Claim, complaint or Section 75
Foam already removed, Section 75 claim open: the evidence was still behind the felt
near Worcester · Recent inspection · Post-Removal Verification
The house
Semi-detached two-storey brick house with concrete tiles and a single-storey extension, on fink trusses. Two roof voids, joined by an opening cut during installation; continuous soffit grilles throughout.
The foam
Open-cell, sprayed in 2022 onto old non-breathable bitumen felt on the main roof (which the product approval allows) and a breather membrane on the extension. Since removed, leaving residue on felt, timbers and cables.
The paperwork
The contract was headed subject to a technical assessment, yet every technical section was blank, and sale and installation fell on one day. The area reads 50 on the order form, 70 m² on the survey and 62.4 m² measured on the main roof.
Why they called
A Section 75 claim was open and the foam already gone; the homeowner needed independent evidence of what the roof still showed.
What was measured
- Cured foam on the tiles and battens behind the felt, in 15 photographs.
- Felt openings of c. 165 mm, c. 230 mm and c. 230 mm × 200 mm, daylight through some.
- 8 timber readings, 11.6% to 16.4%; none at or above 18%.
- Loft air 1.9 g/kg wetter than outside on average, the landing 1.8 g/kg, pointing to household moisture. All seven surfaces measured were over 8 degrees above dew point.
- Foam stopped short of the eaves; loft roll placed during the removal works now partly restricts them.
What it means
In the inspector's opinion, foam can only reach the tiles behind the felt through an opening already there when it was sprayed. So those deposits show openings at those points were sprayed over, not made good, at installation. They also sit in the drainage path under the tiles, out of reach from inside.
What happened next
A roofer first, from outside, for the foam on the tiles and the holed felt. At the same visit, the loft roll drawn back from the eaves and eaves trays fitted. Then an electrician for the sprayed-over cables, and the ceiling insulation made good.
For other homeowners
Here, removing the foam did not remove the evidence of how it went in. Before the roof is tidied up, have the felt, the cables and the line where spraying stopped photographed.
Read the guide: Spray foam claims: Section 75 and the Financial Ombudsman explained · Making a complaint or claim about spray foam: step by step
The honest limit
The foam was not seen in place, tears without foam behind them could not be dated, the tiles were seen only from the ground and inside, and the readings come from one warm afternoon.