Is it safe to work with the solid pink foam for building a landscape. Someone once told me that if it catches on fire it is poisonous. I don’t want my kids work with it in the basement if that is the case.
The white bead board lets off nasty chemicals, when it burns. The pink (and blue) foam board is difficult to ignite. If it catches fire, The fumes it lets off are probably the least of your worries.
All foam is flamable and give off fumes when burned. Some burn faster than others, but the end result is the same. Pink foam is every bit as safe to use on your railroad as the tried and true newspaper/hydrocal or commercial expandable polyfoams. If you have a fire, exit the house and collect the insurance, don’t try to save anything but yourself. You can build a new layout and buy new furniture, but you can’t replace yourself or your family. Also don’t forget fresh batteries for your smoke detectors, you do have smoke detectors right???
I remember not to long ago going to a web site were some Model RR’s had performed some informal test on foam, The pink and blue stuff would not ignite it melted away from the source of the fire, The white bead board on the other hand might as well have been soaked in gasoline it lit right up.
as for the fumes I’ve heard that the pink and blue is non toxic, that does’nt mean you should stuff a pipe full and have a toke of the stuff though.
but tangerine-jack is right in case of fire just get you and your family out, for safety reasons do what I do and place several smoke detectors over the layout preferably the wireless linked ones with one in your bedroom.
bill
If you are phobic about fire, don’t use foam, or wood for that matter. I have a basement full of it and love it for scenery. As Greyryder says, the foam is the least of your worries. It will not catch fire with a soldering iron or hot foam cutter(I don’t use anyway). I do not use any of the beadboard, like most others will say. It is in the same danger area as wood and carpet.
I don’t know if the fumes from this stuff are toxic or not. I do know that they are not pleasant and made working in my enclosed basement layout room impossible. I used a hot wire cutter on the foam once and never again. Since then I have used serated knives, score and snap and Surfoam planes to shape and then liteweight plaster to cover and have had no problems.