Most spray foam complaints we hear start with a conversation on the doorstep or a phone call from a firm nobody had heard of. The pitch is usually the same: your roof is losing heat, or your tiles are about to fail, and foam will fix it cheaply, quickly and with a grant on top. Years later the owner finds a surveyor refusing to sign off a sale, a lender asking awkward questions, or damp timbers. This page explains how mis-selling tends to work, what the law generally expects of sellers, and the practical steps open to you. It is general information, not legal advice.
What mis-selling looks like in practice
Mis-selling is not a technical term for foam that went wrong. It describes a sale made on a false or misleading basis. With spray foam, the same patterns appear again and again. A caller says the roof is failing and only foam will save it, when the tiles were sound. A salesperson promises the foam will cut bills by an amount they cannot back up, or that it will strengthen loose tiles and so replace a repair. A company says the work is part of a government scheme, or implies grants are available, to push a quick decision. The foam is described as having no downside, with no mention of ventilation, moisture or what a future buyer or lender may think.
Pressure is the other common thread: a price that is only good today, a start date tomorrow, a deposit demanded at the door, or a signature requested before you have seen any paperwork. A fair sale of a product with known trade-offs gives you time, written information and the chance to ask somebody else. If any of these are missing, that is information in itself.
Why the problems often appear years later
Foam rarely fails on the day it is fitted. Moisture damage to rafters builds up slowly, and the first outside signal is often a house sale. A buyer's surveyor looks in the loft, sees foam on the underside of the tiles, and flags it. Some lenders have declined to lend on homes with foam, others decide case by case, and positions vary and change. At that point the owner learns that the "cheap upgrade" has become a barrier to the sale. Our page on spray foam and mortgages explains what lenders and surveyors tend to ask for.
The RICS consumer guide on spray foam is a useful reference here. It explains that foam turns a cold roof into a warm roof, that poor installation can cause uncontrolled condensation and damage, and that timbers can look dry on the visible face and still be wet behind the foam. Anyone selling foam should be able to explain those points plainly, and anyone who dismissed them was not giving you the full picture. You can read the guide on the RICS website.
What sellers are generally expected to do
In broad terms, UK consumer law expects a trader to describe goods and services accurately, not to mislead you by what they say or leave out, and not to use aggressive pressure. Work must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. Where a sale happens at your home, you also get a cancellation period for many contracts, so a signature on your own sofa is not necessarily the end of the matter. The exact position depends on how and where the contract was made, so check the details with an adviser before relying on any of this. Independent guidance is available from Citizens Advice, and the consumer helpline can point you to the right local Trading Standards service.
We are roofers, not lawyers, and we do not give legal advice. What we can do is look at the roof and tell you in plain language what is there, so that whatever you decide to do next rests on facts about your own timbers and not on a salesperson's claims.
Mis-selling or poor workmanship?
The two get tangled, and it helps to separate them. Poor workmanship is about how the foam went on: patchy coverage, foam sprayed over vents, gaps at the eaves, a mess left on the tiles. Mis-selling is about why you bought it: what you were told, what was left out, and whether the product suited your roof at all. A single job can involve both. A roof with sound tiles and a dry loft that was foamed because a salesperson said it was failing is a mis-selling story, even if the spraying itself was tidy. A roof that really needed insulation, sold honestly but sprayed over blocked eaves, is a workmanship story.
The distinction matters because the evidence differs. For workmanship, the roof itself is the evidence, and photographs and readings taken now show it. For mis-selling, your notes and messages carry the weight, which is why writing down what was said, early, is worth the effort.
What a fair seller would have told you
It is easier to spot a one-sided pitch once you know what a balanced one contains. A fair explanation of spray foam covers several points before any money changes hands.
- That the foam changes a ventilated cold roof into an unventilated warm roof, and what that means for the timbers.
- That the roof is harder to inspect afterwards, and small repairs become slower and dearer.
- That some lenders and surveyors treat foam in a roof with caution, which can affect a sale or remortgage.
- Which type of foam is proposed, why, and what the manufacturer's data sheet says about use on a roof.
- Who holds the guarantee, what it covers, and whether it would still stand if the installer stopped trading.
- What alternatives exist, such as insulating at the loft floor or between and over the rafters with boards.
If none of this came up in your conversation, that tells you something about the sale, whatever the quality of the spraying.
What to gather before you do anything else
If you suspect you were sold foam on a misleading basis, start with paperwork. Collect everything you were given or sent, in date order, and add anything that records the conversation. A tidy file makes every later step easier, whether that is a complaint, a surveyor's report or a removal quote.
- The signed contract or order form, any quotation, and the invoice and proof of payment.
- Product data sheets, installer certificates and any guarantee or warranty document.
- Emails, text messages, leaflets and website screenshots that contain claims about savings, grants or safety.
- Photographs of the loft taken before and after the work, if you have them, and the date the installation took place.
- The name, address and registered company number of the firm, plus any trading names it used.
- A note of what was said on the doorstep or by phone, written down as soon as you can while you remember it.
Then get an independent view of the roof. A survey from a roofer or a chartered surveyor who has no interest in selling you more work gives you evidence of what is actually under the foam, and moisture readings can show whether damage has started. Our page on spray foam paperwork covers which documents matter most to a buyer or lender.
Routes to put things right
The first step is usually a written complaint to the firm, setting out what was said, what happened and what you want. Keep it factual and keep copies. If the firm has closed or will not respond, the options widen: a complaint to Trading Standards through the consumer helpline, advice from a consumer organisation, a claim under any guarantee or insurance-backed warranty that actually exists, and for payments by card, a conversation with your card provider about your rights. Some guarantees are held by a third party and survive after the installer stops trading, so check who stands behind yours. We explain how those claims tend to run on claiming on a spray foam guarantee.
Timing matters. Rights to put a complaint or claim can be limited by how long ago the sale was made, so do not leave it. If a house sale is in progress, tell your solicitor at once, because they will need to deal with what the buyer's side has been told.
The roof comes first, whatever happens with the claim
A complaint can take months, and the roof is still sitting there in the meantime. Whether or not you recover money, you will want to know whether the timbers are dry and whether the foam can stay. That is a separate question from who is to blame, and it deserves a straight answer. We visit free, photograph your loft and the roof outside, take moisture readings through small openings in the foam where it is safe to do so, and give you a written report. If the readings are good and the foam is behaving, we say that. If they are not, you see the evidence.
When removal is the sensible answer, our page on spray foam removal sets out how the work runs. One published cost guide gives £40 to £80 per m², with a three-bedroom loft at £2,000 to £4,500. Another guide quotes £20 to £50 per m². Your fixed quote follows the survey, and the written estimate can be used as part of a claim if you are pursuing the original installer.
Spotting the next pitch before it lands
The same firms, or their successors, often keep ringing. Some warning signs are worth knowing. Be careful of anyone who offers a "free roof check" that always finds a problem, who will not leave written information, who cannot tell you how they handle ventilation, or who wants payment before the work begins. Ask for a company name and registered address, search for it independently, and take at least a day to compare with a second opinion. A reputable firm will not mind. You can read more about unexpected approaches on our page about spray foam cold calls, and you can compare what is available at spray foam alternatives before agreeing anything.
If you simply want to know where you stand, start with the spray foam assessment and removal service page. It lists what we check and what you receive afterwards.
