Foam Board in place of Plywood for Rooftop Cutouts?

C

CMNY

New member
Hello All,

Looking for some feedback or suggestions on something I was looking to DIY for this X-Mas. I want to build a santa sleigh and 9 reindeer to place on the roof. I saw plenty of inflatable options but my other half is not a fan of inflatables (thats a discussion for another day though). I then thought to do plywood cutout but considering size & roof placement, the plywood would be too heavy and costly.

Corro would be too thin and flimsy so I didnt think that would hold up well.

Then I thought about foam insullation board. Like this. https://www.lowes.com/pd/GreenGuard-GreenGuard-LG-1-X-4-X-8-XPS-Insulation-Board/5001939653

Has anyone used something like this for cutouts? It's lighter and less expensive than plywood. Im assuming I could paint it pretty easily, and I'm sure I could figure a way to mount it to the roof.

Any thoughts on using that? Strength? Weather resistance? Good idea? Bad idea? Alternative suggestions? I live in NJ so would need it to hold up well to snow, rain & wind.

-Thanks in advance! Looking forward to the X-Mas Season.
 
I have not used foamboard for anything like this, but from my experience, I think it would be a bid delicate for use year after year.

I know you thought coroplast would be too flimsy, but have you considered the 10mm coro. I would make a PVC Pipe Frame for support behind it as well. I have been able to find 4x8 sheets from a local sign shop.
 
MikeKrebs said:
foam board similar to what you linked is widely used in diy halloween. most times covered in drylok or monster mud and then paint. I would think with enough coating of drylok, it would be reasonably lightweight, waterproof and would hold up for a few seasons. It might also be easy to blow off the roof and so securing it would be a priority.
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Hi Mike, thanks for the reply. You mentioned that it is widely used in diy Halloween, is that because of the time of year and weather in October as compared to during Xmas time? Would the foam be less resistant to snow and freezing rain?
 
i thought the foam board would hold up better and paint better. Paint does stick too well to corro. I also figured corro would be too flimsy but I like the suggestion of putting the PVC pipe frame behind it to prevent it from bending. Then i just need to figure out what type of paint to use that would stick to the corro.
 
We followed Google's advice to use Krylon Fusion spray paint on coro, and that has worked. Biggest problem has been that I chipped the paint once or twice when I punched in the pixels (and I can't imagine ever punching the pixels before you spray paint it).

I zip-tie PVC frames to all my coro props on the ground, and that has stood up. I also insert 3/16" dowel rods inside the coro, which strengthens it. But the problem is that a lot of the slots in the coro intersect with the pixel holes. A dowel rod cannot go through a pixel hole.
 
I've used it for making tombstones for Halloween. It works great and is very durable. I painted mine with drylok.

Another neat thing about it is you can do any kind of designs with it easily with a dremel. Just make sure you do it outside, it makes a mess.
 
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