# Foam Boarded-Up Windows



## rchassel

A few people have asked me about the techniques I used to create my foam boarded-up windows. First I must thank creeeepycathy for her inspiration and also to Juggernaut for his instructions for creating foam boards detailed on his  site.

I’m afraid I didn’t take any progress pics while I was creating the boards so this will be more of a general guide than a step-by-step. Feel free to ask any questions if something isn’t clear.











I used 1” thick extruded polystyrene foam insulation (the pink stuff) cut into boards 4½” wide. Each board has a base coat of flat beige paint that I had mixed in Home Depot’s paint department. Actually, I went to the lumber section and picked up a small cutoff of wood I found on the floor and had them scan it with their paint computer and mix up a pint of paint to match (but beige will do  ) While there I picked up some Behr Faux Glaze then went next door to Ben Franklin Crafts to pick up several of those cheap bottles of acrylic paint to use as tints. I bought a bunch of paints with “brown” in their name as well as raw umber. You’ll also need a wide paintbrush—the older the better since the bristles of a beat-up brush will do a better job texturing than a new brush’s. Lastly, you’ll need a piece of thin cardboard with “teeth” cut on one edge. Cut the teeth with varying widths and with varying distance between them.











Once the base coat of beige has dried, mix up a small amount of the glaze with a squirt or two of one of the tint colors (the amounts aren’t critical) and brush the entire board with this mixture. While it’s still wet, rake the toothed side of the piece of cardboard down the length of the board giving it a wiggle every so often to give it a realistic grain. Alternatively you can use the dry, wide brush to create a finer grain, again giving it a wiggle here and there. The pic below shows examples of each technique. The nails are, in fact, real nails that I cut short and stuck in the foam with Gorilla Glue. The rust on the nails is also real and is a product from Sculpt Nouveau (Iron B coating with Tiffany Green patina). I used it because I had it lying around but you can certainly just paint the nails with shades of brown and orange or simply paint faux nails on the boards like Juggernaut.











The boards are cut into various lengths and glued together with Gorilla Glue. I didn’t bother removing the paint at the glued areas and the joints have since proven to stay stuck together even within strong winds. Use a thin layer of glue and weight the joints as the glue tends to foam and wants to push the boards apart. To secure the finished section of boards to my windows I used short lengths of dollar store dog leashes glued at each corner. I first hollowed out the foam so the leash pieces would sit flush to the surface and glued them in place with Gorilla Glue. I then glued a small piece of luan (thin plywood) over the glued section of leash to further secure it. The square piece you see in the close-up pic is a piece of the same 1” thick foam glued at each corner and rests against the windowsill. This will become clearer in a later pic. If I had to do it again I would use a thinner material than dog leashes (such as canvas straps) as the leashes have proven to be a bit hard to close in the window sashes. Also the square piece of foam pictured is painted with the beige paint and gives you a better idea of the base color I used.











The finished sections looked too new so I mixed a very watered-down black acrylic paint and used it as a wash to age the boards.











The boards are installed by closing the upper and lower sashes on the dog leash straps at each corner (you’ll need a helper inside while you hold the boards against the windows from the outside). The square pieces of foam described earlier rest up against the sills and give the corners support so the boards don’t flex when the straps are pulled tight. The horizontal boards rest directly on the window frames.











Here’s another section in place. The arrows show where the straps are held in place by the sashes. I know there are no nails “holding” the boards to the sides of the windows but I decided to wait for them to be in place to serve as a guide for adding the nails and I never got around to it 











Here I will leave you with a pic showing how I store the boards to prevent damage in the off-season. I use two storage hangers with cheap paint rollers slipped over them.


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## Homemade Haunts

Thanks for the thread. I've been looking for a good foam board tutorial. They look great!


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## bootoyou

Imperessive painting skills, those look fantastic.


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## SavageEye

Love it!!! I am going to redo mine this year, using this technique. I used a Dremel to create the grain, although it looked good, it took forever to create each board (hence I only got 2 of 6 windows completed).


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## RunawayOctober

Great tutorial, your painting is fantastic!

I'm a bit confused on the straps though. Do your windows open from both the top and bottom? Mine open on one side from left to right or vice versa. I think I'd have to figure something else out to secure them.

Thank you for posting this!


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## SavageEye

RunawayOctober said:


> Great tutorial, your painting is fantastic!
> 
> I'm a bit confused on the straps though. Do your windows open from both the top and bottom? Mine open on one side from left to right or vice versa. I think I'd have to figure something else out to secure them.
> 
> Thank you for posting this!


Do your windows slide or open out? Mine open out (also called Casement Windows). Last year we used heavy duty velcro directly on the window. It worked, however, it was a pain to get off and my concern is scratching the window when removing the velcro (I had to use Goof Off and a razor blade). This year I was thinking about doing something similar to the dog leash idea, but use fishing line. The fishing line would attach to either corner of my boards (outside of window), go over the top of the window and triangulate to the middle of the window on the inside. The tip of the triangle will attach to the latch on the inside of the windows. Hope this helps. If you don't have this type of window I probably totally confused you…

I will try to illustrate in a drawing.


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## RunawayOctober

No, no, I understand. Mine slide. Casement windows would make it much easier.  I would really only have one vertical side of the windows (and some don't open at all). I've seen people use velcro, magnets, double stick tape, and hooks and eyes. I think magnets would work the best, but the strong ones are expensive.

Thanks for clearing that up! 

I think fishing line would work very well. Much thinner and cheaper too!


