# Styrofoam over benchwork



## cbarm (Apr 15, 2011)

I was at the local hardware store yesterday where I buy all my 2x3's n OSB for building my benchwork n I was gonna pick up some styrofoam to put overtop so I can finally start putting track down permanently, but the cost kinda blew me away!! All they had was the pink stuff (he said it was same as blue) and it came in 2x8' sheets x 1/2, 1 1/2 or 2" thick. I told him that 1 1/2 would be sufficient and it was $20 a sheet!! Is this in line or is that a rip off??

Merry Christmas to all, I hope your railroads run smoothly...


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

I paid just under $25 a sheet (if memory serves me right) for 2" 2x8 pink @ Home Depot. Maybe there's a subtle difference in the R rating and chemical makeup but for our purposes blue is made by DOW, pink by Owens Corning.

Good idea to decide what type of switch machines you plan on using, if going with under table switches like Tortise you'll need extentions to go thru that 1.5 inches of foam. That's a mis-steak I made in going with 2 inch.


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## mwpeber (Dec 5, 2011)

Are you overlaying the foam over the whole bench, just under the track, or to make landscape forms?


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

cbarm,
In Michigan a 4X8 sheet of 1" pink from Home Depot is about $15.
That's what I've used on my 10X10 layout and it works great!
Merry Christmas,
Bob


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

Just checked, 1x24x96 @ HD here is $8.95. 2x24x96 is $16.84

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&Ntpc=1&Ntpr=1

Thought I had paid more.


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## cbarm (Apr 15, 2011)

Well what I have is 2x3 benchwork with 7/16 OSB overtop for a platform and I wanted to go with the foam for landscaping purposes. I guess a 2x8 for $20 isnt to far out of line by the looks of it...
I have these old (Im not sure what brand) under table switch machines that have about a 3" rod on em so thats why I was thiinkin of going with 1 1/2 foam over the 7/16 OSB so thn I can trim some off if need be...

I was going to cover the whole layout with this foam by the way...


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## flyboy2610 (Jan 20, 2010)

I see that you're in Alberta, Canada. That would probably be the reason the foam is a bit pricier up there, having to be imported from the states.
For a 4x8 sheet of 2" thick pink foam, Home Depot wants $27 here in Lincoln, Ne.


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## cbarm (Apr 15, 2011)

Yea probably, they know we needs lotsa insulation here to avoid the "klang" factor haha. I will check it out at home depot here, they might be a lil more in line with prices here.


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## hoscale37 (Nov 20, 2011)

JackC said:


> Just checked, 1x24x96 @ HD here is $8.95. 2x24x96 is $16.84
> 
> http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&Ntpc=1&Ntpr=1
> 
> Thought I had paid more.


I just clicked on the link and here are the prices that came up for me...

4 results:
All Owens Corning
2" X 48" X 8'= $27.20

1/2" X 48" X 96"= $10.58

1" X 48" X 8'= $13.68

3/4" X 48" X 8'= $13.48

I guess these really do vary in Location for Price. I'm in Cincinnati.


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## jonyb (Mar 20, 2011)

I'm using 4x8 q" thick and it was around $15/sheet at lowes.....


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

I've seen this happen on other forums. Lumber prices at HD, Lowe's, and Menard's varied depending on region.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

How thick is a q"???:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Let me offer you a suggestion. Go to a large store like Lowes, Home Depot and the like. Check out their inventory for damaged sheets: they call these culls. No one will pay full price for them and they take up valuable space---ask them to shoot you a price on a (your cherry-picked) damaged sheet---don't tell what it's for. If it's not half-price or less, tell them that's too much and (fill in competitor name, here) usually gives you a better deal---start to walk away. My guess is they'll drop the price, again. That's how I got all of mine for a reasonable price.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

I picked up a cull at HD for 80% off retail. They usually have a stack of them, when you glue them together - you'll chop them up anyway.


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## mwpeber (Dec 5, 2011)

I love shopping the 80% off cart at HD. They have all sorts of goodies there that are "damaged". I just picked up the equivalent of 2 4x8 sheets of ~1/2" Plywood for well under $10!


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