Spray foam removal cost in 2026

Spray foam removal costs £35 to £55 per square metre for open cell foam and £55 to £85 for closed cell. A standard three-bed semi lands between £1,950 to £4,400 for open cell and £3,050 to £6,800 for closed cell. Below is every figure, every extra, and why the published guides disagree with each other by 100%.

Written by the Spray Foam Removal Pros survey teamLast checked September 20269 minute read

The figures, in one paragraph

Removal and disposal: £35 to £55 per m² for open cell, £55 to £85 per m² for closed cell. Typical three-bed semi: £1,950 to £4,400 open cell, £3,050 to £6,800 closed cell. Add £150 to £500 for disposal, 15 to 20% for awkward access, £25 to £45 per m² if the membrane has to be replaced, and £10 to £37 per m² to re-insulate afterwards. London and the South East run around 20% higher, the north of England, Wales and Scotland around 10% lower.

Why every guide gives you a different number

Search this and you will get four answers that do not agree. That is not because the market is opaque. It is because the guides are measuring different things and almost none of them say which.

Some quote removal alone. Some include disposal. Some include putting new insulation back. One includes re-roofing, which is not removal at all. And foam type moves the price more than anything else, yet several guides publish a single blended figure that applies to neither.

Here is what the main published sources actually say, read on 20 September 2026, with our read on each.

What the published guides say, side by side

Source	Headline figure	The detail	Why it differs
Checkatrade July 2026	£40 per m²	Open cell £50 to £75 per m², closed cell £80 to £100+ per m². A three-bed detached with an 80m² roof given as £3,200 plus VAT.	Their headline figure is a blended average across all job types, while their per-foam-type figures are the top of the market. The two do not reconcile with each other on their own page.
Screwfix Undated	£40 to £80 per m²	A standard three-bed loft given as £2,000 to £4,500. Open cell £45 per m², closed cell £70 per m². London and the South East plus 15 to 25%.	A wide range with no date and no author. The per-foam-type figures are reasonable; the guide carries no price table to check them against.
A Basingstoke removal contractor 2026	£28 to £60 per m²	Open cell £28 to £35, closed cell £45 to £60. A 100m² loft given as £2,800 to £6,000.	The lowest credible published rate, and the most transparent. Sits below the national averages because it is one contractor's own pricing, not a market survey.
A Midlands insulation firm November 2025, updated May 2026	£2,500 to £18,000 per job	Small open cell loft £2,500 to £4,500. Standard three-bed semi £4,500 to £7,500. Large detached closed cell £8,000 to £12,000. Full structural recovery £12,000 to £18,000.	Priced per job rather than per m², and the top of the range includes re-roofing work that is not removal at all.

Our read. The published ranges disagree by roughly 100% because they are measuring different things. Some quote removal alone, some include disposal, some include putting new insulation back, and one includes re-roofing. Foam type moves the price more than anything else, and almost none of the guides separate it out properly. Our figures below are removal and disposal only, by foam type, with everything else priced as a named extra so you can see what you are and are not being charged for.

Open cell

Open cell removal, £35 to £55 per m²

Softer, lighter and more common. Comes away more readily, so it is cheaper per square metre. Removal and disposal only.

Property	Treated roof area	Removal and disposal
Terraced house Usually the quickest job on the list. Access is the variable, not the area.	35 to 55m²	£1,800 to £3,050
Semi-detached house The most common job we quote. A standard three-bed semi sits in the middle of this band.	55 to 80m²	£1,950 to £4,400
Bungalow A large roof over a small footprint. Often an equity release case, and usually straightforward to work in.	60 to 95m²	£2,100 to £5,250
Detached house Bigger area and more complex roof shapes: hips, dormers and valleys all add time.	80 to 120m²	£2,800 to £6,600
Large detached or barn conversion Priced on survey. Scaffolding and a longer programme are usual at this size.	120 to 200m²	£4,200 to £11,000

Closed cell

Closed cell removal, £55 to £85 per m²

Dense and rigid, and it bonds hard to the timber and the membrane. Slower to remove and more likely to take the felt with it. This is the job where membrane replacement is most often unavoidable, so read the extras table below before you compare quotes.

Property	Treated roof area	Removal and disposal
Terraced house Usually the quickest job on the list. Access is the variable, not the area.	35 to 55m²	£1,950 to £4,700
Semi-detached house The most common job we quote. A standard three-bed semi sits in the middle of this band.	55 to 80m²	£3,050 to £6,800
Bungalow A large roof over a small footprint. Often an equity release case, and usually straightforward to work in.	60 to 95m²	£3,300 to £8,100
Detached house Bigger area and more complex roof shapes: hips, dormers and valleys all add time.	80 to 120m²	£4,400 to £10,200
Large detached or barn conversion Priced on survey. Scaffolding and a longer programme are usual at this size.	120 to 200m²	£6,600 to £17,000

The extras

Everything that is not removal

This is where quotes diverge and where arguments start. A quote that does not itemise these is not a quote, it is an opening position. Ask for every line in writing.

