The current energy crisis in the UK has made homeowners think of different ways to save on their energy bills. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is by properly and efficiently insulating your home. Proper insulation helps keep your home warm for longer, wasting less energy and saving money.
Spray foam insulation is one of the best ways to insulate your home as it has many benefits over traditional insulation methods, including it helps you save up to* 50% on your heating bills by creating an air-tight barrier which slows down the heat loss from your home and help save you money.
This trend of getting spray foam insulation done for your loft, roof, attic, or underfloor has given rise to numerous spray foam DIY kits available online, which people can buy and complete. These kits are being promoted on the promise that using these would help homeowners save on the cost of professional installation by accredited and experienced spray foam contractors. So, homeowners get trapped in the idea of saving money by trying spray foam insulation themselves.
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Is DIY spray foam insulation a good idea?
Using DIY spray foam kits available online at low prices to insulate your home is a hazardous proposition simply because spray foam insulation application needs to be done with precision. Even one wrong step would cost you more than it would have cost if you had gotten it done by professionals.
Spray foam is made by mixing two or more different substances. Suppose even a tiny amount of these substances is not mixed proportionately. In that case, the resulting foam could harm your property rather than benefit it. This could also lead to various skin allergies and even breathing difficulty from resulting foam as its composition has been changed.
So, rather than benefiting the homeowner by saving the cost of professional installation, DIY spray foam insulation could become a danger to the home.
Disadvantages of DIY Spray foam insulation
- Since spray foam insulation applications require professional equipment and tools, doing it DIY could result in the wrong application, thus damaging your loft, roof, or underfloor space and possibly costing more to repair.
- When applied to a surface, spray foam insulation expands quickly to about 100 times its volume to create an air barrier. However, if proper care is taken, it might not expand properly and become effective in providing adequate insulation.
- While preparing spray foam, if proper attention is not given to proportionately mixing the materials used to create spray foam, it might give rise to bad and foul odour in the home.
- Poorly prepared and applied spray foam insulation might give rise to serious health problems as a result of the chemical reaction. Fumes arise when spray foam insulation is not applied correctly, which may result in
- Breathing problems – This is the biggest issue when doing DIY spray foam insulation, as this might cause people inside the home to develop serious breathing issues and may require medical attention.
- Asthma – In some severe cases, it might even lead to the occurrence of Asthma.
- Skin and eye irritation – Poorly sprayed foam can even result in skin and eye irritation due to foam dropping from the surface onto the person applying the DIY spray foam kit.
Why do you need Professional Spray foam installers?
As mentioned above, DIY spray foam insulation can cause problems if done poorly and without proper guidance. Professional spray foam installers are accredited and certified to do spray foam insulation in your homes. They have received months of professional training and have got proper equipment and tools to complete the spray foam insulation job efficiently. In many cases, the initial high installation cost is offset by almost zero maintenance needed once an accredited installer has professionally installed the spray foam insulation.
We at Evergreen Power UK are UK’s most accredited and certified spray foam installers with nationwide coverage. We have completed more than 15,000 installs in the last ten years. To book a free survey for your home and get a no-obligation quote, please click below and fill in your details.
