Polystyrene coving

I bought one of these little rascals that help you to do mitres in the stuff

formatting link
(link goes to Axminster tools) but what's the best implement to actually cut polystyrene coving with? Wood saw? Hacksaw? Bread knife? Something else?

Cheers

Reply to
Dave
Loading thread data ...

uff

formatting link
goes to Axminster tools) but what's the

Have you thought about the risk of polystyrene in the event of fire? Breathing in fumes from that stuff would be fatal if you were trying to get out the house in a hurry. IMO, it looks sh*te compared to plasterboard based coving even when painted.

Dave.

Reply to
Dave Starling

The paper covered polystyrene coving can look as good as the paper based plaster coving.

Reply to
Andy Burns

s/based/covered/

Reply to
Andy Burns

Dave explained :

It cuts cleaner with a hot wire cutter, but failing that hacksaw or bread knife using a gentle sawing action.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

A garden shredder, then go and buy something that isn't hideous.

Reply to
Steve Firth

And margarine tastes exactly like butter.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Dave Starling wibbled on Saturday 09 January 2010 12:32

The look depends on what product you use. I agree WRT the traaditional EPS stuff.

I've used Gyproc Lite and it is impossible to tell it apart from normal Gyproc (the profiles are identical).

I have two sections to my hall ceiling - one in 100mm PB Gyproc and the other in 100mm Gyproc Lite. You really absolutely cannot see the difference.

I agree the fire risk remains, but I don't rate it any worse than curtains and soft furnishings and being up high, I think by the time any fire gets up there, you'll want to be out of there anyway.

The advantage of Gyproc Lite is it's rather easier to hump it around. 6x3m pack of Gyproc weighs a ton and is a pain to mount on the car roof.

Interestingly, the Gyproc Lite was actually quite hard foam - I cut it with the same saw I'd been using for PB Gyproc and it wasn't that soft. It cut absolutely cleanly too.

Reply to
Tim W

Steve Firth wibbled on Saturday 09 January 2010 12:54

Look at the Gyproc Lite - I guarantee even a man of your impeecible tastes won't tell the difference.

Reply to
Tim W

Thank you very much Harry - the only person to actually answer the question I asked.

I know plaster/Gyproc Lite coving looks, and indeed is, better but (a) we've got a huge amount to do and the budget won't stretch that far and (b) we've already bought the polystyrene coving because that's all our budget would allow.

Regarding the fire risk and polystyrene - we have no kids, we don't smoke and the house was recently rewired so I think we could be classed as a low(er) risk household. However, just in case a fire should break out, we have mains operated (battery backup) interlinked smoke alarms in almost every room (and an emergency light in the hallway and on the landing wired into that circuit that provide indication of mains failure), so I reckon the risk of polystyrene coving is an acceptable one.

Reply to
Dave

It is certain to be the flame retardant type, which only chars and does not itself support combustion, but it does tend to give off fumes. Test a small piece to be sure.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

The message from %steve%@malloc.co.uk (Steve Firth) contains these words:

Nah -- it tastes like "Extra Virgin Olive Oil" from extra-sour olive oil marketers.

Reply to
Appin

that will be high density foam. Cuts and shapes beautifully.

Burns all right though. very acrid fumes.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

stuff

formatting link
goes to Axminster tools) but what's the

I (and the professionals next door) use an old back saw in a mitre box. The polystyrene is outdoors so I don't know or care whether it's fire retarded.

Reply to
Matty F

90% of uk.d-i-yers can't tell the difference between Stork Margerine and plasterboard?
Reply to
Jon Fairbairn

And it doesn't matter because you can't buy margarine in the UK anyway. (At least, not in an ordinary retail outlet. Daresay there could be some deli that imports some obscure form.)

Reply to
Rod

Yes right, they changed the name to "spread" so it's all gone away .

Reply to
Steve Firth

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember %steve%@malloc.co.uk (Steve Firth) saying something like:

With added olive/waste oil nowadays.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

Pretty sure there isn't much definition attached to 'margarine'

Wiki is interesting

The definition for margarine originally came from the legal definition for butter ? both contained a minimum of 16% water and a minimum fat content of 80%. This was adopted by all major producers and became the industry standard.[11]

The principal raw material in the original formulation of margarine was beef fat derived from oleo oil. Shortages in supply soon led to the addition of vegetable oils and between 1900 and 1920 margarine was produced from a combination of animal fats and hardened and unhardened vegetable oils.[12] The depression of the 1930s, followed by the rationing of World War II, led to a reduction in supply of animal fat; and, by 1945, it almost completely disappeared from the market.[12] In the U.S., problems with supply, coupled with changes in legislation, had caused the manufacturers to change over almost completely to vegetable fats by 1950 and the industry was ready for an era of product development.[12]

During WWII rationing, only two types of margarine were available in the UK, a premium brand and a cheaper budget brand. With the end of rationing in 1954 the market was opened to the forces of supply and demand and brand marketing became prevalent.[12] The competition between the major producers was given further impetus with the beginning of commercial television advertising in 1955; and, throughout the 1950s and

1960s, competing companies vied with each other to produce the margarine that tasted most like butter.[12]

In the mid-1960s, the introduction of two lower-fat blends of butter oil and vegetable oils in Scandinavia, called Lätt & Lagom and Bregott, clouded the issue of what should be called "margarine" and began the debate that led to the introduction of the term "spread".[11] In 1978, an 80% fat product called Krona, made by churning a blend of dairy cream and vegetable oils, was introduced in Europe; and, in 1982, a blend of cream and vegetable oils called Clover was introduced in the UK by the Milk Marketing Board.[11] The vegetable oil and cream spread I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! was introduced in the United States in 1986 and in the United Kingdom and Canada in 1991.[13][14]

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Part of the legal definition of margarine may be found here:

As I understand margarine must have certain levels of vitamins A & D (to make it broadly similar to butter)[1]. "Spreads" do not have to conform.

(And if you follow various links you also find older version of the legal definitions, etc.)

[1] Vitamin content of margarine 4.?(1) Any margarine sold by retail shall contain in every 100 grams of such margarine?

(a) not less than 800 micrograms and not more than 1000 micrograms of vitamin A, and

(b) not less than 7.05 micrograms and not more than 8.82 micrograms of vitamin D,

and a proportionate amount in any part of 100 grams.

Reply to
Rod

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.