InspectAPedia ^®

This article illustrates and describes UFFI - urea formaldehyde foam building insulation and describes where it is found, when it was used in buildings, how to look for it, how to distinguish this from other building foam insulation products, and its health effects. We have added these examples because of frequent questions about these materials. This document assists building buyers, owners or inspectors who need to identify asbestos materials (or probable-asbestos) in buildings by simple visual inspection. Readers concerned about exposure to formaldehyde gas indoors should see Formaldehyde Hazards where we discuss the sources of this contaminant, exposure levels, and steps to reduce formaldehyde levels indoors.

Readers should also see a similar looking but modern foam insulating product at How to Identify Icynene Foam Insulation. If you are having trouble determining what type of foam insulation product has been installed in a building, see How to Make a Sure Distinction Among UFFI, Icynene, and Latex Foam Insulations for more detail on the identification of these products in the field.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

UFFI Insulation - What Was the Urea Formaldehyde Insulation Worry

Only people hypersensitive to chemicals such as sufferers of MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity) and some people with other respiratory illnesses seem to have any remaining reaction to this material, and even in that case a study of such reactions is complicated by the observation that higher levels of formaldehyde out gassing from building products occurs from some furniture padding and from some glues or finishes used in chipboard based cabinets or sub flooring.

Yet at the peak of the UFFI enviro-scare, and exacerbated by inconsistent advice offered by government and private health experts, some buildings were sold at a significant discount to allow for extensive gutting, cleaning, and re-insulating of building cavities.

Should You Avoid Buying a UFFI-Insulated Building?

The short answer is no, but there may be some insulating defects (such as shrinkage) and a modest resale impact to consider. Details follow.

In the 1970's we made three successive telephone calls to the US CPSC to inquire about the hazards of UFFI in a home we were evaluating. We received these different answers from three different people answering the CPSC UFFI hotline on the same day:

1. Do not buy the home under any circumstances. The cost to remove the UFFI and clean the wall cavities will be greater than the value of the home.
2. Buy the home but remove the UFFI insulation. The remaining scraps in the wall cavities will be insignificant as a formaldehyde source.
3. Buy the home and don't do anything about the insulation: the health hazards have been exaggerated and are probably very low if any.
   
   Today, in 2008, we add an updated opinion:
4. Don't refuse to buy a home because of the presence of UFFI in its walls or ceilings;
   • purchase some test kits and actually measure the formaldehyde level;
   • realize that the foam is open-celled and that all of the formaldehyde will leave the building;
   • if the insulation was added more than five years ago there is almost no chance that you will detect any formaldehyde from the insulation;
   • any remaining formaldehyde problems will probably be from other sources such as carpet padding or some composition wood-product building materials like chipboard shelving.
   • examine the insulation in wall cavities to see if UFFI shrinkage has left so many gaps that you need to improve the building insulation. Shrinkage of the insulation product produces openings which may permit significant air leakage or simply thermal bypass leaks, reducing the effectiveness of the insulation system - a problem referred to in the industry as thermal drift.
   • Realize that a few future buyers may have an irrational fear of the UFFI - a condition that might have a (probably small) impact on property resale - see Enviro-Scare, the Cycle of Public Fear

Inspecting several such projects it was interesting to note that the one real defect of this insulation product was that depending on how it was mixed, it shrank after installation, leaving gaps of no actual insulation at the top and sides of wall cavities - it wasn't the perfect insulating seal that was promised, but it was not the carcinogen that was feared.

How to Identify UFFI or Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation in buildings

Our photo (below) shows the dark dusty skin on UFFI insulation where it oozed from a wall cavity opening into a crawl space in the attic over a building garage.

• Consider the building age: UFFI is not likely to be found in buildings built after the 1970's; insulation retrofit or add-on projects are more likely to be found in buildings which were built with little or no original insulation, such as homes built before 1960. It is unlikely that you'll find UFFI foam insulation in a building built after the late 1970's.
• Look for Oozing-out Foam Insulation: in the attic, basement or crawl space, foamed insulation installation often produces an oozing-out insulation leak at the building sills; in the attic you may find the same oozing insulation shown at the top of gable end walls - as seen in our photograph above.
• Look at the foam insulation color and finish skin: UFFI foam is yellowish and not shiny, but may have picked up dirt or dust during installation as it oozed out of a dirty building cavity or due to simple age and exposure its exterior may be darker yellow. The dried surface may have a very light "skin" that will be dull, not shiny.
• Probe the foam insulation - a finger tip is fine or if you can only see foam insulation in a tiny wall gap or knothole, try probing with a pencil or even a wire or paper clip: UFFI, urea formaldehyde foam insulation is very soft and crumbly. At the article linked-to just below we explain this unambiguous way to distinguish among UFFI foam insulation, Icynene® spray foam insulation, and latex foam insulation

If you are having trouble determining what type of foam insulation product has been installed in a building, see How to Make a Sure Distinction Among UFFI, Icynene, and Latex Foam Insulations for more detail on the identification of these products in the field.

