Thread: Foam question???

Tweet

I live in California and we don't have the good pink or blue foam that I know most of you use for tombstones, too warm of a climate I think. Last year I used the insulation foam that is the old beaded styrofoam. It wasnt the best, but I think my tombstones came out pretty well not being able to get the good stuff. I was at Home Depot today and was checking on their inventory getting an idea for what new ones I wanted to make this year, and saw they are carrying something called Thermasheath. It is about 2x the cost, but looks like what I imagine the pink or blue foam to be, but I havent seen any in person. The Thermasheath has an aluminum covering instead of the plastic on the beaded styrofoam. I don't want to spend the extra $ if it isn't gonna work, but if it is comparable to the pink or blue, I would. Just wanted feedback from anyone that might know if the Thermasheath performs as well as or is even the same as the pink or blue foam sheets. Thanks in advance!

Pink & Blue are the same thing, just that blue is not allowed in CA as it does not have the fire retardant & other requirements as pink. Check again at HD they have should have the pink in 3 dif thickness there.
If not they are either out of stock or that store not carrying it. Try Lowes. The alum covered thermashield is like working the the white styro, messy !!

They only have white 2" thick most at all my nearby Home depots. They are way overpriced though for a 4x8ft sheet. I would rather go to a foam manufacturer and ask them if they can sell to the public and "will call" it! Best of luck to you!

Oh hello fellow Californians!

Thank you both! That was the info I was looking for. I checked everywhere last year and couldnt find any of the good foam at my Lowes or HD. They weren't stocking it. That is why I was looking now to see if they had changed what they were carrying, but afraid not. I will have to keep looking, any ideas? I am near the bay area.

I would avoid the Thermasheath, it's completely different than extruded foam. I live in Florida, and I have a really hard time finding foam, but it's doable if you look hard enough. You have to think outside the "box stores"! I usually get lucky by calling independent insulation company's, sometimes roofing contractors, or if you have 84 lumber in CA, they usually stock 1 inch thick foam and you can use PL 300 to adhere two together for the much desired 2 inch. Good luck, I know how tough it can be to find, but it's well worth the hunt!

A longshot...

Find a new housing development going up that is using foamboard insulation. Ask the site manager or contractors if you can snatch up their scrap, then frankenstein it as needed back home. Not sure how much scrap there would be, but might be worth looking or dumpster diving.

A hot wire won't cut the aluminum skin on Thermasheath, and peeling it off doesn't work well either. The white beaded stuff, sucks, but is all I have been able to find too. I did find a source in Burbank for the pink foam. Not that Burbank helps you, but I found the source for the pink by typing my area and pink insulation foam 4x8 into Google. I haven't been to get the foam, but did find it that way. My local big box never has it. Good luck.

If you are near the East Bay, try Dom's Surplus in Livermore. Also, Michael's carries craftboard that you can glue together to get the thickness you want.

Same story here in Holland,I'm using styrofoam at the moment... It's nice,but not the best.

I'm still on the hunt for it...

Thanks everyone! I am glad I am not the only one who has had a hard time finding the pink stuff. Glad to know that the thermasheath wont work before I spend the $! Love this forum.

I am more south bay so haven't had the luck finding it, but wasn't totally disappointed with the styrofoam I worked with last year. Actually liked the way my stones turned out. Just really messy and I guess you can't miss what you don't have.