Installer ceased trading
Installer ceased trading: one wet purlin band, every other reading 7.6–13.2%
St Helens · Recent inspection · Spray Foam Inspection
The house
Detached two-storey timber-frame house of about 93 m² under a concrete-tiled gable roof. One boarded loft; the only roof vent visible serves the bathroom extract.
The foam
Open-cell foam with a third-party product approval, sprayed in 2024 onto a breather membrane, generally 100–180 mm thick against an 80 mm design. Eaves filled, ridge sealed, and the old loft quilt removed in the same job.
The paperwork
Unusually complete: contract, pre-installation survey, product approval, thermal and condensation calculations, manufacturer's and workmanship warranties, and an insurance-backed warranty that outlives the installer. But both calculations assumed 200 mm of loft quilt staying, which the same contract removed. A thermal compliance document and any building-control record were not provided.
Why they called
The installer had ceased trading; the owners wanted a written, photographed record before deciding whether to keep, repair or remove the foam.
What was measured
- One water-marked band on a purlin, about 1.2 m wide: 25.1% and 26.1% on the surface, 52.2% and 53.6% within the timber, sharply edged.
- Every other timber reading across the loft: 7.6% to 13.2%.
- Seven application defects, including a gap of about 610 × 75 mm beside a rafter and a hidden pocket probed to nearly 600 mm.
- Loft air 8–10 °C above its dew point at every position: no condensation conditions on the day.
What it means
Four elevated readings inside one sharply edged stain, with low readings all around, are consistent with water passing through this one zone at some point, not a roof in general distress; a stained spot on the foam and marks on the gable lining were also recorded. The paperwork's condensation calculation cannot settle where the water came from: it modelled a roof with the quilt still in place.
What happened next
Removal was not found necessary. In order: notify the warranty insurer of the seven defects in writing; a roofer to inspect the tiles above the purlin (inspection, not works); re-read in late winter; then fill the gaps through a manufacturer-approved installer.
For other homeowners
If your installer has ceased trading, find any insurance-backed warranty before anyone touches the foam: this one needed notice within 30 days of a fault first occurring, and written approval before any repair.
Read the guide: Spray foam installer gone bust? Warranties, insurance-backed cover and TrustMark · Making a complaint or claim about spray foam: step by step
The honest limit
One summer afternoon. The foam hides the underlay, tiles and covered timber faces, the roof was seen from the ground only, and the water's source could not be determined from inside.