# Stenciled Foam Wall Panels



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

This year we're turning our garage into a decrepit old candy factory. I'm making a bunch of faux brick wall panels out of blue foam sheathing. Today I finally got a chance to snap some shots for your perusal.

I start with a blue foam panel laid on the floor with the non-labeled side up. For a stencil I've strung cardboard rectangles onto two semi-stiff wire strands. I made two sets of two courses each. (I included a header course for variety.)










I stencil with acetone in a spray bottle. I lay the two sets of bricks across the panels and arrange them so they're staggered. Then I spray it with acetone, which dissolves the foam between the bricks into mortar lines.










I spray down to the third mortar line, which is the last one with bricks above and below it. Then I remove the top stencil and lay it underneath the second one. Then I spray down to the last complete mortar line.










Repeating this, I "leapfrog" the stencils down the length of the panel.










Note that I'm not particularly careful about keeping my lines straight and level. I'm aiming for a cartoony look, like a stop-motion set at life size, so curves and imperfections are exactly what I want. The acetone curls the cardboard a bit and the wire makes the bricks go wonky sometimes, so occasionally two bricks kind of run together. I really like the whimsical results.


----------



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

At this point I've got a full panel of stenciled mortar lines. But the bricks are still smooth foam.










To fix this, I spritz acetone across the whole surface to rough it up.










The texture shows well in low-angle light.










Then I frame them out with 1x2s on the back. So far I've made seven of these. I'll need something like ten or twelve total, depending on the final layout. They're nice and light, easy to move around, and they're flat so they store well.










The hard part will be painting them. I'm not much for faux painting. Luckily my wife enjoys that part and I know some artists to give me pointers. I'll post more when we get there.

Thoughts? Suggestions?


----------



## theundeadofnight (Aug 14, 2011)

That is a clever time saver for carving the bricks. The panels look great .


----------



## Zombie-F (Apr 12, 2004)

Very creative. I love the texture it creates on the surface!


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

That's an impressively effective technique, and I'm guessing it's a whole lot faster than carving mortar lines by hand.


----------



## CreeepyCathy (Mar 28, 2009)

brilliant!!


----------



## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

That is a great idea and looks great too


----------



## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

That work's beautifully. Where did you get your acetone?


----------



## GOT (Apr 17, 2007)

I used a similar technique with paper stencils and stick-on letters to make my crypt headstones. I used acetone-soaked rags, though, for the deeper textures and raised lettering.


----------



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

theundeadofnight said:


> That is a clever time saver for carving the bricks. The panels look great .


Thanks, yeah, the time savings was what led me to try it. I can stencil a panel in around fifteen minutes. The idea of hand-carving a dozen panels sounded pretty daunting. Hopefully painting them won't take forever.



Spooky1 said:


> That work's beautifully. Where did you get your acetone?


You can buy a gallon at Home Depot for under twenty bucks. I've done seven panels and there's still a quart left in the can.



GOT said:


> I used a similar technique with paper stencils and stick-on letters to make my crypt headstones. I used acetone-soaked rags, though, for the deeper textures and raised lettering.


Oh cool, we're thinking of making some factory control panels like that. Any tips on what to use or not use as a stencil?


----------



## Wildcat (Nov 3, 2007)

Very cool looking wall. Must try acetone. I have loads of it for cleaning metal prior to welding.


----------



## kenkozpgh (Sep 5, 2011)

Great job. I've made lots of "brick" walls on foam, but have always used my router. Draw the lines and zip the router through....works fast, but what a mess I create....if I ever do more, I'm going to use your technique...Thanks for sharing


----------



## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Thanks for sharing this amazing idea. How thick was the foam board? Did you use the acetone straight or did you dilute it?


----------



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

Bone Dancer said:


> Thanks for sharing this amazing idea. How thick was the foam board? Did you use the acetone straight or did you dilute it?


I'm using 1/2" foam to make them as light as possible. A couple years ago I threw out my back hauling a heavy wall panel, on the day before Halloween - great timing. Since then I've been overly cautious. We'll see if I regret it when the TOTs arrive. They should have minimal contact with it. (Now that I've got a system down, I'm not intimidated by making more with thicker foam, if necessary. Assuming the painting goes quickly.)