How to Find & Identify UFFI Insulation in an Older Home by Visual Indoor Inspections: Insulation Retrofit Projects

Below we give specific inspection methods useful in building interiors and exteriors that will help spot the types of insulation that may have been added to a building over its life.

Look at interior or exterior building walls for evidence of openings that were cut or drilled to blow-in building insulation.

Since the same type of round openings are used for blowing in cellulose or at least two different types of foam building insulation, if you see these marks or round hole cuts you will need to investigate further to identify the specific type of insulation that was installed.

Our photo (left) shows interior drill holes in an attic stairwell where insulation was pumped into the building wall cavities. Why so many holes? The first cuts probably hit wood framing.

Photos of typical holes found in a building exterior where insulation was blown or pumped into the wall cavities are provided in detail below at How to Spot UFFI Building Insulation in an Older Home by Visual Outdoor Inspections.

Look in basements and crawl spaces for evidence of UFFI (crumbly) foam exuding out into the basement or crawl space at the bottom of wall cavities. Often there were gaps that permitted this foam escape - usually it was just left in place. Where balloon framing techniques were used, depending on the adequacy of fire blocking in wall cavities, foam injected into the walls may have passed between floor levels and easily into an attic (as shown in our photo above) or into the basement or crawl space as shown below in the left hand photo.

Look in un-finished areas such as attics and closets where plaster and lath are left incomplete or where drywall has been omitted during a building retrofit. Our photos below show UFFI insulation pushing on a poly plastic vapor barrier. Someone has cut the poly in the left photo, perhaps to sample the material - a step that was unnecessary if the inspector simply looked down at his or her feet (photo below-right).

You may also be able to see UFFI or other types of foam insulation oozing out from large openings at the sill plate between floors (photo below-left) or UFFI foam may have oozed out of even small wall openings as we show in the right hand photo of an un-finished plaster lath wall (below right).

Look for small amounts of soft crumbly foam insulation at tiny openings in wall cavities such as at knot-holes or gaps between siding boards, as we show on our photo (left). You may need to probe this material to evaluate its density and fragility. If the material easily crumbles to a powder, it is probably Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation or UFFI Foam.

Look for scalloped drywall on the inside surface of building exterior walls: often the UFFI foam insulation was sprayed with more water content than specified; because the insulating material could be quite wet when first installed, we found that in some old homes which had been renovated by replacing original plaster with drywall, the drywall became wet, bonded to the UFFI, and then actually became sunken or concave along the building exterior walls as the UFFI insulation cured.

We pose that the drywall had become soft while wet, that it bonded to the UFFI in the wall cavity, and that as the UFFI insulation dried and cured it also shrank, pulling the damp drywall sections inwards.

We first spotted this phenomenon in an 1890 home in Wappingers Falls, NY when the home was insulated with UFFI spray in the 1970's.

Looking along the top edge of the baseboard trim at the bottom of the wall we saw that the drywall was in contact with the trim only at the location of the wall studs, and that between each pair of studs the drywall was concave.

How to Spot UFFI Building Insulation in an Older Home by Visual Outdoor Inspections: Insulation Retrofit Through Siding

As our photos show below, plugs may be visible in siding boards, but we warn that they also may have been covered by replacement boards or by a new layer of exterior siding. Also this plug and pump method for blowing insulation into building walls was used for more types of insulation than just UFFI.

• Look for plugs in the building exterior siding, pull a plug to examine the insulation material. As our photographs show above, you may find evidence of circular wall plugs cut into building exterior siding at regular intervals (one opening per stud bay) at one or more elevations on the building.
  
