5mm underlay foam, any contacts direct with manufacturers?

[43078shildoncountydurham]

Hi all,

 

Just a quick one folks,

 

Other than the normal like C & l on others does anybody go direct manufacturer?

 

Regards

 

Craig

[ISW]

Craig,

 

Not sure if this helps but, I'm going to use 3mm foam that I bought at Homebase. It's 'normal' use is under wooden flooring. For details refer:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/133913-burton-on-trent-south-some-progress/?p=3277039

 

I've seen a 2mm version, but not a 5mm one.

[JZ]

I use 3mm Depron foam. Also available in 2mm & 6mm. Works out cheaper than cork and is much easier to remove if you want to recycle base boards. http://www.depron.co.uk/

[RFS]

I used Plastazote foam which is almost identical to Woodlands Scenics and C&L stuff.  It comes in various thicknesses and I used 5mm.  I purchased 2mx1m sheets from here - http://www.thamesvalleysupplies.co.uk/plastazote.php. The LD33 density was about right.

 

I originally tried Depron foam. But it's brittle and easily dented, and didn't do much for sound reduction. 

[mikeg]

I have used the B&Q wooden floor underlay that is 5mm thick it comes in interlocking sheets 600*600mm and works out as a cheap answer to give a surface that takes pins easily. To fix it I use double sided tape 50mm wide and I get a 25m roll also from B&Q which is the cheapest way to buy it, this is very easy lay as I use 50mm squares or stips along the baseboard edge, if you need to lift it at any time I use a wallpaper stripper.

 

Regards mike

[Matt]

Funnily enough just been looking into this myself... previously i had used 3mm foam from B&Q which came in 10m2 packs of "concertina" style - was really pleased with this.  New layout underway and went to get some but cannot find anywhere locally - B&Q, local floor suppliers, BuildBase etc... all had many options but nothing suitable.  Search online wasn't too productive either turning up many ribbed options that would not work.  Then I found something called Envoy Ultimate from Jiffy which i ordered yesterday and due to arrive this week.  £25 for 20m2 with free delivery.  I'll tell you whether suitable when it turns up but looks similar to what I used to get from B&Q...

M

[mikeg]

Matt I think you will find that it’s similar but not the same, the B&Q has changed from 3mm to 5mm that’s ribbed on one side and flat on the other also it’s marked with a 50mm square grid on the flat side which is very useful for cutting it when required.

 

Regards mike

[Matt]

My Envoy Ultimate arrived and it looks like exactly what i need for my purposes - not exactly the same as the B&Q stuff i had before but smooth (unribbed like many), soft enough to absorb sound and firm enough that won't just deform under weight of track/locos.  It actually looks very similar to some QuickStep underlay i used years back which doesn't seem to be available any more.  I'm only using in fiddleyards - quick experiment suggested noise from a wagon on a straight piece of track was about 50% lower with underlay which was quite a bit more of an effect than i expected.

M

[sharris]

I've noticed that the 4D Modelshop has a few foams - the most applicable types might be:

 

EVA Craft foam (2mm & 10mm thicknesses) - not sure what it's made from. 

'Funky Foam' (2mm thickness) - neoprene - I've seen this one in Hobbycraft as well. 

Plastazote foam (3mm, 6mm, 12mm thickness) - polyethylene foam.

 

Being focused on the craft and cosplay market, these foams are most likely more pricey than anything from a DIY warehouse.