Homasote, a few questions.

[Mr__Bill]

I need to make a large bulletin board. Homasote seemed the logical answer. It's not a BORG thing and my two local lumber places don't carry it. One can however order a sheet for me.

Now the questions.
Homasote's web site shows a cork covered 'traditional homasote' and N.C.F.R. Homasote. Is the second just the traditional Homasote with fire retardant? Is this still the stuff to stick pins into or is it now hard like the ceiling tiles?

The price is $36 a sheet. Is this reasonable? I remember the old stuff at about $8.00 but that was a long time ago.

Do they still make the old stuff?

Is there another product by another manufacturer that might be more available on the west coast?

Anyone have a better idea for making a large bulletin board? It's going in a sewing room and will be 6' by 5' and covered with flannel fabric (so seams in the homasote won't show). The flannel makes it sticky to other fabric and the homasote allows pinning things to it. And of course, I would like to keep the cost down.

bill, who would be out in the boondocks if we had any boondocks around here.

[cgallery]

If you can find someone with a decent train layout in his basement, he will know where to get the old stuff at a good price.

[Len]

If you can find someone with a decent train layout in his basement, he will know where to get the old stuff at a good price.

Not really. Speaking as a model railroader, Homasote isn't used that much any more for model railroading. Unless you live in an area without major humidity swings, or you seal it real well, it has stability issues.

It's also getting harder to find, with the various foam products taking over the home insulation sheet market, and makes a mess when cutting it into roadbed strips.

Len

[Mr__Bill]

If you can find someone with a decent train layout in his basement, he will know where to get the old stuff at a good price.

Thanks, back when I was building a train layout I never thought of using it. Plywood was my choice and was a real pain to use that way. When I started looking on line for a suppler most of the hits were from model railroaders.

I used to use tons of the stuff it's hard for me to accept that it's not just on the shelf at the lumber yard. Here they only carry what the builders buy and the builders only buy what they carry. You see a circular logic here?


Bill

[cgallery]

Not really. Speaking as a model railroader, Homasote isn't used that much any more for model railroading. Unless you live in an area without major humidity swings, or you seal it real well, it has stability issues.

It's also getting harder to find, with the various foam products taking over the home insulation sheet market, and makes a mess when cutting it into roadbed strips.

Len

The surprises me. I visited a train show a couple of years ago and homasote was used for about 80% of the work. Of course, there were subframes for these layouts.

What do you use if not homasote?

[poolhound]

Bill,

When I bought some last year I found that no HDs stocked it. I called the local sales rep from the homasote website and he directed me to a local supplier.

[JoeyGee]

Around here Menards carries it in 2x4 "Handy Planks". I don't think Menards makes it that far west, though.

[Mr__Bill]

Around here Menards carries it in 2x4 "Handy Planks". I don't think Menards makes it that far west, though.

No Menards around here. Our local Home Depot is about 30 miles away and Lowes is 130 miles. We have an ACE building center and a local lumber yard. Too bad you can't order sheet goods from Amazon

Bill, on the Sunny Oregon Coast. lots of rocks, lots of trees, not as many fish and not much else, oh, almost forgot the ocean