Item	Cost	Basis	When it applies
Waste disposal and skip	£150 to £500	per job	Removed foam is bulky and light, so you pay for volume, not weight.
Difficult or restricted access	15 to 20%	% uplift	A small hatch, a boarded loft, a low pitch or a conversion with rooms in the roof.
Scaffolding, where the work is done from outside	£20 to £26	per m²	Only needed where the foam has to be taken off with the tiles up.
Breather membrane or sarking felt replacement	£25 to £45	per m²	Often unavoidable with closed cell. The foam bonds to the felt and destroys it on the way out.
Timber repair or splicing	£200 to £1,200	per job	Only where decay is found. It is not found in most lofts.
Re-insulation to current Building Regulations	£10 to £37	per m²	The loft has to be insulated again once the foam is out. Quote it at the same time or you get two bills.
Independent post-removal condition report	£250 to £700	per job	The document the lender's surveyor actually wants. Commissioned separately from us on purpose.

Region

Where you are moves the price

Region	Adjustment	Why
London and the South East	+20%	Labour and disposal both cost more
South West, East and the Midlands	Baseline	The baseline these figures are set at
North of England, Wales and Scotland	-10%	Lower labour rates, longer travel on rural jobs

Applied to the removal rate, not to the extras. Disposal and scaffolding are priced locally.

Work it out yourself

Spray foam removal cost calculator

This uses the same per square metre rates as the tables above, so it cannot disagree with them. It shows its working rather than producing a number from nowhere.

Which foam is in your loft?

Open cell is soft and crumbles when you press it. Closed cell is hard and rigid. How to tell them apart.

Property type

Where in the UK

Awkward access: a small hatch, a boarded loft, a low pitch, or rooms in the roof

Estimated removal and disposal

£1,950 to £4,400

Based on a semi-detached house, 55 to 80m² of open cell foam, at baseline rates.

This covers removal and disposal only. Membrane replacement, timber repair, scaffolding and re-insulation are quoted separately, and we itemise every one of them before you agree to anything.

Get the real figure, free

An estimate is not a quote. The only way to price a loft honestly is to look at it, which is why the inspection is free and there is no deposit.

Timescales

How long you will be living with it

Scope	On site
Terraced or small semi, open cell	1 to 2 days
Standard three-bed semi	2 to 3 days
Detached, or any closed cell job	3 to 5 days
With membrane replacement or timber repair	5 days or more

Add a day for membrane replacement and up to three for timber repair. The loft is unusable while the work is on and there will be dust, so plan around it.

No obligation, no deposit

Have someone look at it properly

An hour in the loft and you will know exactly where you stand, in writing, with photographs. If the foam is sound, that is what the report says and there is nothing to pay.

Book the free inspection

Two steps. No deposit, and nothing to pay if the foam is sound.

What a fair quote looks like

Four things separate a proper quote from a number on the back of a business card.

It follows an inspection. Nobody can price a loft they have not been in. A price given over the phone is a hook, and the real number arrives once the van is outside.
It names the foam type and the area. If the quote does not say open or closed cell and does not say how many square metres, you cannot compare it to anything.
It itemises the extras. Disposal, access, membrane, timber, re-insulation. Each with its own figure.
It is fixed, and it says what would change it. Ours changes only if you ask for extra work, in writing.

And one thing that should make you stop: a request for a deposit. We do not take one, and the cases Trading Standards has prosecuted in this market have deposit taking as a recurring feature. One reported case took £550 against a £5,500 quote and the work never happened.

Before you accept the cheapest quote

The low quotes in this market are usually low for one of three reasons: they have priced open cell rates for a closed cell job, they have left out the membrane, or they have left out re-insulation. All three arrive as a second bill later. One competitor site currently advertises loft removal at £200 to £1,000, which is roughly a tenth of what the work costs to do properly.

Ask any quote you receive for the foam type, the square metre area, the per square metre rate, and whether membrane replacement and re-insulation are included. Four questions, and they sort the field.

Cost questions

How much does it cost to remove spray foam from a loft?

For a typical three-bed semi with 55 to 80m² of treated roof area, £1,950 to £4,400 for open cell foam and £3,050 to £6,800 for closed cell. That is removal and disposal. Re-insulating the loft afterwards adds £10 to £37 per square metre, and replacing a damaged membrane adds £25 to £45 per square metre.

Is there a grant for spray foam removal?

No. The government confirmed in March 2025 that there is no financial help available for spray foam removal, and that position had not changed as of September 2026. A ministerial roundtable with lenders ran in March 2026 with a follow-up in May, but nothing has been announced. Any company offering you a removal grant is either confusing it with insulation grants or is not telling you the truth.

Is spray foam removal VAT free?

Generally no. Removal is standard-rated work. Some energy saving materials installed afterwards can qualify for a reduced rate depending on the circumstances, which is worth asking your installer and your accountant about, but do not assume the removal itself is zero rated.

Why is closed cell removal so much more expensive?

Density and adhesion. Closed cell foam is rigid and bonds hard to whatever it was sprayed onto, so it comes off in fragments rather than sheets and takes far longer per square metre. It is also the foam most likely to destroy the membrane underneath on the way out, which turns a removal job into a removal and re-felting job.

Can I get the cost back from the company that installed it?

Sometimes. If the installation was mis-sold, the installer is still trading and you paid on finance or by credit card, there may be a route. It is worth taking advice before you pay for removal, because once the foam is gone the evidence goes with it. Photograph everything first, and keep your original paperwork.

Should I just leave it and sell the house cheaper?

Some people do, and for a property being sold at auction or to a cash buyer it can be the rational choice. The maths is straightforward: removal on a semi is a few thousand pounds, and the discount a buyer will want for a property their lender will not touch is usually a great deal more than that. Get the inspection first though, because if the foam turns out to be sound you may not need to do either.