Woman left in £13k debt after spray foam removal

A grandmother who paid rogue builders more than £13,000 to remove spray foam insulation from her house has said it has left her feeling "trapped" with a leaking roof which will cost £20,000 to repair.

Patricia Salt, 76, of Brentford, west London, had spray foam insulation installed in 2006 to make her house more energy efficient.

The insulation worked well, but nearly two decades later, Salt said she was cold-called by a firm which claimed the insulation could cause serious damage.

She paid £7,770 to get the spray foam removed but discovered it had not been done properly. After paying another company £5,760 for its removal, she had none of the necessary certification to prove the work was done. As a result, she said she could not sell her home.

The mother-of-two and grandmother-of-four, said: "I used to have black hair before this, now I'm grey.

"I feel trapped in my own home, I'm just completely stuck."

She added that if she had been "as unprofessional as all these builders when I was working, I would have been sacked over and over again".

Salt added that estate agents told her she could not list her three-bedroom end of terrace to sell without certification.

Spray foam is a chemical product made from two materials which, when combined, expand to 30 - 60 times their liquid volume, filling gaps and hard-to-reach spaces.

If installed incorrectly it can lead to condensation which can affect roof structure.

This is what happened in Patricia's case, according to a surveyor who inspected the roof in 2025, following a cold call from a housing company claiming to be government-backed.

Patricia said the surveyor, recommended by the caller, visited her home and reported the insulation was "rock solid" and had prevented proper ventilation of the rafters, creating a risk of rot and potential roof collapse.

Patricia, a retired office administrator and translator, said there had also been further damage to her roof, which has a leak and will cost £20,000 to replace, which she cannot afford.

"I'm tearing my hair out over it, I just feel so stuck," she said.

She said she has since set up a fundraiser to help pay for the new roof.

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