  Pulling one of these wall -cut plugs will give an opening to the building wall cavity where you may find UFFI urea formaldehyde foam insulation (white crumbly foam) or perhaps blown-in cellulose insulation instead. So don't assume the wall plug means the insulation was UFFI.
• Sometimes insulation blow-in holes in walls were covered not with solid materials but with vented or metal plugs, probably just because they were convenient to snap into the hole cut by a hole saw using the same diameter hole cutting blade.
  
  Insulation may also have been blown into building walls by removing and replacing an entire siding board outside, by lifting and replacing aluminum or vinyl exterior siding installed over original walls of another material, or by openings cut into plaster or drywall in the building interior. So absence of wall plugs is not absence of blown-in insulation.

Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation UFFI Shrinkage and Thermal Bypass Leaks

Look for UFFI foam spray insulation shrinkage: Neither latex foam spray insulation nor icynene foam spray insulation have the shrinkage problem of UFFI. If you have occasion to open a building wall cavity where UFFI was installed, you'll typically see about an inch of shrinkage at each side of the foam insulation block, and you'll see a couple of inches or more of un insulated space at the top of the column of sprayed foam.

The amount of UFFI insulation shrinkage varied from home to home and was probably the result of how precisely the product was mixed during installation, so the amount of shrinkage may vary among buildings. An expert use of thermography or even infra-red scanning of a building exterior wall in cold weather, with the heat on indoors, may be able to detect this insulation shrinkage too.

See Formaldehyde Hazards where we discuss the sources of this contaminant, exposure levels, and steps to reduce formaldehyde levels indoors.

Calculating the Loss in Building Insulation Effectiveness Due to UFFI Insulation Shrinkage

Thanks to recent correspondence from a reader, we provide this "back of the envelope" calculation of the percentage of wall area insulation lost due to UFFI insulation shrinkage. Be sure to measure your own building carefully by opening one or more wall cavities for actual examination, as the amount of UFFI shrinkage may vary significantly from one building to another.

First of all, the UFFI foam insulation shrinkage stops after the foam has fully cured. Typically within the first year or less of installation. So the problem does not continue to worsen over time.

We could calculate, even before an IR scan of the building, the total area of uninsulated space in the exterior walls by examining one or two sample wall cavities to measure the actual UFFI shrinkage.

Typically, where UFFI shrinkage has occurred, we observe 2-4 inches of uninsulated space at the wall cavity top between each pair of wall studs, and about one inch of shrinkage and uninsulated space at each side of the original foam block in the stud bay. This is what we found for a Poughkeepsie NY home investigated in detail during siding renovations.

A back of the envelope calculation suggests that this means we've got roughly (3x16)+(2x96) = (48)+(192) = 240 square inches of uninsulated surface in every 16" wide x 8 foot high wall stud bay cavity (1536 sq.in), or about 240/1536 = 15% of the wall cavity space is not insulated.

If you know the total square feet of wall area (subtract out windows and doors) and if you confirm that your walls were framed with studs 16" on center, you can repeat our calculation with your own UFFI shrinkage measurements. (Contact Us to send photos of what you find).

Using actual measurements from your sample cavity you could calculate the total uninsulated area for the home, and ultimately the probable heating cost savings - but beware, as we comment below, if there are other building air leaks, including thermal convection in interior partitions, the air leaks and convection losses will overwhelm even a well insulated building. More on this later.

You could add blown-in insulation around the UFFI, but it would be labor intensive as drilling to insert the new foam would need to be thoughtfully done.

We *speculate* that it would be possible to inject a new foam product, perhaps icynene, for example, at the top of the cavity - that's where the widest shrinkage will occur as it's over the whole height of the material, leaving smaller gaps at the sides - and that at least some of the new foam would run down the sides of the old material as well.

But because the old UFFI is quite fragile, very easily compressed to a powder, blowing in new foam might also, depending on its pressure, actually crush the old material, causing it to collapse, leaving a larger uninsulated hole than before you started.

Therefore what we recommend is that an owner of a UFFI insulated building should try to convince a foam insulator (probably more effective at spreading down gaps than cellulose blow in) to help me do an experiment. It's an experiment because we are not going to insulate the entire home (and pay that high cost) before we know exactly what is going to happen when foam is injected into the UFFI-insulated wall cavities.

• Select two or three typical wall cavities that are easily accessible, blow in the foam from whichever building side is easiest - outside or inside.
• Let the new foam dry and cure completely.
• Cut open the entire wall cavity on one side, probably the inside as drywall or plaster are easier to replace, and see what happened - checking for old foam collapse and the extent of remaining voids.
• Take photographs of both a treated and an un-treated cavity - and please send us copies so that we can comment further, and also so that we can help others who face this question.