I use straight acetone. I hadn't thought to dilute it. Maybe I'll experiment some. I do lose a fair amount on the stencils and from overspray, but I'm not too worried about that. (I'm more worried about fumes from the acetone and the dissolving foam, to be honest. Nasty stuff.)


----------



## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

WOW that looks great!


----------



## easycraig (Aug 30, 2011)

excellent job on the walls.... they look great! 

a couple alternatives on making the walls.... you could use spray paint instead of acetone (you will probably have to set something on the bricks to keep them from flying away or use some masking tape on the back side. Buy spray paint the color you want your grout. -after spraying , remove the brick cutouts and paint the bricks with a water base paint/roller. 

- you can reverse the whole project also (might be quicker in the long run...)

lay down masking tape where you want the grout lines... then paint the whole piece masking tape included with a water base primer... after it dries, remove the tape... then spray paint where the tape was.... after it drys... repaint all the bricks what ever color you choose for the bricks..

last... completely with you on the heavy wall panels... - i used to drive around town and pick up fence pieces, plywood, what ever i could find. this year... i drove by our bike store and noticed a couple large shipping cardboard boxes.... i have been collecting them for the panels for our tunnel of terror this year.... i will just staple them to the 2x4's or even 2x2's.... plus i can just chuck them easily after i finished... or they will pretty flat if i choose to store.... pictures to follow when i get them up.... ec


----------



## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

That is really great!


----------



## MotelSixx (Sep 27, 2008)

Nice. Gotta try that!


----------



## VillaHaunter (Jul 13, 2011)

I Have used 1/4 inch foam lightly sprayed with spray paint, cut brick or stone shapes. Then full sheets of 1 inch foam, I use Glidden Gripper Primer paint the sheet and lay out the brick pattern. You can stack several sheets then a sheet of plywood and some weight and let dry for a day. The panels are light weight, stay flat and store easy.


----------



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

easycraig: Great minds think alike. I tried it with spray paint at first. The problem was that the paint coated the foam. If you didn't get the right depth and texture on the first pass, you couldn't go back and touch it up, because the first layer of paint prevented further dissolving. Plus it took an inordinate amount of spray paint at close range to get the desired effect. The stencil became a sticky mess in short order. By contrast acetone evaporates pretty cleanly and overspray doesn't stain the floor.

When I realized spray paint prevents further dissolving, I did try the reverse and masked out mortar lines. The effect wasn't bad. The lines and angles were too crisp for my taste though, and measuring and masking out the lines was pretty tedious work. Did I mention I developed this technique because I'm lazy?


----------



## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

Nice job...


----------



## FastEddie33 (Aug 16, 2013)

Awesome!!..I have to try this!!


----------



## deadSusan (Jun 26, 2013)

What a great idea! I'm with you on the foam and smell. I did some carving with a hot knife. What a stench! I'd rather carve it with an exacto knife. But your method would really make it fast. 
Thank you so much for sharing.


----------



## scarybill (Oct 7, 2012)

You my friend are a genius!


----------



## austenandrews (Aug 22, 2010)

A quick update on lessons learned attempting to slam out a few more before the big day:

- Only use blue foam panels. Pink foam doesn't work. It seems to have a coating that resists the acetone until a certain point. When it breaks down, the acetone eats the rest of it fast. Also it doesn't dissolve into a granular texture, but a smoother, shiny texture (which could be cool for other uses).

- Had the pink foam worked, I was set to try following the acetone with pale spray paint before moving the stencil. My hope was to remove the need for painting the tight, textured surface later. I still think it's worth a try. With the mortar already painted, I can run a roller over the surface of the bricks and finish most of the painting in short order.

- I wound up painting the backs of a couple of panels. The dissolved foam was thin enough in places that a blue glow shone through where there was a bright light behind it.

- My heavy-duty sprayer stopped spraying midway through. I guess the acetone finally did in some internal component. My neighbor, who was helping, ran home and grabbed another one. Pro tip: Only use a heavy-duty sprayer for acetone. We learned this in spectacular fashion.


----------

