I am sure this is covered very frequently but I need to know where folks find both extruded foam and Homasote products. I have several lumber yards but have not seen them at either Lowes or Home Depot. Maybe I do not know what to ask for? [?]
Cheers, Jake
My local Home Depot doesn’t carry extruded foam, but Lowe’s does in 1 inch thick sheets. Look for the blue foam. I use Sound Board instead of Homasote and find it much easier to work with. Look for a brown, 1/2 inch thick, 4 x 8 foot sheet of insulation material in the same isle as the blue foam at Lowe’s. Sound Board is a fiber material made from sugar cane and other vegetable matter that is pressed almost as hard as Homasote. It’s something around $16-$17 per sheet here and is made by Celotex Corporation.
I think the foam is called builders foam insulation. I know Lowes carries it. It comes in pink or blue. (My Lowes has blue.)
I haven’t seen Homasote in either Lowes or Home Depot. However, one place that I had to order it from called it Soundasote. It is a paper product used for sound proofing. If you don’t know what it looks like, you may be well off ordering a few pieces or a sample of Homa-bed. At least that way you will know what you are looking for and will have something to show people what you are looking for. By the way, the Homa-bed has been cut down in thickness to about 1/4 inch. Homasote / Soundasote is thicker. About 1/2 inch or more.
I bought my Homasote board at Menard’s and they do call it Homasote board. I used it for all my roadbed and yards but if I was starting over, I probably would not use it. From my experience, the 4x8 sheets are not uniform thickness so when you cut two strips and lay them end to end, they are not flush. One is thicker than the other. I have not laid any track yet and I am hoping that the uneven thickness and not perfectly flat surface will not be noticeable when trains start running on it.
Jake-You live in California. Good luck on the foam. It seems to be a rare item on the left coast.
Interesting: I found a web page discussing Soundasote and identifying it as a Homasote product; however, the Homasote website includes 440 board for sound attenuation, but no Soundasote. The Knight-Celotex site lists a product called Soundstop that is an underlayment available in 2’x5’ sheets and 4 mm thickness and a wall sheathing available in large sheets and greater thicknesses.
__You can check out the links here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ADBS&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=foam+insulation+board&spell=1__
Lowe’s or Home Depot can order it, if your local store doesn’t have it.
It does seem to be difficult to find in California…it must cause cancer or reproductive issues out there. [:-^]
Rotor
I posted this same question about 8 months ago…
http://cs.trains.com/forums/1270007/ShowPost.aspx
There is one so cal dealer listed. It may not be close to you but it just might be the closet. In Calif Lowes supposedly doesn’t carry it because cooperate won’t let them order it… something about no basements here. Home Depot would order it for me but with a 100 sheet minimum.
Got mine from the place that Byron mentioned. If I didn’t absolutely have to use foam I wouldn’t have… It was the only way I could pull off my track plan. I got 10 sheet for $260.00 plus tax and 45 minute drive
ratled
Lowes, at least in the Kansas City area, sells Dow building insulation in 1 1/2" by 8’ panels - its blue but I like it because its scored and can be seperated easily. Home Depot has two different foam panels - one pink house insulation panel which is ok and a cheap white panel which does not hold fasteners well and falls apart when you try to cut it. I found Homasote at one full service lumber yard.
Ratled and all - Thanks for the info! Unfortunately, I went to Lowes this AM before reading all the help in the Forum. I did find Insulfoam in 3/4" to 2" thicknesses but it is white and has a skin on both sides. It looks very flaky (as one of the Forum respondents said) and I am going to return it. [B)]
Thanks for the links to others - I will try the store in Burbank as SF seems a reach for me!
As to Homasote, I did find soundboard, but also, for a little more money, something called “Building Board” at 1/2" 4x8’. It has a white surface and seems a lot more substantial. I hope! [%-)]
On my new large N scale layout, I plan to use 2" thick blue extruded foam which will be laminated to 1/2" plywood with latex caulk. In the past, I have used Homasote laminated to 1/2" plywood with yellow carpenter’s glue. Homasote is a mess to cut. Cut it outside or in a place easily cleaned because the cutting process will create lots of dust. Be sure to wear a dust mask to protect your lungs. The only thing Homasote has going for it is that it’ll hold track nails and spikes very well. This is important if you hand-lay your own track.
