Styrofoam ?

[Al Willits]

I'm using some of the pink Styrofoam to insulate my garage and wondering can you glue this stuff?
Have a couple of small gaps and would like to glue a piece in as there's no way to nail it.
tia
Al

[Doug Shepard]

Some of the types of construction adhesive will dissolve the styro but if you look in the aisles with Liquid Nails, etc. you'll see a number of them that say you can use them with styro. For small gaps you might be able to skip gluing though. It's stiff enough that you can often get a tight wedge fit between studs just by cutting it a hair oversize and tapping it home lightly.

[David G Baker]

Al,
A friend of mine insulated his pole barn by cutting the Styrofoam sheets a little over size and wedging them in place. No glue was needed. I plan on doing the same thing in a small barn that I have. The studs are spaced unevenly so each piece has to be cut individually. My friend has not had any problems with the foam staying in place. If you do use glue, don't use too much, just a dab will do. Look for foam specific glue if you decide to go that way. I have also used nails with the plastic ring used on roof sheeting and they have worked well.
Good luck.
David B

[Stefan Schoenberger]

Hi Al

You could fill the small gaps with some expansion foam sealant. I would use the low expansion form. They come in small and big bottles. After the foam has cured you can cut away any excessive foam, if it is in the way.

Stefan

[Al Willits]

Thanks guys, been using the nails with the plastic disc, but this is for corners were I cut to tight, to tight, ooops, to loose...
Also around the garage door opener mechanism and other odd shaped places.
Wedging might work too, but I'll check the Borg and see what they have.
Spray stuff I have now just eats the styrofoam...

I see the Borg has the foam in a can stuff on sale, might as well grap a few of them too.

Thanks.
Al

[Bruce Page]

Al,
I don’t know if there’s a difference between pink & white when it comes to gluing but I’ve had excellent results gluing the white stuff with plain old yellow glue.

[Jamie Buxton]

Gorilla glue works.

[Lee Schierer]

You can use silicone sealant to glue it and it works qite well. It takes a while for it to fully cure though so you may ned to hold things in place with tape for a while. Remember that foam should not be left exposed, it should be covered with drywall per the manufacturers instructions, oter wise it may be a fire hazard.

[Al Willits]

Silicone sounds good too, I have about 6 tubes left over from another project, I'll give it a try, covering the styrofoam will happen maybe this summer, garage catches fire the styrofoam will be the least of my problems...
Thanks
Al

[Rob Blaustein]

As Doug points out, Liquid Nails has a product that will glue it to concrete or wallboard (but it's not good for styrofoam to styrofoam). PL has an adhesive product (PL 300) that will do it also.

[David G Baker]

Al,
Didn't think of silicone, I should have because I use it for almost everything. It is great stuff. I even set tile with it.
Sounds like you have all the answers you need.
Good luck.
David B

[Dave Fifield]

Isn't styrofoam a bit of a fire risk to use as building insulation?

Just asking.....

[Al Willits]

Would I insulate my house with it?
Probably not Dave, but the garage is a building that if it catches fire, I'm either gonna be awake doing something in it, or not in it at all.
Not really a problem then.
Main reason I went with it was, with bad knees the fiberglass would have meant many more trips up and down the ladder, not something I can do anymore.
Also with all the wood, chemicals, paints, plastics and who knows what else is flammable in this garage, should I pass out for some reason and the garage catch fire, I doubt the ceiling insulation is gonna make much difference.

I'll eventually put 1/4" 4x8 sheets of something to make a ceiling, but Beasty has reminded me several times of the storage cabinets I promised to build....and haven't quite finished yet, so the ceiling is a bit down the project list.

Besides, shouldn't every shop have pink ceilings?????

Al

[David G Baker]

Isn't styrofoam a bit of a fire risk to use as building insulation?

Just asking.....

Dave,
If Styrofoam is installed by code or common sense the fire hazard is not much worse than many other products used in construction. If it is covered by Sheetrock I think it will be fine.
David B

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

In the lab we'd use ploain old elmers white glue to make dewars (thermos gadgets) in which we'd carry and store Niquid Nitrogen.

Never had a joint fail.