Application of Styrofoam in the construction and decorati...

Application of Styrofoam in the construction and decoration industries

We all know Styrofoam is useful for disposable cups and plates, and for the protection of goods during shipping, but did you also know that Styrofoam can be used in construction to create decorative architectural Styrofoam shapes like arches, keystones, balustrades, and crown moldings?

Although Styrofoam itself isn't strong enough to be able to bear weight, you can place pieces of Styrofoam shapes such as those described above over weight-bearing areas to provide decorative overlays that, when painted or otherwise disguised properly, look just like wood or another material you want to use. In fact, you'd never know Styrofoam pieces aren't other materials when prepared properly, yet they still provide a lightweight, easy to use, inexpensive way to dress up both the interior or exterior of your home in a way that's cost-effective and can be changed as your tastes do.

And unlike wood or other materials, Styrofoam pieces are inexpensive enough that if you should make a mistake and not like what you've done, you can replace or redo that particular project very inexpensively, without much impact to your budget at all. What makes it such a good building material?

Styrofoam doesn't degrade

What has sometimes made Styrofoam a so-called "bad guy" environmentally is what makes it so perfect for construction usage. It's true that it doesn't degrade in landfills for 30,000 years, which makes it a bad disposable material. However, this makes it an absolutely perfect material when it comes to construction, because these materials are going to have the same integrity over the long haul, and will wear much better than will other materials like wood. It's true that Styrofoam can't be used for weight-bearing projects, but it can indeed provide decoration that you might normally use other materials for, and those decorations will last for a long time and still look good.

Let's look at some of the ways you can use Styrofoam in your home to dress it up an...

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Howto & Style

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• foams
• stucco
• trims
• window
• eps
• architectural
• roam
• shapes
• foam