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Hi. I have looked on the forum but not located a thread addressing this.
Where is a good place to find foam insulation for layouts?
Our local Lowe's has a giant piece that is 3/4 inch thick but probably 8 or 10 feet long. They also have small 1/4 " thick pieces in small sheets.

Would love to find 3/4 or 1 inch thick size pieces that are more manageable, or do I need to just cut them down in the parking lot?

Thanks for your help!!
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Hello,

where to buy is eazy. If you are only looking for 3/4 inch thick. HD,Lowes,84 lumber,busy beaver ,all lumber supply chains, etc... All have it. I ve havnt seen it in less than 4x8 sheets. Just tell them to cut in half for you.
From my limited experience with foam ,the more important question is what kind of foam.New regulations last year has eliminated some of the foams makeup.
The nice light density foam IMHO is way easier to work with and carves and cuts very nice.
This WAS the light pink owens corning which is now purple-pink and to dense for me ,also the blue as far as ive seen is still the old good light density.
As was the pink ,the green is also changed to the dense stuff but depending on where you get it it could be either.Ive seen a thread a month or two where someone said they found some of the light pink foam at their HD, but my HD hasnt had it in a year.
So depending on what you plan to do with it, this may or may not matter to you.
Lowes will sometimes agree to cut the thinner foam, up to 1 1/2", but not always. Depends on who is working at the time, I have found cooperation at Home Depot to be a little better. Some of the thicker foam, the 2" has a pre-perforated seam at either 12" or 16" lengthwise. Two people working in tandem can usually get it to break pretty cleanly at those points.
I prefer the 2" thick 4x8 Extruded Polystyrene board (usually pink or blue), which is available locally but is not readily available in all areas. My local Lowes will not cut the board for customers; don't know whether Home Depot will or not since I haven't tried there. You probably want the dense Extruded Polystyrene boards though, and not the light/loose type of foam sheets. Certainly what I would recommend.

Again, this stuff is not available in all areas. Depends on what local codes allow and what contractors use in the insulation process.

SF VA,

 

I have seen 2X4 sheets of 1 inch thick foam for sale occasionally.  You do have to look though.  But the 4X8 sheets are more cost effective.  First, a 3/4 or 1" thick 2X4 piece would be around $8.00, but the 4X8 piece is around $20.  I think that saving $12 per 32 square feet of foam would turn most modelers towards cutting them up in the parking lot.  But if you only need 8-16 square feet of the stuff, then you could go with the 2X4 sheets.  As for where I saw it, I haven't seen it since that one time.

Originally Posted by Dewey Trogdon:
Here locally, Home Depot has 1/2" x 4 x 8 sheets in pink[at least they did before Christmas].

Hi Dewey,

 

If you could do me a big favor, next time you go to Home Depot, see if you can get the HD SKU number for 1/2" pink foam. I haven't been able to find it here in Jersey, maybe an SKU would help.

 

Thanks!

GaryF

Originally Posted by Kunde:

Kunde - Thanks for your reply! Have you used this material for scenery? The core material sounds like it's pretty nasty stuff to be cut with a hot knife, even if you can peel off the foil and plastic outer layer.

 

Thanks again,

GaryF

Hi Folks

 

my first post

 

Check with your local packaging companies for EPS foam.

That's expanded polystyrene... Also known as "Styrofoam".

Some packaging companies use it, some do not. Call around.

DOW blue is best.

 

The companies have large band saws to slice and cut accurately to any dimension.

Water jet cutters, etc.

 

The selection/cost should be much better than HD, etc.

 

enjoyvette

Packaging Engineer

The 2" foam that I buy at Menards (save big money) usually has precut grooves and can be snapped in several pieces.  The boxcutter is a good idea and doesn't give the store employees the notion that you've gone over the edge.   You're quite right, the newer stuff is more difficult to work with.  I've been using foam for 20 years.
The 2" foam that I buy at Menards (save big money) usually has precut grooves and can be snapped in several pieces.  The boxcutter is a good idea and doesn't give the store employees the notion that you've gone over the edge.   You're quite right, the newer stuff is more difficult to work with.  I've been using foam for 20 years.
Originally Posted by John Albee:
 The boxcutter is a good idea and doesn't give the store employees the notion that you've gone over the edge.

 

Once I drove a small SUV to HD to buy some 2'x8' pink foam panels. Eight-footers wouldn't fit in the car, and I didn't really need long pieces for the cliffs I was building. I drew quite a few stares as I loudly snapped each one in half over my knee in the parking lot, and tossed the pieces into the back of the SUV.

 

Jim

Our Lowe's and HD seem to only sell the white R-Tech Infulfoam here, so I bought 4 sheets of it (4'x8'x1" for $9+). I've got 2 sheets cut down using a utility knife to cover my 6'x11' benchwork grid, but I'm thinking I should try to find the pink/blue stuff somewhere for the 2nd layer and once I get to the point of adding scenery. The white stuff seems to be okay for covering the grid. Seems like the pink/blue is getting hard to find. Is it okay for the first layer or should I scrap it completely?

Also, I'm not to happy with the utility knife approach to cutting. It seems okay for these straight cuts, but not for sculpting/shaping. So, I'm looking at the Crafter's Hot Knife likethe one seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...youtube_gdata_player

Are these worth the $70 or are there cheaper alternatives?

The blue and pink are pretty much the same stuff, colored differently by competing companies. Neither one will do anything to quiet track noise. I know that quite well from experience. Both are good for building terrain levels though. Lowe's in my area sells a green version with their name brand on it. Seems to be more of the same stuff. I have no experience with white foam.

 

The further south you live, the less likely you are to find the thicker foam panels in any color.

Finally found some of the pink stuff.  It seems like only a few Home Depots here carry it, so I had to go online to find the ones that keep it in stock, or I just had bad luck hitting the ones that didn't have it.   I think I'm going to go ahead and use the white stuff for the first layer and cover that with a layer of pink. I should mention that I only expect to use this layout for 3 years before I tear it down to build a new one in a spare bedroom. This project is mostly a learning experience.

Originally Posted by Santa Fe VA:Hi Santa Fe!  I recently bought the larger three/quarter inch sheet and simply had them run a razor downthe middle and made the cut whichfit nicely in my car. Yes, it does help to work with smaller sections, although I did see the smaller ones you mentioned but alittle pricey. I really believe the way to go if you don't need the larger 4 x 8 sheet is to have them cut it for you or take a razor and doit in the parking lot.  Have fun.
Hi. I have looked on the forum but not located a thread addressing this.
Where is a good place to find foam insulation for layouts?
Our local Lowe's has a giant piece that is 3/4 inch thick but probably 8 or 10 feet long. They also have small 1/4 " thick pieces in small sheets.

Would love to find 3/4 or 1 inch thick size pieces that are more manageable, or do I need to just cut them down in the parking lot?

Thanks for your help!!

 

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