Contract work gives you a greater sense of independence and the satisfaction of working with your hands. You’ll often come across different jobs that require out-of-the-box thinking to complete, and using foam noodles can significantly help you complete your task. Continue reading to discover how contractors can benefit from using pool noodles.
Finding the Right Foam Product for the Job
You might be wondering how the same foam noodles kids and adults alike love playing with in the pool can help you with a tricky renovation or construction job. While you can definitely find a use for those fun pool noodles for contract work, there is also a comprehensive range of construction foam products that you can use in commercial, residential, municipal, civil, and industrial projects. This type of foam contains a robust material that you can use for various heavy-duty applications such as parking decks, highway junctions, insulation purposes, and much more.
Types of Construction Foam Products
Whatever your job might be, chances are there’s a construction foam product that you can use. These designs come in various shapes, sizes, and materials to help make your life as a contractor much more effortless. Here are some of the different foam products you might use.
Pre-Caulking Filler Rope Backer Rod Roll
Backer Rod is a closed-cell, robust polyethylene backer rod you can use as a backup element for construction joints and sealant purposes. It acts as a depth control for the majority of commonly used cold-applied sealants. No bond breaker is necessary because sealants will not cling to it.
Foam Sheet Roll
You can use foam sheet rolls as a shock-absorbing, vibration dampening, insulation, barrier, or buoyancy component in objects, as well as cushioning items for packing. The strong buoyancy of the polyethylene foam allows you to use it in flotation devices and other maritime applications. All you have to do is trim it to fit whatever task you have in mind.
Expansion Joints
You can use foam expansion joints to keep concrete slabs, driveways, and pathways from cracking. The expansion joint is lightweight and straightforward to install, with a flexible, robust construction.
Insulating Foam Pipe Covers
Insulating foam pipe covers come with precut slots for simple installation. They’re perfect for keeping pipes from freezing in the winter and overheating in the summer. The covers are also ideal for minimizing plumbing noise and heat loss.
Different Projects You Can Use Pool Noodles For
No matter what type of project you’re working on, there’s a fairly good chance you can use a construction foam product. These types of pool noodles are dynamic in their applications and can make your life as a contractor much easier.
Wrapping Pipes
You can wrap an insulating foam noodle that handles both sweltering and freezing temperatures around your water pipes. These noodles will typically already have slots and easily cling to most types of piping. Simply measure the length of pipe you want to affix them to and cut the noodle to the appropriate size.
The colorful designs also help when you're working on them as they're highly visible. Since you can easily see the various colors, you're more likely to spot them and prevent yourself from banging your head.
Why Insulating Your Pipes Is Important
Insulating your hot water pipes can help reduce heat loss and boost the temperature by several degrees, enabling you to use a less warm setting. Since you don't have to wait as long to run the water before it gets piping hot, you also conserve more water overall. After your cold water pipes are insulated, they're less prone to freezing when the temperature lowers in cooler climates.
Using Expansion Joints To Prevent Concrete From Cracking
Concrete is a widely used building material formed by combining aggregate, cement, tiny stones, sand, gravel, and water. It solidifies and hardens after being mixed with water because of a chemical process known as hydration. Contractors use concrete for many projects, including repaving driveways, working on foundations, and building parking structures.
Unfortunately, several varied factors, especially excessive heat, can cause the concrete to crack and negatively impact its integrity. A foam expansion joint is a space in the concrete that allows it to expand and contract as temperatures change. It creates a barrier between the concrete and the rest of the framework, allowing movement without creating stress and fracturing.
Why Concrete Cracks in Heat
Concrete expands when it's heated and shrinks when it cools. When concrete swells, it moves up against everything that gets in its way. When neither can bend, the increasing force can be large enough to cause concrete to crack.
Closed Cell Foam Backer Rods Have Many Applications
Backer rods are typically circular, malleable segments of foam used as a "backing" in joints or gaps to effectively limit the quantity of sealant or caulking you need to apply and provide a backstop. There are several sizes and diameters available so you can find the best possible fitting for the dimensions of the joint you're sealing.
Backer rods have four significant advantages, which are as follows:
- Enhance the flexibility of your joint sealant.
- Reduce your volume of caul consumption by controlling the sealant depth.
- Make an hourglass shape with the adhesive and the edges of the joint for a stronger connection.
- Making a "bond-breaker" enables the joint to get cleaned and replenished as needed over time.
Closed Cell Foam Material
You can distinguish closed cell foam because its cells are completely contained by its sidewalls and do not interconnect with one another. That ensures the material won't draw moisture away, making it ideal for frequently wet or damp joints. Sealants, caulking, and other gap-filling materials adhere better to closed cell backer rods because they have a larger bonding surface area than their open-cell counterparts.
Hopefully, this guide has shed some light on how contractors can benefit from using pool noodles. Loading up your truck with various construction foam products can pay off handsomely when you need them on a tough project.
Honor Trading Company has you covered, whether you need construction foam products for your business or next major DIY home project. These products are made of high-quality materials that are sure to make your job much easier. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about our foam noodles.
