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Pink or blue extruded foam insulation board


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  • RMweb Gold

Can anyone help with a supplier of the large (roughly 2 x 4 feet and 2 inch thick) sheets that were all the rage a few years ago?  I used to be able

to get them in packs of four from B&Q but they seem not to stock them now and I can't see any obvious equivalents online. I found some similar

blue foam sheets at a radio control plane swapmeet but again can't locate a supplier now that I could do with a few more.

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Depending on how much you need a builder’s skip on a construction site might be the easiest route and the best price by far. On this side of the pond builders clad the whole house in foam and then cut out windows and doors so some large bits of scrap are available.  The only catch being there might not be too much construction going on....

 

Cheers,

 

David

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  • RMweb Gold

Done some more digging around and it looks as if this might be the stuff, but for now it's being described as insulation for electric underfloor heating:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XPS-Insulation-Boards-Floor-Underlay-Panels-for-Electric-Underfloor-Heating-50mm/124032252637?hash=item1ce0e5fadd:g:NUgAAOSwmeNeD0wD

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You need to look for XPS insulation board (extruded polystyrene). Make sure it's XPS and not EPS board (expanded polystyrene) though. There's plenty about in a multitude of thicknesses. They glue the suff between two sheets of OSB and build houses out of it now, without framing a lot of the time (SIPS panels).

 

Justin 

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  • RMweb Gold

Al, the pink stuff hasn't been available for some years now. It was part of government subsidised scheme for loft insulation back around 2010. It's sad really but I was fortunate to get a large supply to stash away for future use. Not surprisingly, half of it is gone, mostly on 'Balcombe'!

 

When the supply is exhausted I will be using 'Kingspan' blue floor insulation. The only drawback is that the minimum order is around £100 (IIRC) for a pack of four (?) 2440 x 1220 x 50mm. Anyway they're closed for the duration so your best bet would be your ebay find. Justin is correct in his advice re- XPS and EPS boards

 

To glue ply to it (to frame and for track beds) use non-solvent grip adhesive.

 

PM me if you need any advice. I've used the pink stuff for 10 years now and have never looked back!

 

Keep well and all the best.

 

 

Edited by Re6/6
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  • RMweb Gold

If you want it for carving features like bridges etc rather than just scenic base then in bulk

https://www.panelsystems.co.uk/products/modelling-foam

 

Or loads of smaller batches on eBay if you search for modelling foam.

for example:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F132254477807
 

Edited by PaulRhB
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  • RMweb Gold

Thanks all. I've had good results with the pink stuff on earlier layouts:

 

payne1.jpg

 

This one had no conventional baseboard at all, just the XPS stuff but with MDF on the outside for durability. It's still on the exhibition circuit!

 

What i want the extra XPS for is a new addition to my French opus, and so I need (ideally) to maintain consistency of the scenic treatment from the old boards to the new, as the rail height is dictacted by the thickness of two layers of foam.

 

french3.jpg

 

This is a Tim Horn baseboard with two layers of foam - the pink (which I had left over from a bulk purchase about ten years ago) and the blue stuff, which was somewhat rougher but of a consistent enough depth to be able to be used interchangeably. The blue stuff is denser, I think. The foam was fixed together and stuck to the baseboards with PVA. I will investigate that ebay supplier as their prices seem better than what I last paid for the pink stuff, which I remember being over 20 pounds per sheet.

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  • RMweb Gold

Try seconds and co, they sell factory spoiled and returned insulation boards, we clad and rendered a big house a few years ago using phenolic insulation bought from them the quality was fine for that so you should be ok with anything you might get from them.

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Quote

What i want the extra XPS for is a new addition to my French opus, and so I need (ideally) to maintain consistency of the scenic treatment from the old boards to the new, as the rail height is dictacted by the thickness of two layers of foam.

 

I use plenty of the blue sheets at work to form voids in cast concrete, just be aware that the thicknesses can and do vary and are not guaranteed.  Saying that it sands well if necessary, albeit a tedious and messy job.  To stick it I use nothing more than double sided tape, far easier to align than using glue.

 

HTH

Geoff

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I built my baseboards out of 3 layers  of 50mm blue foam. Overkill but I bought a lot of it. I used a specialist spray on adhesive but discovered that you can use screws as well. NOT self tapping. I use long brass ones and they hold surprisingly well. If you add some Copydex to the thread before screwing in you have the proverbial …. to the blanket. Try to get that out without destroying the foam, no way.

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