Here in Fresno, I have noticed that extruded pink foam panels are disappearing at Lowes and Home Depot. The white foam panels
are appearing and the bags of foam are everywhere. Just like when
modelers found homasote, the foam is vanishing - or is it just in the
west?
Must be just in the west. There is plenty of stock here. Then again we have DOW chemical right in this area so there will never be a short of foam insulation.
I work for HD and we still carry it at my store up here in the northeast. I haven’t seen the white stuff at our store we have the blue and pink.
JH
It’s a West thing…you guys have such warm temps all year, that you have no need for insulation, and in Frisco, they have their love to keep them warm…LOL
Plenty of 2" foam panels here in HD and Lowes from Maine all the way to the Carolinas…Florida, Georgia and the southern most states will have trouble getting foam also. Hey, maybe we can send you a box car full…CSX to UP to California.
Didn’t you guys hear?? HD in the West is sending all their foam to New Orleans for the rebuilding effort. All new homes are going up made of the stuff…that’s so when the next big hurricane comes, the homes can just float and there will be no damage…:,)
Have a good week!
We have plenty of it down here in La. They have it in huge loads and are sellin it at Home Depot, Lowes and every mom and pop store every where.
Oh, No!!!
I’ve never bought any of the stuff (I’m still a hardshell man, myself) but a couple of years ago I drifted into one of my local hobby shops and everyone in there was all abuzz because either Lowe’s or Home Despot had just received a (rather large) shipment and everyone was getting ready to charge out and buy a couple of pallets worth. I had heard that there was not any to be had in the local area for some time - I don’t know whether the building supply people had, in reality, gotten any or not; I do know that when I went to inquire about it a few days later the salesman (read; pimply faced kid) gave me that typical Lowe’s/Home Despot stare and muttered “Huh?”
A friend of mine and I went into Lowe’s and Home Despot (we have one kitty-cornered from the other) one afternoon way last year looking for it and got "Huh?"s from two different people. I wouldn’t have the slightest idea where to find it if I were looking for it and it has to be a real urgency for me to go into either a Lowe’s or Home Despot if I am going to have to rely upon a clerk to find something.
Of course, with the price of gas going through the roof that may have to change.
Huh???
Yep, that’s the big box business model. If it doesn’t sell fast enough, they stop carrying it when it sell out.
Unclebuck,
Check with their ordering department. You should be able to special order it.
Chuck–SHAME ON FRESNO!! How could they keep that dangerous stuff as long as they did when everyone else here in SunnyCal has eliminated it because it’s dangerous to Snail-Darters and Spotted Owls? Where in heck has Fresno BEEN the past four years?
Sorry, just kidding. We haven’t had extruded foam up here in Sacramento for at least four years, because it causes cancer in chipmunks and pregnant Mammoths, or something. I have to run across the border and sneak it back in from Nevada, and make sure it’s hidden in the back of a camper at the bug-station in Truckee, for cripes’-sake.
In other words, that wonderful stuff is now VERBOTEN in this state. However, you can get the plastic-coated bubble stuff which is about as useful as a second navel and sprays all sorts of irritating little lighter-than-air particles that absolutely REFUSE to get sucked up into a vacuum cleaner after you’ve tried to cut it.
Ah, progress! Pregnant Mammoths and Snail-darters are now safe in this state. Human beings aren’t, even wearing ventilators. Another victory for the Sierra Club and the ACLU.
AARRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!
Tom
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Here in Wisconsin its everywhere even my local lumber yard has it. How come everything causes cancer in Cali? I heard if you breath the air or drink the water you naturally get cancer lol. On the other hand I am getting 5 sheets monday of only 11/2 inch thick for the top portion of the layout dont want it to heavy since I will be using 1/4 luan board only because of tortoises…
Attn: twhite
The United States of America consists of forty-nine states, a Federal District (of Columbia), and one lunatic asylum. Would you like to guess what that lunatic asylum is called.