In my area, Martinsburg, WV, Home Depot carries Homasote. Don’t count on the staff knowing they even have it in the store. Look for yourself in either the insulation or sheet goods (plywood) sections of the store. My local Lowe’s carries the blue foam insulation board in 2" thickness in 2’ x 8’ and 4’ x 8’ sheets. They also have thinner sheets in various sizes. Be aware that the thinner sheets, i.e., 1" or less may have protective thin plastic sheets on their surfaces. These must be removed to get proper adhesion of scenery glues, caulks, etc. To my knowledge the 2" thick blue foam does not have this protective plastic layer on its surface.
Bob
Oh, Ho Ho!! For ratled and dadret and others who set me straight on blue foam, here is what the situation is in Southern California. Only sold in 2x8´ sheets and those 2¨thick will cost $35.95 EACH!
So for once, you can be thankful for living where the climate gets cold.
Both 4x8 sheets of blue/pink foam and Homasote vary in thickess. The foam is ‘extruded’ and the end thickness can vary. Cut a piece in the middle and try to align it to the end - You have a 50/50 chance that they are the same thickness. We used 2" foam for out club layout and ran into these issues. Some shims and spacke solved most of the problems. We glued cord roadbed to the foam and glue the track to the cork. We used a foam-safe contact adhesive and I think it dries too hard - the train noise is very noticable - I would use a latex ‘caulk’ as others have mentioned in the future.
Homasote is a ‘pressed paper’ product and can swell depending on humidity. Cutting it is an exercise in massive clouds of dust! Some of the alternate insulation board mentioned ‘flakes’ apart at times. Homasote is really good if you are ‘hand laying’ your track, spikes hold in Homasote very well. Another product that holds spikes quite well is ‘Micore’(it is an acoustical sound control material). I used 1/2" plywood for my ‘subroadbed’ and laid ‘Homabed’ on top of that(glued down with small nails holding it until it dries). I comes in already cut into roadbed much like cork(no big mess). It is very firm, and trains run very quiet on it. The bad news is that is cost more than cork.
The bottom line is there is no ‘perfect’ materials when you build a layout. Depending on your region and the materials available, you can get the job done in several flavors! As long as you have a solid subroadbed, you have a good start.
Jim Bernier
I was at the local Lowes (Kansas City Mo) yesterday and they have Dow brand styrofoam (blue building insulation) is 1 1/2" X 4’ X 8’ for $22 a sheet and a generic brand, same size, white foam for $18.
Well, back when I lived in Minnesota, the local Home Depot had 4x8 boards of extruded foam in all sorts of thicknesses, so I had a hard time believing the Californians who said they couldn’t find any. Then, I moved out to Sacramento and out of about half a dozen Home Depots I checked in the area, only one had foam, and then only in 1" thick 2x8. I guess the only tip I can give you is that the only Home Depot that had any was closer to the mountains than the other ones.
Yup - I am now trying for Owens-Corning pink stuff but have struck out again.
You would think they would use it on the Left Coast to keep cooling bills down?
Little tip when shopping at Home Depot, if you find a section of the foam that is damaged and you ask for a discount you may just get one! Last 4 4 X 8 sections have cost me around $5.00 to $8.00 each.
I am using the damaged sheets to bulid my moutain.
Cuda Ken
In central Florida I was able to find extruded foam at an insulation installation company. It was pink and 1 inch think. Evidently they did not use it much but they had some laying around. I doubt that in a warm climate you could find anything thicker. Stacking 1 inch board is more work but not a big problem. The local Lowes and Home Depot did not have any extruded foam at all.
Cuda Ken - I would have thought also that we need more insulation in our SoCal homes, but here I sit in an almost glass house with a roof of Celotex, so there you go.
I will wait for a trip to Seattle to buy. [soapbox]