I had the same idea fairly recently. I wanted to build a hunting lodge and a tree house for my kids, but we already had to start building the second guesthouse since we have people coming over next month. Anyway, my country property is well out of Seattle and trucking in a bunch of sips was going to be expensive. We had experience from when we build our house. We got some of the packaging Styrofoam from the junkyards, dumps and dumpster in our area, as well as some scrap cellulose insulation from a big construction project. Even though we got most of our needs met from discarded Styrofoam packaging, it only took 2 weeks to gather more than enough material. I now have a shed built specifically for the leftover material. Anyway, with some fire retardant Elmers wood glue and a shredder more like a blender that I'd made out of a 20 gallon bucket and a weed Wacker, I shredded the Styrofoam and cellulose, mixed them in proportion and made an insulative "mortar". I then spread it on the walls from the inside and then tramped down from the top opening when I nailed a panel. You have to get some into the edges of the studs and the outer sheathing before putting interior panels on. Worked great. Now, I'm thinking of replacing the glue with a slow expanding foam and by tossing some other high insulation waste materials into the mix. I've gotten ideas on making my own sips for other projects.
Lou, that is awesome! Would have never had thought to just grind up the foam. So simple! And using the exhaust fan as a blower, genius. Keep 'em coming!
There's another couple of uses for this ground-up styrofoam. 1) Using it as 'perlite' for mixing into potting soil to keep the soil loose and draining properly, 2) included in hypertufa concrete mixes and 3) maybe as a modest percentage of the contents of beanbag chairs. In the meantime, I LOVE YOU MAN! This is a great video and a great solution for recycling all that styrofoam. I just unwrapped a Christmas gift with a ton of styrofoam. I HATE having to throw it out.
Ingenuity with real benefits for all. I would worry about the safety issues, especially the infeed, but congratulations for such effective and economical results. My county recycles but like most, won't touch styrofoam , landfills are overflowing and yet we pay $30/sheet for XPS. Total win here. Now show us how to clean up after wards.
I couldn't get the blades to be tied down tightly enough to save my life. One grade down and it was too flimsy (like bread ties) and one grade up and I'd twist the heck out of them just for them to still be on looser than i wanted. The whole thing turned out moot when the threaded rod kept slipping off the chuck. So i bought a paint stirrer drill attachment and cut the end off of it with an angle grinder, then cut divets in it to hold onto the wire like the threaded rod did. Well that just wrapped the wire around the rod and let go of the blades, so i scrapped the idea and went back to the drawing board. Right now, I've got the same paint stirrer drill attachment without a head and a good sized rolling pin I'm going to stick a bunch of screws into. I dont think its as fast as your machine but it'll work. It just might take me ages to insulate my 200 sqft cabin i built. Otherwise, the blower idea is invaluable. I dont see anyone else doing that part of it. If they put the shredded styrofoam anywhere, they put it in a bag either to mix with something or for a bean bag. The only other insulation i can afford is cardboard turned into cellulose with dado blades and a table saw, but that needs borax and a few other things to make it mold and bug resistant, so credit where credit is due. Thanks, Lou!
This looks absolutely great! Do you know of any method for re-molding the grind up pieces back together? I am trying to reuse an endless supply of styrofoam, to grind it up, and remold it into big pieces. These pieces should then be used for creating floating pontoons. :)
styrafoam is open cell and will absorb water. Any painted water proof layer will eventually leak and you'll have a soaking wet block of foam, just so you kno.w
Very cool but dang I hate how that stuff sticks to everything. I just finished doing spray foam insulation in my new shop and I'm adding a few rows of metal to the inside and was looking for something cheap to throw behind the metal to just fill the gaps that were left and give me a little more r value. This would be a great way to do it!
Nice work Lou! Does the same set up work for shredding mattress foam into small pieces for stuffing pillows and cushions? If so I'm off to the hardward store today to buy the necessary! Thanks.
I am not sure. Hard foam is brittle and chips easily. Foam rubber might bind and cause the blades to slip on the axle. I would try dragging an electric chain saw across the foam mattress. That would likely chip it up about the way you want.
Hi Lou, I’ve been thinking if this and there was your video. I have a question. If I did like you and filled net like bags to put on top of a drop ceiling, do you think this could work as insulation? Thanks 😊
This is no more flammable than spray foam which is used everywhere. It just needs to be protected with a fire retardant material, like drywall. In my case, its in a small clubhouse with no sleeping quarters.
@@HowToLou not really true. Most spray foam rated for home insulation has fire retardant added and higher combustion temp. Styrene foam is very flammable just a flame for a few seconds is enough to cause it to burn and continue to burn and it gives out a lot of smoke. Exception for this is great stuff foam that isn't the fire block type. It is extremely flammable and is only supposed to be used to prevent drafts, would not recommend using it to insulation a house stud space. Nice idea tho. Might use it to experiment making aircrete using free foam using this method.
could you mix something into it so that it's not so fluffy and sticks together a little better? That way you could mix it up in batches and pour it down into the wall and tamp it down and a hole in the wall wouldn't empty it all out. Something like cheap paint maybe?
Another option is to partially fill plastic grocery store bags with the foam crumbles and tie them shut tight to keep out water. Make a lot of these “pillows” and stack them in a stud wall. Throw any scrap bubble wrap or bubble wrap envelopes in there too. Insulation is all about trapping stagnant air.
Yes, it comes with the same fire risk of foam insulation available at the hardware store. You should always take care to encase it in a fire retardant material, such as drywall, if used to insulate a home. In my case, it is insulating a clubhouse with minimal fire sources and no sleeping quarters.
@@HowToLou Foam for building has fire retardant mixed in, packing foam may (probably) doesn't I saw a great demonstration on some insulated foam concrete forms. Form was held vertical and a lighter applied. The flaming stopped almost as soon as the lighter was removed. Before using scrap like this do a simple test burn to see how flammable your packing material is. Look up "station nightclub fire" to see what can happen if non-building rated materials are improperly used in building.
If you aren't opposed to renting, I bet the insulation blower at the box store will do the same chewing and spitting. It might be cleaner...just maybe.
I looked at those. They are really just blowers. They would chunk up foam, and leave huge pathways that would allow air currents to cycle in the wall. You need static air to insulate.