IF we find that the addition of another insulation causes more harm than good, or does not appear cost justified, I would focus my strategy on sealing air leaks - that will give by far the most bang for the buck - see these articles for more detailed help with air leaks and building insulation retrofits.

AIR BYPASS LEAKS
AIR LEAK DETECTION TOOLS
AIR LEAK MINIMIZATION
AIR SEALING STRATEGIES

ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS
ENERGY SAVINGS PRIORITIES
ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT CASE STUDY
ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT LEAK SEALING GUIDE
ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT OPTIONS

UFFI Urea Formaldehyde Insulation Class Action Lawsuit in Canada 2009 - update

The Spring 2009 issue of The Canadian Home Inspector, published by the CAHI, the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors, reports on a lawsuit involving contemporary installation of UFFI urea formaldehyde foam insulation in a Canadian home during 2008 despite the fact, as CAHI reports, that the Canadian government has banned the use of UFFI in homes since 1980. The Canadian Home Inspector indicated that Rob and Michelle Cecile are plaintiffs in a $500-million class-action lawsuit against RetroFoam, a foam retrofit insulation product that Health Canada says contains "... a toxic substance ...".

The Cecile family indicated that the AmeriSpec home inspector, licensed through the Canadian federal EcoEnergy program, had a financial interest in the local RetroFoam franchise. Our understanding is that the inspector was hired as Federally licensed energy auditor, not as a home inspector. He was not doing a home inspection. There are many inspectors and contractors who recommend products in which they have a financial interest in the energy audit business. We are informed that one energy audit company pays its auditors nothing for the audit work. The auditor only gets a percentage for the stuff that they get the homeowner to buy. The Canadian Association of Home Inspectors includes a code of ethics that may have precluded a home inspector from making such a recommendation.

According to CAHI, the Canadian federal government has issued a cease and desist order to RetroFoam Canada, a company based on Breslau Ontario, and has issued a cease and desist order to the company's dealer-installers as well, prohibiting the insulation companies from installing RetroFoam.

Retrofoam, according to Health Canada, contains urea formaldehyde - UFFI. "The substance causes respiratory problems and cancer" the article continues. "A posting on retroFoam's website does not deny the presence of UFFI, but says its product is safe." As it was reported, U.S. manufacturer did not disclose to the Canadian company importing the product that there was any UFFI in the product.

Robert and Michelle Cecile also assert that the installation of UFFI in their home using the Retrofoam product that contains urea formaldehyde foam insulation has stigmatized their property and thus reduces its property value. See ENVIRO-SCARE Defined, Effects for more information about the common effects of environmental hazards and scares on property values and property resale time.

Beginning at Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation UFFI we provide history and information about the health concerns associated with this product. A rough summary: early research suggesting a cancer link with UFFI was later found not to be substantiated; a possible formaldehyde sensitivity remains for people suffering from MCS. Where UFFI contained measurable formaldehyde outgassing, that process was found to diminish to below the limits of detection as the foam cured. Current sources of formaldehyde in buildings where old UFFI is present can be expected to be traced to other materials than the UFFI, such as laminated or pressed-wood products.

However, regardless of any ongoing argument about the level of health risk with a UFFI installation, as reported by CAHI, a home inspector, having a financial interest in the insulation company, recommended home insulation retrofit installation of a material banned in Canada.

Share this Article      

...

Technical Reviewers & References

Search InspectAPedia

• Daniel Friedman - principal author/editor of the InspectAPedia^® Website
• InspectAPedia Bookstore lists recommended books, organized by topic & available for purchase. Most of our articles also list books on the specific article topic as well as other references, and information sources.
• Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest corrections or additions to articles at this website, and if you wish, to receive online listing and credit as a contributor. Particular thanks are due to the many experts and also consumers who read and critique technical articles at InspectAPedia.com.
• Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.

Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN BUILDINGS
INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT
Insulation Material Identification Guide
Asbestos-Free Insulation Materials
  Balsam Wool Batt Insulation
  Cotton Insulating Batts
  Cellulose loose fill insulation
  Concrete insulation, light-weight
  Fiberglass Insulation
  Foam Board Insulation
  Foam Insulation Types - Visual Id
  Homasote & Other Insulating Board
  Icynene Foam Spray Insulation
  Insects & Foam Insulation
  Mineral Wool - Rock Wool Insulation
  Mold in Fiberglass Insulation
  Mold in Foam Insulation
  Paper Duct Insulation
  Perlite Insulation
  POLYISOCYANURATE FOAM INSULATION
  POLYSTYRENE FOAM INSULATION
  RADIANT BARRIERS
  RIGID FOAM USE INDOORS
  Urea Formaldehyde Foam Insulation UFFI
    What was the UFFI Concern?
    Should you Buy a UFFI-Insulated Home?
    How to Identify UFFI Insulation in a Home
    UFFI Insulation Shrinkage & Heat Loss Analysis
    Canadian UFFI Class Action Lawsuit in 2009
  URETHANE FOAM Deterioration, Outgassing
  Vermiculite Insulation
HEAT LOSS CALCULATIONS
INSULATION LOCATION for BASEMENTS
INSULATION LOCATION for CAPES, CRAWLSPACES
INSULATION for GREENHOUSE or SOLARIUM
INSULATION MATERIAL IDENTIFICATION GUIDE
INSULATION R-Values & Properties
ASBESTOS: Photo Guide to Materials / Products
Mold Growth Resistance of Foam Insulation
Table of Properties of Insulating Materials
IDENTIFICATION of ASBESTOS in BUILDINGS

• 3/07: thanks to Gary Randolph, Ounce of Prevention Home Inspection, LLC Buffalo, NY, for attentive reading and editing suggestions. Mr. Randolph can be reached in Buffalo, NY, at (716) 636-3865 or email: gary@ouncehome.com
• 06/07: thanks for photographs of transite asbestos heating ducts, courtesy of Thomas Hauswirth, Managing Member of Beacon Fine Home Inspections, LLC and (in 2007) Vice President, Connecticut Association of Home Inspectors Ph. 860-526-3355 Fax 860-526-2942 beaconinspections@sbcglobal.net
• CAHI: The Canadian Association of Home Inspectors, PO Box 13715, Ottawa, ON K2K 1X6 info@cahpi.ca www.cahpi.ca. Also see our Directory of Canadian Home Inspectors on the Internet, reported in
  "In the News: Suit alleges home insulation is toxic," The Canadian Home Inspector, Vol. 13, No. 2, Spring 2009, p. 22-23. See the CAHI code of ethics.
• Thanks to reader Anna Marron for discussion of UFFI-insulated building retrofit options 10/15/2009

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Our recommended books about building design, inspection, and repair, and about indoor environment testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore.
• ...

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

• Asbestos: How to find and recognize asbestos in Buildings - visual inspection methods, list of common asbestos-containing materials
• Asbestos HVAC Ducts and Flues field identification photos and guide
• Fiberglass: Indoor Air Quality Investigations: Health Concerns About Airborne Fiberglass: Fiberglass in Indoor Air from HVAC ducts, and Building Insulation
• Enviro-Scare: Electric Power Lines, Electromagnetic Fields, Cancer Risk, & "Enviro-Scare" - The Normal Curve Cycle of Public Fear of Environmental Issues
• Dust from the World Trade Center collapse following the 9/11/01 attack: the lower floors of this building contained spray-on fire-proofing asbestos materials.
• Asbestos Information Links: Asbestos Detection, Testing, Recognition, Hazards, Field Photos, and Information Sources, including health-related links such as legal services and information about mesothelioma and other cancers.
• Asbestos Identification and Testing References
• Asbestos Identification, Walter C.McCrone, McCrone Research Institute, Chicago, IL.1987 ISBN 0-904962-11-3. Dr. McCrone literally "wrote the book" on asbestos identification procedures which formed the basis for current work by asbestos identification laboratories.
• Stanton, .F., et al., National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 506: 143-151
• Pott, F., Staub-Reinhalf Luft 38, 486-490 (1978) cited by McCrone

InspectAPedia® Home & Site Map - Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair, & Problem Prevention Advice: In-depth research & advice on diagnosing, testing, correcting, & preventing building defects & indoor environmental hazards. Unbiased information, no conflicts of interest.

The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems

Use this simple, economical mold test kit by following our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab

Environmental Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis, Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.

Building Inspection, Problem Diagnosis, Forensic Investigation & Testing, Repair Consulting

Contact Daniel Friedman for website content suggestions or for fee-paid consulting