Newbie just starting a ‘trial’ HO layout ( 2x4 ) before I start on the bigger 5x11.
Have visited every single hardware store in the area to include Home Depot, Lowes, Orchard Supply, Ace Hardware and a number of others ( by phone )and I can’t find anyone that can get rigid foam insulation for me.
The area, by the way, is Morgan Hill, CA just 20-minutes south of San Jose.
Started with the pink Owens Corning Formular Rigid Foam Insulation and then added the blue Dow Styrofoam Square Edge - nothing ???
So where do you guys buy this stuff … would like 1 and 2 inch thick 2x8 sheets but, at this point, I’ll take most anything.
Thanx
PS … anyone with dimensional plans for a wooden gallows type turntable that wouldn’t mind sharing the dimensions … would be GREATLY appreciated.
This stuff is everywhere here in the Northeast, but others have reported that you basically can’t find it anywhere in the Southwest. I get the pink stuff at Home Depot. My guess is, they could order it for you if you can find someone willing to push the paperwork through.
Or, you might try contacting Customer Service at Dow or Owens-Corning. See if they can give you a lead on who carries the stuff in your area. Let them know your Zip code.
Dow Pink or Blue Insulation Foam is normally a lumber yard or builders’ supply item. Maybe it’s different in California. Try the Yellow Pages under FOAM PRODUCTS or STYROFOAM. Or go to the Dow/Corning website and find a list of distributors there. Under no circumstances let someone talk you into white “bead foam”. Google might be an even better bet.
If ya care to drive up to Berkeley (and who wouldn’t), Truitt and White (lumber yard) has 1 1/2 and 2 inch thick 2x8 blue foam. I was just there last week pricing it. About $20 a sheet, if my tiny mind recalls correctly. Someone down in your neighborhood “must” have it–I would try a “real” lumber yard. Incidentally, the guys first offered me foil-faced stuff, so ya gotta be careful what you ask for.
All the places you mentioned are homeowner outlets. You need to find a professional builder’s outlet. It will be better if you can find a contractor friend to purchase it for you as they will save you a ton.
I was talking to a fellow at the LDSIG/OPSIG meet in Santa Clara this last weekend and he says the only place he knows of is in Richmond. He gave me his card and I’m going to email him to get the particulars. Will post info when I get it.
OK, here’s the skinny. According to my source, extruded foam (blue) is available from:
Pacific Supply
1735 24th St.
Oakland
510-832-5724
It’s available in various thickness, but apparently it’s only sold in 2’x8’ sections. For transportation purposes, that’s probably better than 4x8 sheets. 2x8 is ideal for shelf type layouts. Here’s a link to a map: http://tinyurl.com/352dnq
Just to follow up. I was a contractor in CA for 15 years. I know that CA mostly use Owen-Corning fiberglass insulation. The contractor outlets have to order it from the manufacturer. that means if Joe Blow wants some Owens-Corning foam, they go to the contractor outlets place an order and when the weekly shipment comes in you get your your stuff. You can drive a couple hours if you like, but I think you don’t have to.
I am having the exact same trouble here in Central Florida. Went to all the home-owner type places. . .nothing. Anybody know where I can get some in the Lakeland, FL area, heck, I’d probably even drive to Tampa to find a couple of sheets of 4’X8’x1"
I may have to try and contact Dow as suggested earlier.
And to think I went to the trouble of hauling 5 - 2" 4x8 sheets of the pink stuff in my RV from South Dakota back to Texas last year…[:-^] because we can’t find the thick stuff here either!
2’x8’? I’ve never seen it in anything but 4x8. I can get a 2" 4’x8’ sheet of the pink kind at Home Depot for $25. I guess everything is more expensive out west![:-^]
I work with a guy whose sister’s boyfriend has a neighbor who once dated a girl whose brother goes out drinking with a fellow whose cousin used to jog with a guy whose uncle found out from his union steward that a former acquaintance of theirs told his brother-in-law that both Lowes’ and Home Despot are expecting a shipment of this stuff on the Monday after Easter at 8:22 in the morning. Immediately after posting this reply I am going down to que up so I can purchase fifty-five sheets of this stuff the minute it arrives. I have been looking for this stuff without success for over six years now and I will no longer be denied.
Before I started my last/former layout I went into both Lowes’ and Home Despot in a futile search for it. I had never seen any of it up to that time but it seemed to be the thing which everyone was talking about and I thought that it might be something I would use on my new layout. By chance, I drifted into one of my local hobby shops and the place was abuzz with rumors that Lowes’ had just got a shipment in; one individual was headed there “right now” to purchase a dozen sheets or more. Job requirements prohibited me getting into a Lowes’ for a couple of days; when I inquired about it the following Saturday I got a succession of vacant stares and “Duh-h-h-h-h!!! Never heard of it!!!” from a long procession of clerks. I did not find it on that particular Saturday; I have never found it in this area and, I suspect, “right now” hasn’t either.
I did finally get to examine a piece - on a layout tour during the Cincinnati NMRA convention in 2005.
My future plans??? I am going to stick with Hydrocal®, 1/2 inch plywood, Homasote®, and cork; I at least know where I can get it, the clerks know what it is, and, if it is out of stock, it doesn’t usually stay that way for long.