How do you choose a spray foam insulation contractor in Houston?

On this page

1. 1. Are you actually licensed, and for what
2. 2. Which foam, from which manufacturer, and are you certified for it
3. 3. Get the four numbers in writing
4. 4. Ask how they price it, and what the rate covers
5. 5. Ask who covers the foam
6. 6. Ask about ventilation and reentry
7. 7. Ask what happens to what is already up there
8. 8. Ask what you get at closeout
9. Red flags
10. Frequently asked questions
11. What to do next

Spray foam is the one insulation product you genuinely cannot inspect after the fact. Once it is cured on the roof deck, you cannot see how thick it is, what the ratio was when it went on, or whether it is the product that was quoted. You are buying the crew, not the material.

Here is what we would ask if we were the homeowner.

1. Are you actually licensed, and for what

Texas does not issue a state license for insulation contractors. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses electricians, air conditioning and refrigeration contractors, elevator contractors and a handful of other trades. Insulation is not one of them.

So when a foam website says licensed, it usually means the company is registered and has a sales tax permit. That is not a credential, and everyone in this market can claim it.

What to ask instead: send me your current certificate of insurance, from the insurer directly or with the agent's contact on it. A company that cannot produce one within a day is telling you something.

2. Which foam, from which manufacturer, and are you certified for it

This is the credential that does exist. The major manufacturers require contractors to complete their training before they will sell them material. Ask which product they spray, and ask for the product data sheet.

The data sheet tells you the yield, the R-value per inch, the required substrate temperature and the reentry time. A company that cannot produce one for the product they are about to install in your house is a company buying material on price.

3. Get the four numbers in writing

A real scope says all four of these:

• The product. Manufacturer and product name, not "open cell foam."
• The installed thickness, in inches. This is the number that determines whether you got what you paid for.
• The target R-value the thickness produces.
• The area, in square feet of roof deck or wall, not the square footage of your house.

Plus what is excluded. Most disputes we hear about are exclusions nobody discussed: the garage, the bonus room over it, removing the old insulation, the radiant barrier that has to come off the rafters.

4. Ask how they price it, and what the rate covers

Residential attic work is usually quoted per square foot of area sprayed. Commercial and metal building work is usually quoted per board foot, which is one square foot at one inch thick, because that is how the material is actually consumed.

The trap is a square foot rate with no thickness attached. Three inches and five and a half inches of open-cell are wildly different jobs at the same rate per square foot. If the thickness is not named, the rate means nothing.

We publish our real ranges in the Houston cost post and run a calculator on the home page, which is unusual in this market. Most companies will not put a number on the page at all.

5. Ask who covers the foam

Code requires an ignition barrier or a thermal barrier over exposed foam in most attic conditions. It is one of the first things an inspector looks for, and it is one of the most common things left out of a cheap bid to make the number look better.

Ask directly: is the covering in this price, and which one does my jurisdiction require. Related, in what R-value Houston code requires we cover why the answer changes depending on which code edition your city adopted.

6. Ask about ventilation and reentry

Spray foam is mixed on site out of two chemicals that react as they leave the gun. Off ratio or cold substrate application is what produces the horror stories: a house that smells for months, or foam that never fully cures.

A crew that knows what it is doing will tell you the house needs to be empty during application, will ventilate mechanically, will log substrate temperature and conditions through the pour, and will post a reentry time. A crew that shrugs at this question is the risk.

7. Ask what happens to what is already up there

In a Houston attic conversion, several things have to change:

• Old blown insulation on the attic floor usually comes out.
• A radiant barrier stapled to the rafters has to come off so the foam can bond to the deck.
• Soffit, ridge and gable vents get sealed, because the attic is no longer vented.
• Powered attic fans get removed or decommissioned.

If a bid does not mention any of this, the person who wrote it has not thought about your attic specifically.

8. Ask what you get at closeout

At minimum: written certification of the installed thickness and R-value, photographs and depth readings taken before anything covers the foam, and the product data sheets. On commercial work, add the submittals, the SDS and the lien waivers your pay application needs.

This is the paperwork that lets you prove, a year later, that you got what you bought.

Red flags

• A price quoted over the phone without seeing the attic.
• A square foot rate with no thickness named.
• A discount that expires today.
• A lifetime warranty with nothing in writing behind it.
• No certificate of insurance, or one that is expired.
• No mention of the ignition barrier.

Frequently asked questions

Do spray foam contractors have to be licensed in Texas?

Not at the state level. Texas does not license insulation contractors. Some cities and counties require registration or permits for the work, and the permitting authority for your address is the place to confirm that. The credentials worth checking are insurance and manufacturer certification.

What paperwork should I have before the crew sprays?

A written scope naming the product, the installed thickness in inches, the target R-value and the square footage, plus a current certificate of insurance. Get both before the truck shows up, not after. On commercial projects, send your own requirements out with the bid package so each bidder confirms what they can meet before they price it.

How do I know the thickness I paid for actually got installed?

Depth readings and photographs taken before anything covers the foam, and a written certification of installed thickness at closeout. Ask for this before you sign, not after. Once the covering is on, verifying thickness means cutting into the assembly.

Should I get three bids?

Get at least two, and compare the four numbers rather than the totals. A bid that is thousands cheaper is usually thinner foam, no covering, or old insulation left in place. When you line up product, thickness, R-value and area side by side, the cheap bid normally explains itself.

Is the cheapest bid ever the right one?

Sometimes, when a company is closer to your address, has a lighter schedule that week, or buys material better. But if it is cheaper and the scope is vague, the savings are coming out of the scope.

What to do next

Ask us all eight of these. We will answer them in writing before we quote, and our proposal states product, installed thickness, R-value, area and exclusions as a matter of course.

Book a free assessment, or if you are pricing commercial work, the commercial page covers how we bid to spec.