Here in the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west we refer to the process of creeping socialism and environmentalism as “Californication”. If the California legislature mandated the consumption of three horse turds a day for good health it wouldn’t be long before all the other legislatures west of the Mississippi mandated the consumption of six horse turds a day for better health. Why you people continue to kiss the Sierra Club’s you-know-what
is beyond me. What I do know is that I will gay=rown=tea that if its banned in California it will soon be banned here where I am (right next door) in the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west.
As I said in my previous entry in this posting, I don’t use the stuff but I know some who do - and I know that it can sometimes be extremely difficult to come by.
Try sprinkling a little sugar on your horse turds.
This has been discussed in a number of topics here, and the conclusion is that it is a CALIFORNIA thing. No other states seem to be involved. Environmental nonsense.
Please don’t take it personally, since so many repeat this tired old refrain, but the only nonsense regarding foam is on this forum. Extruded foam is sold in CA, but it’s less available in warm-weather areas and is harder to find in the spring and summer.
It’s for sale even at some HDs in San Jose.
Here are details on how to find a supplier. (Note: Although nearly all HD will be shown as suppliers, they don’t all stock it. So call first.) It helps to find the right store by calling on the phone (before driving), and the manufacturers provide resources to get you started.
The pink foam is made by Owens-Corning. They have a handy website with a dealer locator.
http://www.owenscorning.com/around/locator/index.asp
You are looking for “FOAMULAR” insulation board. When I use the website, I usually find a couple of dozen dealers within a reasonable radius of most CA locations. (Some of those are Home Depot stores which are not likely to actually stock the products that you want … so you may want to try the other stores first.)
Dow (maker of the blue foam) has a phone number for locating large dealers:
(866) 583-2583
In my experience, they often will not have a large dealer to whom they sell directly in warm-weather areas, so they refer you to their two largest nationwide distributors:
Blue Links (888) 502-2583
Weyerhaeuser (877) 235-6873
Usually one of these has had a dealer near where I was searching.
By the way, Dow has a dizzying variety of blue foam products. The standard stuff that most people use for model railroading applications is called “Styrofoam Square Edge”.
http://www.dow.com/styrofoam/na/res-us/products/square_edge.
ask the governator…
Its not just in the USA, but here in New Zealand foam is quite rare in hardware stores too.
Though this might just be in my area (Ihope!)
Maybe it doesn’t occur to those in colder parts of the country, but insulation is used to keep heat OUT as well as keeping heat IN (think foam beer coolers here.) So it’s not as though there is no need for insulation in California. There is a chunk of southern California that has pretty much ideal weather most of the year, but here in the Central Valley we get 110 degree days in the summer, and insulation aplenty to keep Mr. Sun’s rays off of our layouts.
Home Depot doesn’t carry the stuff, but private insulation suppliers do.
I figured foam was disappearing in California because everyone was building surfboards with it to surf on all that rain you guys have had.
Spring is the time a lot of people start home projects and construct additions onto their homes. You know, new room for the trains! Anyway, that is one of many reasons the foam becomes scarce. There’s plenty here in Virginia. At least I haven’t had any problems finding it.
Bill
It is true in central MO as well. Lowes only carrys extruded foam in 1/2" stock. Otherwise it white bead board. Surprising to me, too, as builders know the pink foam is better. But then again, Lowes and Home Depot don’t cater to builders anyway, just to private do-it-yourselfers. The white stuff is cheaper, so there are probably more people who will buy it. Anyway, I go to the local Sutherlands store which still carries pink extruded foam in up to 2" stock. Other building supply stores that cater to contracters carry it locally as well.
Ron
Actually, I live outside New York City (certainly not a warm weather area) and the local Home Depots never seem to have any 2" pink foam in stock. You can only find 1" which is a pain since you have to glue 2 together. I’ve been struggling to find a source of 2" foam for the past several months in my area since Lowe’s doesn’t carry it either.