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Spray foam and lenders

Is a foam overlay on a flat roof the same product as spray foam under the rafters?

No. Foam sprayed under a pitched roof sits in the loft and can hide the timbers. A sprayed or liquid system on top of a flat roof is a covering, judged like other flat-roof coverings: edges, upstands, ponding and how it was detailed. Lenders may still ask what was used. Do not answer them with a loft-foam script that describes the wrong surface.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

RICS’s spray-foam consumer guide is aimed at the insulation sprayed inside roofs and the problems of inspection, condensation and lender policy. A flat-roof coating is closer to the questions in a flat-roof survey: whether water sits on it, whether the perimeter is turned up, and whether the deck underneath can be seen from below. A surveyor may not know which chemistry was sprayed if there is no specification.

Ask for the specification either way. Then ask the lender, if they have a question, about the product that is actually on this house. Removing a flat-roof coating and removing loft foam are different contracts. Do not accept one quote that covers both because the word foam appears twice.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Is the foam under the rafters, on a flat roof, or both?
  • What could you see of the deck or the timbers beneath?
  • Which paperwork should we ask the seller for in this case?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Identify which surface has which product before you email the lender.
  2. Ask a flat-roofing contractor about a coating, and a roof carpenter about loft foam. Do not swap them.
  3. If both are present, keep two packs of documents.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

Does a mineral felt roof contain spray foam?

Not unless someone added it. Felt is a covering of its own. Ask what the surveyor could see.

Will a lender’s foam question always include flat-roof coatings?

Ask that lender. The RICS loft-foam guide should not be stretched into a rule the lender has not written.

Sources