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Seamus
 
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"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message news:RTLrd.4543$8v3.3549@trndny08...

Let's get some clarification first. The word Styrofoam is often mis-used
for any sort of foam plastics. Step one is the burning. Take a piece of it
outside and put a match to it. It should burn while you hold the match, but
when you take it away, the foam should STOP burning in seconds. If so, this
is the proper modified material used for insulation. If it continues to
burn, it means some asshole too the cheap way out and used some packaging
material that is not intended for insulation.

If it is blue, it is Dow's Styrofoam brand material, Pink is Owens Corning,
yellow is Georgia Pacific, white bead foam (expandable polystyrene) can be
many different brands. (Could be NOVA, BASF, Huntsman or others processed
locally) Any of these material can be safely used for insulation. It does
not give off poisonous fumes, but it will give of a lot of soot, water,
carbon dioxide. Building grades will only burn if other materials provide
the flame as it is treated so as not to burn on its own.

Shredded foam is often used to fill voids in the concrete blocks for
insulation. This is only the modified grades of material. Regular foam
should not be used for insulation as it will burn. If it is the real deal,
you have no worries. If the previous owner used old packing material to
save money, it should be removed and properly insulated with the proper
material.
Ed


Thanks all!

I will verify it again tonight- the foam (perhaps it is not styrofoam)
is fairly white, most of it is fairly fine, almost like sand (shredded
was a bad description). The big chunks are in sheets, if I recall.

When I burned it before, it would smoke and smell, but I didn't have a
big enough piece to see if it would sustain a flame on its own for a
while.

I will get some more down this weekend and try to burn it more, and
perhaps take a few photos to link to.

If it turns out to only briefly smolder and will only burn when
something else is igniting it, I will plan to put down some other
insulation on top of it (probably post skylight installation). Either
way, I will sleep easier

Thanks again for the informative follow-ups. I'll plan to reply with
the results I find.

--D