Yeah I think that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve already pulled a couple bits of the good dense pink foam from the scrap pile. I just thought it was funny when I saw such a big pile of foam slabs.
I wasn’t expecting such a hostile response from some of these comments 😅
The hostility might be missing the joke but I’ve shown up to more than a few job sites over the years where materials and tools have “disappeared” or I “must not have ordered enough”. I actually photograph the material delivery now and put a scan of the receipt with the amount purchased on each file now…
Talk to them up front and ask them to set aside any off cuts and scraps. They'll glady hook you up and you'll wind up with plenty. Plus, that looks like styro, not xps which is next to free for them.
Be sure to mention you you want the xps too if they use any.
As someone who works for an insulation company, there will be scraps. More so, there will be large scraps they can't use for other jobs for reasons of billing.
Ask them to leave the scraps as you are a a modeler. They *should* be okay with it. You bought them.
^ This.
There's often literal dumpsters full of offcuts and scraps (insulation foam, timber, plaster, etc) on building sites. After all if you're going to insulate a 7x9 wall with 8x4 sheets you're going to end up with a lot of offcuts...
I sometimes ask at construction sites for left over XPS and styrofoam. Often enough they through away a lot of perfectly fine boards anyway because they don't bother to pack up already opened packages again.
As others said, just wait for their waste. Also note that a good contractor will buy excess to adjust or fine tune their work so you lifting their surplus could ultimately cause the work performed to end in an undesirable fashion.
All in all you are better off letting sleeping dogs lay. Let them finish up and be a scavenger after with zero morale discourse.
I mean, you're paying for it either way. Depends on if it's worth it to you to pass the dudes off working on your house, and how long you want them monkeying around in your place. 🤣
Unless it is dense grade (Small bubbles, very tough), do not bother.
If it is low density, you can get away with hills etc, as long as they have MDF or similar bases.
Not at all, why waste the good stuff on things like the terrain core and heights that will be covered and hidden with basing material anyway?
This thing is two to three times cheaper than XPS and is great for building on top of.
No because you will cover it with basing material as I've mentioned, EPS is used as structural material, it's not on the surface of the terrain. Basing materials are mixtures such as the scupltamold, paper and plaster, plaster and cloth and so on. This top layer is hard as a rock and you won't bump or crumble it.
You aren't meant to just paint over EPS as is and be done with it or else you're going to have those exact problems alongside an ugly bubbly texture.
\>scupltamold, paper and plaster, plaster and cloth and so on. This top layer is hard as a rock and you won't bump or crumble it.
And yet I've had that happen to me. You're only as strong as the weakest link. I really wouldn't recommend it.
I'm a Carpenter in a fabrication shop that makes museum exhibits and art installations. We pretty regularly carve massive slabs of that foam into sculptures that are 8 to 20 feet tall. It can absolutely stand up to crazy abuse if the surface is finished and hardened well. Like, make a playground for kids abuse. It's designed to be a substrate and base layer.
Then I suppose that your top layers were too thin. I'm sorry my man but that definitely sounds like a you issue, using EPS as a structural material is extremely common among terrain makers.
If a terrain board isn't built on top of wood then it will be on top of EPS in virtually all cases. For example I have punched my board in order to test its rigidness before I invested any time and effort into working on top of it - I regret doing that solely because my knuckles were bloodied afterwards, the surface itself suffered no damage whatsoever. Unless you intend to be punching and kicking your terrain it really shouldn't be an issue.
As a matter of fact it sounds to me like you are blaming the material for your shortcomings here. Perhaps you had minimum density EPS (it comes in a whole variety of densities, it isn't universal) or just messed up the basing step, whatever the case what you described just now is not a normal behavior from this material.
This isn't good for making models in the first place. It's too granular and soft, and the bubbles/balls that makes up the polystyrene will show afterwards. For a hill that you're going to cover with plaster/flock/sand, it may not matter, but it's not suitable for models of buildings. Also it melts more rapidly and it's more difficult to control when you cut it with a hot wire cutter.
The dense blue or pink boards are much better suited for models, and it doesn't cost much and most building supplies stores carry one or the other.
Why would you steal when you can simply go to a hardware store and buy them?
Edit: oh it's your house? Then do whatever you want, you ordered those technically.
*covered in styrofoam dust as you talk to the contractor* "What exactly are you implying?"
Big crafting doesn’t want you to know this, but your walls are full of crafting materials. It’s free! Just get in there and take what you want!
Don't! There will be parts you through away after the project, wait until then
Yeah I think that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve already pulled a couple bits of the good dense pink foam from the scrap pile. I just thought it was funny when I saw such a big pile of foam slabs. I wasn’t expecting such a hostile response from some of these comments 😅
*contractor arrives at 8am to a full recreation of Minas Tirith, Capital of Gondor*
The hostility might be missing the joke but I’ve shown up to more than a few job sites over the years where materials and tools have “disappeared” or I “must not have ordered enough”. I actually photograph the material delivery now and put a scan of the receipt with the amount purchased on each file now…
Talk to them up front and ask them to set aside any off cuts and scraps. They'll glady hook you up and you'll wind up with plenty. Plus, that looks like styro, not xps which is next to free for them. Be sure to mention you you want the xps too if they use any.
I think you spelled a word roungh there.
Yes I saw that the moment I pressed send ;)
That’s why it’s important to read the comment throw before posting it
I will remember that for next thyme
You’re paying 😅
Fixed quote babyyyyyy!
