What a Cincinnati spray foam quote should include, line by line

A quote that reads "attic, closed-cell, $8,900" cannot be compared with anything. Two quotes for the same attic can sit thousands of dollars apart for honest reasons, and the only way to see those reasons is a quote that lists them. Here is what each line should say, in roughly the order a good quote is written, with Greater Cincinnati price ranges for 2026.

The formula behind every number

Spray foam is sold by volume. Every price comes down to square feet of surface, times inches of depth, times dollars per board foot, where a board foot is one square foot one inch thick. Greater Cincinnati quotes mostly land between $1.50 and $2.50 per board foot for closed-cell and $0.50 to $1.20 for open-cell, inside the national ranges in HomeAdvisor's June 2026 cost guide ($1.30 to $3.10 closed-cell, $0.60 to $1.60 open-cell). A quote that hides area or depth is hiding the only numbers you can check.

The lines a complete quote carries

Surfaces and square footage

Each surface gets its own line: roof deck, gable walls, attic floor, knee walls, rim joist, crawl walls. Roof deck area is bigger than the floor under it because of the pitch, so a 1,200 square foot attic floor under a steep roof can mean 1,500 or more square feet of deck.

The product, by name

Brand, product name, and whether it is open-cell or closed-cell. That lets you pull the data sheet and the evaluation report, and it is what the manufacturer's warranty attaches to.

Depth and R-value for each surface

Inches of foam and the resulting R-value, surface by surface. This is the line that makes quotes comparable. Ohio's residential code already requires spray foam installers to certify the installed thickness and R-value for each area when the job is done, so a quote should be willing to state the target up front.

Board feet and price

Total board feet per surface, and either a per-board-foot rate or a lump sum you can divide back into one. If one quote is $2.40 per board foot at 5 inches and another is $1.80 at 3 inches, the second is not cheaper. It is less foam.

Prep and removal

Old insulation out, stored belongings moved, finishes protected. Removing old attic insulation runs about $1 to $2 per square foot in HomeAdvisor's 2026 figures, and it belongs on its own line because not every job needs it.

Sealing the foam does not do

Chimney clearances closed with sheet metal and fire-rated sealant, flue collars, bath fans ducted outdoors instead of into the attic, and old recessed lights swapped for airtight IC-rated housings. These are small line items, and they decide whether the job works.

Fire protection for exposed foam

In living space, spray foam needs a thermal barrier such as 1/2-inch drywall. In attics and crawl spaces entered only for service, an ignition barrier or a coating tested with that product is the usual answer. A rim joist can often stay bare if the foam meets Ohio's limits on thickness, density, and flame spread. The quote should say which applies to each surface and who handles it.

Vents and ventilation

If the attic becomes unvented, the soffit, ridge, and gable vents get closed off, and the quote should say so. If the whole house gets much tighter, it may need mechanical ventilation; the ASHRAE 62.2 FAQ explains when.

Testing

A blower-door test before and after, with results in writing. It is the only number that shows what the air sealing achieved.

Schedule, re-entry, and paperwork

Days on site, when the house can be reoccupied under the product's instructions, whether a permit is involved, and what you receive at the end: the thickness and R-value certification, product data sheets, test results, and an itemized invoice.

Warranty

Two separate lines: the manufacturer's material warranty and the workmanship warranty, each with its length and what it covers.

A worked example

Take a 1,300 square foot roof deck over an attic that holds the upstairs air handler. These figures are illustrative.

• Quote A: 4 inches of closed-cell, 5,200 board feet at $2.00, or $10,400, plus $1,300 to pull 1,000 square feet of old floor insulation, plus vent closure and an ignition barrier coating, each priced on its own line.
• Quote B: "R-49 roof deck," $17,500, no depth stated.

Ask Quote B for its depth. At about R-7 per inch, R-49 takes roughly 7 inches, or 9,100 board feet, which works out to about $1.92 per board foot. Quote B charges about the same rate as Quote A for nearly twice the foam. Whether that extra depth pays for itself is a fair question, and the cost FAQ walks through it, but it is a different question from which quote is cheaper.

Red flags

• No depth or R-value stated for each surface
• No product name, or no data sheet when you ask for one
• A price far below the others with no explanation of what is missing
• Silence on fire protection for exposed foam, or on what happens to the attic vents
• Reluctance to put testing and warranty terms in writing

Next step

Put your own square footage and depth into the spray foam cost calculator to see where a fair number should land, and read the attic spray foam page for how the deck-or-floor decision drives the scope. Then call or text us with the quote in hand, and we will go through it line by line with you.