When you’re about to have spray foam installed in your home, there are some things you need to do before the job can start.

Yep, depending on your insulation contractor you might have some homework to do before they get there. Those tasks can vary from contractor to contractor, as well as what you agree to do beforehand.

RetroFoam of Michigan might ask a homeowner to move belongings out of the way, but we’ll take care of most of the heavy lifting like the prep work and removal. Other contractors might ask a lot more.

Let’s take a look at a few things you might need to do before spray foam insulation can be installed in your home.

Things to Do Before Your Spray Foam Insulation Install

Whether it’s insulation or removal, here are a few things you may need to do before your spray foam insulation can be installed.

• Removal of the old attic, crawl space, and rim joist insulation. A good contractor will offer this service to a homeowner as part of the installation, but some homeowners want to do the removal themselves. In other cases, a contractor might ask for the old insulation to be removed by the homeowner. One thing is for certain, if you planned on removing the insulation yourself, it has to be done before the install can take place. If not, this can seriously set back the project and cost the homeowner more money if the contractor charges them for the removal. Either way, you want that old, dirty insulation removed from your home to keep your space healthier.
• Get stuff out of the way. If you don’t want spray foam to get on it, then you need to move it. Spray foam inherently has overspray because it’s a mist. While the most skilled installer will reduce the amount of overspray, it still can happen. If your attic is used for storage, you need to get those boxes out of there. If you have stuff in your basement, it needs to be moved out of the way. Also, if you have your boat, cars, or equipment stored in your pole barn you need to either take it out or cover it up. Another reason you should get these things moved is so the spray installer has more than enough room to work in.
• If it can’t be moved, make sure to cover it up. There can be a lot of heavy stuff both in your basement and your pole barn and realistically it might not be easy to move. A good spray foam insulation contractor will come in and do that prep work to make sure it is covered properly. Other contractors may ask you to do it yourself. If that’s the case you’ll need a lot of thick plastic and tape to make sure the overspray doesn’t get all over your belongings.

Get Spray Foam Insulation for Your Home

The best thing to do is make sure you and your spray foam insulation contractor are on the same page about what you need to do before the job starts.

The last thing you or your contractor wants to do is have this kind of miscommunication because it could delay your project or end up costing you more money in the long run.

Another thing you might find helpful when working out the details of which spray foam contractor to go with is our Insulation Contractor Vetting Checklist.