The Wonderful Wizard of Foam

Spray Foam Magazine – Show 2026 – What follows is a real story about surviving against all odds. Spray Foam Magazine spoke with a veteran in the spray foam industry, Chas Costa, also known as the ‘Foam Wizard,’ about his recent health crisis, what challenges it presented him and his family, and how the industry came together to support his recovery.

Chas has worked in insulation for 35 years, starting at Suburban Insulation in 1991. Over the decades, he championed foam and demonstrated its promise by completing significant projects, such as his injection work on the Guggenheim Museum with Foam Tech. Most recently, in May 2024, Chas began working for AMBIT Polyurethane as their Application Technology and Training Manager. Just as he settled into the role and felt like all the professional pieces were falling into place, he started to feel unwell.

His discomfort and unease lasted for several months, but Chas avoided seeing a doctor because he was afraid of what news he might receive. During Easter 2025, while at home, Chas experienced what he believed was a heart attack brought on by a culmination of his fear and anxiety about his health. Alarmed, his wife, Chelsea, contacted Lauren Meyers, his ‘work wife,’ who both ultimately insisted that he seek medical care.

Despite this health scare over Easter, Chas chose to attend an AMBIT-sponsored educational event for spray foam contractors in Oklahoma that same April. After returning home from the event, he once again delayed seeing a doctor. It was only at the end of April 2025, following the event, that he suffered a life-changing heart attack. Chas was admitted to the hospital, where doctors gave him the difficult news he had avoided for so long: His heart was failing, he needed a double bypass surgery, valve replacement, and he has Type 2 diabetes.

Chas’s life changed overnight. Instead of traveling as an SPF tech, he was at home, adjusting to a smaller, less connected world. He followed a new diet and made lifestyle changes. After years of avoiding doctors, his schedule now included specialist appointments, each doctor giving more restrictions. As he waited for surgery, each delay made him feel weaker and uncertain about the future.

Chas struggled with his mental health, feeling overwhelmed by the fear of the unknown. For the first time, he thought about what his family’s life would be like without him if the surgery did not go well. He remembered thinking, “The most important thing in my life is my family. My wife, Chelsea; my sons, Aiden, and Devin; and my daughters, Elisabeth, Nora, and Shayna. I was terrified of what life would be like after surgery, and whether I’d be able to work, recover fully, and continue providing for my family.” Unsure if he could return to work, fearful of losing his job, feeling as if he no longer belonged to the industry, doubt, and anxiety crept in.

Luckily, Chas found relief in the Ambit team’s compassion. Their steady support helped him through his toughest times. “First and foremost, I truly feel that everyone at AMBIT genuinely cares about my well-being. Our customers have also been incredibly supportive, not just of me, but of my family as well,” Chas says, showing his deep gratitude.

Chas recalls that folks in the industry helped him stay positive when things got hard. In particular, he fondly remembers when his friends, Lane and Stacey Mizera, printed a life-sized “Flat Chas” and took him around, photographing the stand-in as they spearheaded the NAFA show in Canada, and toured places like Banff with Ron Fetzer.

It was on this tour that Chas would see pictures of himself in cardboard form, which is how the Mizera’s brought his presence to the SFWW Carnival. There, Josh Cotner saw others rise to the occasion to support their co-worker and friend and decided to join in the love. At the Carnival, Josh and others raised a nice chunk of cash and donated it to Chas and his family to help them navigate the financial hardships caused by all of the doctors’ appointments and office visits.

Because of this outpouring of support, Chas tries to stay positive. Even though he misses the hands-on work of spray foam application, he now works mostly from home or at AMBIT’s manufacturing plant in Arlington, Texas. He has only visited a few local job sites and misses being a hands-on trainer with customers. Still, he is grateful to keep doing what he loves, just in a new way for the time being. He attributes his positive outlook for the future to the kindness of family, friends, and industry folks who showed up for him when he needed it most.

Chas’s main advice for anyone facing a long-term illness is to talk openly with your employer. They need to know what’s going on, especially if you want to return to your job. It’s also important to be honest about what you can and can’t do. “We all want to push ourselves, and when we start feeling better, it’s easy to believe we don’t need to strictly follow our doctors’ recommendations. But those limitations exist to help you truly heal and get you back to 100%, or whatever your new 100% looks like, which might even be better,” emphasizes Chas.

He also says it’s important to take care of your health before problems start. Chas warns, “Make sure you go to your annual physicals. Just because we work in physically demanding jobs doesn’t mean that alone is enough to keep us healthy.” He insists that others learn from his life and take steps to ensure they do not face the same hardships he has endured.

It’s important to remember that no one needs to face hard times alone. Asking for help is important when dealing with illness or mental health challenges. Chas reminds everyone, “I had to be reminded that I wasn’t alone. Pride can’t stand in the way. Ask for help. From financial support with medical bills, to help quitting smoking, to mowing the lawn, this industry helped my family and me through difficult times.”

Chas extends his gratitude to his family, friends, AMBIT, and the spray foam community at large for their compassion. “Thanks to my new valve, I now have some pig DNA, but I was born with foam in my DNA!”