Recycled Styrofoam Block Insulation

by LoganMackey in Workshop > Home Improvement

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Recycled Styrofoam Block Insulation

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This instructable is to show you how to insulate your house using recycled Styrofoam glued into blocks.
Here's what you will need

Recycled Styrofoam foam peanuts or packing material made form Styrofoam ALOT of this stuff its easily found since its thrown away alot.

Great stuff expanding foam insulation, the large gap filler in the black can this can be bought at home improvement stores by the can at 4 dollars a can, or this stuff can be bought in 2 large separate cans called true green.

cardboard box

tape

disposable gloves



Step One: Make Your Mold

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 First you have to make a mold for your insulation brick, measure the space your going to fill with insulation.  Make sure to make the mold slightly lager then the space you want to fill.
  Then cut and form a cardboard box that size,  The box should fit securely into the space your going to fill.
  Then line your mold with some newspaper or other kind of paper.

Step Two: Filling the Mold

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 Now that you have your mold its time to fill it.
 First break apart your Styrofoam into no more then 1 inch chunks. and fill the bottom of the box with this. Then fill a bucket or box with enough chunks fill the rest of the mold.
   Now once you have the first inch layer of the bottom of the mold filled its time to use the great stuff to bind it all together.

Step Three: Binding the Material

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 Ok now you have a bucket of broken chunks of Styrofoam, and a inch layer of the stuff into the bottom of your mold. your ready for the binding material (great stuff).
  First USE GLOVES great stuff is super sticky and is hard to get off of anything!! Especially finger nails.
So now spray a layer of the great stuff onto the inch layer of the Styrofoam. (don't use the plastic tube that you attach to the can,  it will expand more this way)

 Now that you have a good layer on top of the first layer of Styrofoam now use yoru extra chunks of foam to make the secodn layer, then spray on a second layer of foam, this is your top coat and when smoothed out.
   Let this cure over night to harden.

Step Four: Installing Your Insulation Block

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 Now that your foam block is harden it looks like a giant rice crispy treat, You can take it out of the mold the paper should help it pop right out.
   And now just stuff it into the space in the ceiling your trying to fill. if you made the mold the right size then it should squeeze right into the space with out any other adhesive. other wise you can use a little more great stuff to cement it into place.

  Assuming you get the Styrofoam for free, and the great stuff for 4 dollars a can this insulation costs 1 dollar a board foot
a board foot being 1 foot by one foot by 2 inches thick. The block you see is 1 foot by 2 feet by 6 inches. i used one can per block.

THANKS FOR READING THIS AND IF YOU HAVE ANY STYROFOAM YOU WANT TO DONATE TO MY INSULATION PROJECT I COULD REALLY USE IT!! email me at madmanincinfo@gmail.com i will pay for the shipping and handling for the foam or packing material but cant offer any money beyond it.

ANY AMOUNT OF FOAM WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED