# Any Alternatives to Great Stuff?



## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Hey guys i want to have a GS style background in my viv.

And i would like to know if any of you guys know of any safe, more readily availiable brands of foam, as GS is very hard to find over here in the UK (Scotland)

Ive researched, but can never find out if the brands im looking at are safe for viv use or not.

So any brands you know are safe, and i could pick up here in the UK easily, tell me 

Thanks alot in advance 

Richie


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

Well, the next best thing to do is order some from a company online, i woudl say to use silicone, but that woudl be too much, or you can go with some fake rock walls.


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Julio said:


> Well, the next best thing to do is order some from a company online, i woudl say to use silicone, but that woudl be too much, or you can go with some fake rock walls.


Thanks alot mate.

Thats the thing, i wanted to try and avoid having to order things from the US as Ive had things not arriving etc before so im a bit paranoid about it.

I was thinking of using styrofoam and cutting it into a rocky background them covering it with coca fiber etc...

How would this fair? A bit more work than GS but will still be nice to look at.

Anybody else know of any other safe brands of spray foam?


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

you can silicone the styro to the backgroudn and cut it to what ever shape you want then just adde more silicone and coco husk and when it dries you should be good to go.


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

i know of some people who have used the "handi-foam" brand of expansion foam for backgrounds. it has the advantage of being black. you might try and see if stores sell that on your side of the pond.


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## skyrat (May 20, 2007)

hey 
I'm also from the uk london to be precise. 
it can be a bit tricky sourcing some viv things as whats common in the US can be quite rare for us or it has a different name. 
Great stuff is basicly what we call expanding foam. My last viv was built with the homebase store brand foam but as long as its not got fire retardent chemicals most brands are fine.
oh and when you do get some foam i would have a little practice first as its not as easy as it looks i got the stuff everywhere! 
hope that helps 

lee


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

basshummper said:


> i know of some people who have used the "handi-foam" brand of expansion foam for backgrounds. it has the advantage of being black. you might try and see if stores sell that on your side of the pond.



Thats brilliant man, ill have a look for it and hope i can find it 

Skyrat, Good to hear from you, Im going to hold you to the whole "aslong as its not fire retardent most brands are ok" thing haha.

It does suck a bit over here, i envy all you Americans that have all the good stuff so easily available.

I wonder if there is some way i could get a list of the "ingredients" that are in GS?

Then i could just look for some other brand that matches it?

Thanks alot

Richie


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

just use any brand of PU-Foam you can find, I have used many different ones.
My favorites are the two-components ones as they will hard out faster, are denser and will not expand or shrink when they are dry


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

Okay guys!

Ive taken a look around the net for Handi-Foam, and no luck at all, i can only find big expenssive pressurized tank kit things :| that cost alot.

I cant find any of the regular hand help aerosol cans 

Ive also looked around at other foams, but im still non the wiser to what is actually safe or not.

Richie


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

So...

I just bought 2 cans of GS that i found on ebay 

They are in the UK so my whole phobia of buying from the states is okay for now...

I hope to god more pop up as they are the only 2 cans ive found. haha.


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

NathalieB said:


> just use any brand of PU-Foam you can find, I have used many different ones.
> My favorites are the two-components ones as they will hard out faster, are denser and will not expand or shrink when they are dry



Oh i missed this...

Can you give me some brand names for future?

I know 2 cans of GS wont go that far... 

Due to this i think im definately going to be going for styrofoam cut into a "mess" with GS holding wood and things onto it


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

if you are looking for the expanding foam in the u.k. just go to the frog board in the uk.
i don't remember it at the moment but will look it up later. they could give you a better answer to what they use.
the carving of foam can make some nice backgrounds also. there is a nice thread on the stuff about it on this board. plus the guy with all the great info is not from the u.s. so he talks about stuff that we can't get in the us. 
walt


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

R1ch13 said:


> Oh i missed this...
> 
> Can you give me some brand names for future?
> 
> ...


Hi, 
I sometimes us the house-brands of the hardware-stores I buy them at. I have used many different brands in the past without any problems.
Just use any selfexpanding, ready to use polyurethane foam. (usually advertised to use for windows- and door-constructions etc.)
Now I mostly use the two-components foam from Soudal because it is by far the best I have ever used, I think that's a brand that's distributed in the UK too (Soudal: Expertise in sealants, PU foams and adhesives)
and they have a regular 1K-foam too.
That's the only international brand I can think off.... I will try to remeber some more brand-names.


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

what I recently did with a viv that was too heavy to put on it's back is possible a way for you to save foam too:

I first put peaces of styrofoam on the bottom, then placed the wood and hold it in place with more peaces of styrofoam. I glued containers and cannisters and pieces of styrofoam to the background and sides and then sprayd a "circle" of foam around all the pieces and containers. this way you get a background with depth-differences without using too much of foam.
here's a picture of how I did it :









View image: piepschuimenpur.jpg


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## R1ch13 (Apr 16, 2008)

NathalieB said:


> Hi,
> I sometimes us the house-brands of the hardware-stores I buy them at. I have used many different brands in the past without any problems.
> Just use any selfexpanding, ready to use polyurethane foam. (usually advertised to use for windows- and door-constructions etc.)
> Now I mostly use the two-components foam from Soudal because it is by far the best I have ever used, I think that's a brand that's distributed in the UK too (Soudal: Expertise in sealants, PU foams and adhesives)
> ...


Thanks soo much NathalieB 

Been a great help, Your right Soudal is alot easier for me to find, there is tonnes of the stuff on ebay so i think ill be fine now for future foaming.

The idea of using the styrofoam to save expanding foam is exactly what i was thinking.

Thanks so much.


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