We have been doing a skunk works project. We needed to fill a gap under an exisiting, super insulated wall, but spray foam seemed pretty expensive. So we tried out an idea that has been simmering for a while. We ground up white polystyrene bead foam from insulation board scraps and discarded packaging. The we mixed those beads with portland cement, enviroseal, and/or paper in various mixes. We found that we liked the one with just Portland Cement best.
So I made a grinder for beads out of some wire brushes, and then had the beads captured by the sawdust collector.
After we got a barrel full, we moistened them all so they didn't fly everywhere, mixed in some Portland, and mixed and mixed and mixed.
The result packed into the space under the wall nicely. The cement will bind up the water so it doesn't stagnate. When that barrel ran uot, I needed to grind some more foam, so I tried some yellow foam board instead of the white bead foam. It worked just about as well and I got enought shredded foam to fill in the last 2 feet of gap.
THe results look promising. I am smitten with the idea of being able to make a big deal out of collecting foam packaging and scraps from construction sites and making large quantities of decent insulation out of it.
To do that I'll need a better grinder, though. Wayne and I have some good ideas - or at least worth trying before buying the $12,000 commercial version we ran across.
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