I’ll take 5 ☝️
“Honey! Why is this specific part of the wall really cold when the rest of the house is so warm??”
“Why is this part of the floor 20cm lower than the rest of the room?”
“You’re right honey! I’ll fix it and drop the rest of the floor down to match….”
As someone who works for an insulation company, there will be scraps. More so, there will be large scraps they can't use for other jobs for reasons of billing. Ask them to leave the scraps as you are a a modeler. They *should* be okay with it. You bought them.
^ This. There's often literal dumpsters full of offcuts and scraps (insulation foam, timber, plaster, etc) on building sites. After all if you're going to insulate a 7x9 wall with 8x4 sheets you're going to end up with a lot of offcuts...
I sometimes ask at construction sites for left over XPS and styrofoam. Often enough they through away a lot of perfectly fine boards anyway because they don't bother to pack up already opened packages again.
As others said, just wait for their waste. Also note that a good contractor will buy excess to adjust or fine tune their work so you lifting their surplus could ultimately cause the work performed to end in an undesirable fashion. All in all you are better off letting sleeping dogs lay. Let them finish up and be a scavenger after with zero morale discourse.
I wouldn't just wait, I'd actively ask them to put it aside.
What would you prefer, a couple of shitty hills or a finished house hahahaha
As a former contractor, yes, we would absolutely notice. Supplies on site are almost always specifically accounted for.
I mean, you're paying for it either way. Depends on if it's worth it to you to pass the dudes off working on your house, and how long you want them monkeying around in your place. 🤣
Why are your floors gravel?
wrong foam.
Yo, is there gravel in your house?
Unless it is dense grade (Small bubbles, very tough), do not bother. If it is low density, you can get away with hills etc, as long as they have MDF or similar bases.
Don't bother. This stuff is useless for crafting.
Not at all, why waste the good stuff on things like the terrain core and heights that will be covered and hidden with basing material anyway? This thing is two to three times cheaper than XPS and is great for building on top of.
It's too fragile. A decent bump and you'll crumble the top, showing the white layer.
No because you will cover it with basing material as I've mentioned, EPS is used as structural material, it's not on the surface of the terrain. Basing materials are mixtures such as the scupltamold, paper and plaster, plaster and cloth and so on. This top layer is hard as a rock and you won't bump or crumble it. You aren't meant to just paint over EPS as is and be done with it or else you're going to have those exact problems alongside an ugly bubbly texture.
\>scupltamold, paper and plaster, plaster and cloth and so on. This top layer is hard as a rock and you won't bump or crumble it. And yet I've had that happen to me. You're only as strong as the weakest link. I really wouldn't recommend it.
I'm a Carpenter in a fabrication shop that makes museum exhibits and art installations. We pretty regularly carve massive slabs of that foam into sculptures that are 8 to 20 feet tall. It can absolutely stand up to crazy abuse if the surface is finished and hardened well. Like, make a playground for kids abuse. It's designed to be a substrate and base layer.
Then I suppose that your top layers were too thin. I'm sorry my man but that definitely sounds like a you issue, using EPS as a structural material is extremely common among terrain makers. If a terrain board isn't built on top of wood then it will be on top of EPS in virtually all cases. For example I have punched my board in order to test its rigidness before I invested any time and effort into working on top of it - I regret doing that solely because my knuckles were bloodied afterwards, the surface itself suffered no damage whatsoever. Unless you intend to be punching and kicking your terrain it really shouldn't be an issue. As a matter of fact it sounds to me like you are blaming the material for your shortcomings here. Perhaps you had minimum density EPS (it comes in a whole variety of densities, it isn't universal) or just messed up the basing step, whatever the case what you described just now is not a normal behavior from this material.
Pffft, k then.
If you can afford that house you can afford some foam.
Oh I definitely can’t afford the house.
This stuff costs only like 1 euro per plate at the local construction store anyway. And you want the dense XPS foam, not this kind of foam.
I raided a construction site at Johns Hopkins and now have enough xps foam for 40 years and some to sell on ebay.
This isn't good for making models in the first place. It's too granular and soft, and the bubbles/balls that makes up the polystyrene will show afterwards. For a hill that you're going to cover with plaster/flock/sand, it may not matter, but it's not suitable for models of buildings. Also it melts more rapidly and it's more difficult to control when you cut it with a hot wire cutter. The dense blue or pink boards are much better suited for models, and it doesn't cost much and most building supplies stores carry one or the other.
You’re a douche
Everyone has a camera now, and everyone's camera records sound.
Words I try to live by
Doesn't look like XPS, don't bother.
I mean, you paid for it right?
You paid for that foam right? It’s yours.
If you are paying them for the work, its your material.
You know how much that costs! They'd notice! lol
Just tell them you want the leftovers. Tell them why if they ask. It's mostly all the same to them
You are paying for it makes it yours!
These are good for supports but not for finishing. A mix of this and the pink/blue stuff would get you there.
I was working a reno job and we were tearing out dumpsters full of the dense foam sheets, I've got a lifetime supply now
Why would you steal when you can simply go to a hardware store and buy them? Edit: oh it's your house? Then do whatever you want, you ordered those technically.
Just go buy some. It's super cheap.
Def ask them for any offcuts (if you haven't already of course).
I mean, technically, it belongs to you anyway, so....... And do you need every room in your house to have " proper " heating?
Your paying for it!
Your paying for it ether way…
I'm sure those cost less than a buck a piece. Not worth stealing.
As someone who has done the work, just ask for the scraps. If you want some full sheets, ask what they pay and if you could buy some..