, and a promise to pay later does not answer them. What helps is evidence: a moisture survey, a condensation risk assessment by a qualified professional, and a record of what is behind the foam. If the lender will not accept it, removal may be the realistic route, as confirming all the foam is removed explains.
What to ask of any roofer, including for removal
The same test applies to any roofing guarantee, including for removal and re-insulation, and to our own work as much as anyone else's. Ask for it in writing, and read it before the work starts rather than after. Ask what exactly it covers, how long, and what it excludes. Ask whether an insurer stands behind it, because a workmanship guarantee from a contractor is a different thing from a policy-backed warranty, and a good firm will say plainly which one it is.
Ask who deals with a claim, how you contact them, how long they take to respond and whether a claim must be made in writing, and keep the quote, the photographs and the invoice with the guarantee. A written promise combined with clear records is useful. A promise alone is much less so. Moisture and mould behind old foam is a worry that often prompts people to read the small print, which the page on mould behind spray foam sets out.
Building a record that outlasts any promise
Whatever the guarantee says, the lasting protection is a record of what was done, kept somewhere you can find it in ten years. For foam removal, keep dated pictures of the roof as found and as left, moisture readings, a description of any timber repairs, and a note of the ventilation and insulation fitted afterwards. These stay useful when firms close and papers go missing, and they are the first thing a surveyor or solicitor will ask to see.
If insulation is going back in, a roof designed with proper ventilation is easier to inspect and cheaper to look after, as roof ventilation after spray foam removal describes. Replacement choices are covered in insulating after spray foam. We photograph the roof first, and the survey leads to a written quote with one overall figure.
Foam guarantees: two further questions
Does a 25 year guarantee mean the foam will last 25 years?
No. A guarantee names who will put something right. How long the material itself lasts is another matter entirely. Check the term against the exclusions and the standing of the firm.
Can I pass the guarantee to a buyer?
Only if the terms allow it. Check for a transfer clause and any fee or notice period, and keep the original paperwork with the deeds.
Tell us about your roof
Describe what is happening and we will call you back to arrange a visit.
- Photographs of what we find
- A written quote with one total price
- Or call 01903 299063
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.