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## billman

Those boards look real!! excellent job!


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## rchassel

Thanks, everyone! 

Katie,
My windows are the double hung type with upper and lower sashes that both move up and down like the window in the attached image. Fishing line should work fine and I believe that's what creeeepycathy uses for her  windows.


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## creeeepycathy

fantastic tutorial!!! I love the way you painted your boards.  And I'm stealing your storage idea!!!  

btw- I started hanging mine with velcro on a frame that goes over the window. (thanx WyattFurr for that idea.  )


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## Terra

WOW!! They just look. so. REAL! Great tutorial, thanks so much.


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## Misdomt

Thanks for the tutorial. I was going to do the same thing this year but inside for my Zombie theme Halloween party. Now I have a great reference.


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## rchassel

Thanks, again  Glad to help!

Creeeepycathy, steal away 
Terra, your tutorials have always been an inspiration!


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## DaveintheGrave

Excellent looking boards!
I made some similar to yours several years ago. I had the nail heads sticking out of mine, too!
Unfortunately, my boards are too small to use in this newer house we moved into.
Your tutorial will help a lot if I ever make some new ones.
Thanks!


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## rchassel

Thanks, Dave!


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## HallowweenKat

Those look great. My window open only from the bottom. May have to try this if I can find some magnets. Someone in the neighborhood tried Velcro stuck to their house for their boards over the window but it fell off after a few days.


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## clyparkr

HallowweenKat said:


> Those look great. My window open only from the bottom. May have to try this if I can find some magnets. Someone in the neighborhood tried Velcro stuck to their house for their boards over the window but it fell off after a few days.


Hmmm my windows also only open at the bottom. I was also thinking velco. Walmart sells these little circle Velcro partches that might work ok if you use a lot of them. 


Great tutorial. Adding this to my list


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## Zombiegirl1

Ur boards look great. I lov the nails u have in urs too. I made my boards look really old like barn wood. I took a hammer to the ends of my boards & also smashed places along the edges of the board. It gave it a more weathered look. & some nice whacks for the center of knots in the boards too. You can really get out ur agressions that way I found out!!! I used a tip of a nail for the wood grooves & a knife to cut off pieces in the ends of the boards to make them looks old/splintered/weathered. I also used a nail to put nail holes in the ends of the board & painted them darker. It looks like nail heads. 

I had a #$#$ of a time getting mine boards to stay on. They stayed on until the temp got colder at nite, then I could hear them peeling off of the sutters one at a time. Grrrr. The boards were too big for the windows & covered about 3" of shutters on each side. I tried mult tapes. Duct tape worked the best but it will take the paint off of ur shutters - found out  Although they stayed on a 1-3days then peeled off. So I ended up using 3M poster strips tape. One side goes on shutter (no paint removal) YEAH! other side onto back of board. That worked great & was easy to remove, but its expensive. It can hold the weight of mult boards too. Got to find another way to attach them. Think I might use some gorilla glue & attach a couple of boards together, then use the poster tape to attach to shutters. Or try to make some small hooks that fit into the shutters. Ur way looks interesting tho. Fantastic job on the boards urs look soooo real too !!!


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## Zombiegirl1

Ur boards look great. I lov the nails u have in urs too. I made my boards look really old like barn wood. I took a hammer to the ends of my boards & also smashed places along the edges of the board. It gave it a more weathered look. & some nice whacks for the center of knots in the boards too. You can really get out ur agressions that way I found out!!! I used a tip of a nail for the wood grooves & a knife to cut off pieces in the ends of the boards to make them looks old/splintered/weathered. I also used a nail to put nail holes in the ends of the board & painted them darker. It looks like nail heads. 

I had a #$#$ of a time getting mine boards to stay on. They stayed on until the temp got colder, then I could hear them coming off one at a time. Grrrr. The boards were too big for the windows & covered about 3" of shutters on both sides. I tried mult tapes. Duct tape will take off the paint off of ur shutters - found out the hard way Although they stayed on a day or 2 then peeled all off. So I ended up using 3M poster strips tape. One side goes on shutter (no paint removal) other side onto back of board. That worked great & was easy to remove, but its expensive. Got to find another way to attach them. Ur way looks interesting tho. Fantastic job!!!


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## rchassel

Thanks, guys! If your windows only open at the bottom could you possibly replace the top straps with hooks or something that can be secured by sliding behind the trim or on brads that are nailed in from the top? You could then secure the bottoms using the straps held by the sashes.


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## clyparkr

rchassel said:


> Thanks, guys! If your windows only open at the bottom could you possibly replace the top straps with hooks or something that can be secured by sliding behind the trim or on brads that are nailed in from the top? You could then secure the bottoms using the straps held by the sashes.


I was actually outside today looking at my siding to see what I could do. 


Did you do anything to weather treat the boards?


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## rchassel

clyparkr, nope but the base paint is an exterior latex.


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## Icarus

I like this a lot. I've been tossing around the idea of adding something like this to my house this year. Seems easy enough to do. If I can only find the time...
Thanks for posting this!


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## lksmart

This is one of the projects I actually managed to complete last year. Thanks to Cathy, who gave me a website with complete instructions. Here's the website she gave me: http://usersites.horrorfind.com/home/halloween/juggernaut/boards/BoardsIndex.html. It really helped out a lot. I had never thought about using rchassel's method of making the grain with a piece of cardboard. Very creative. The website I gave also has some tips on painting in wood knots and nails (if you're not inclined to use real nails). Here's a pic of the paint job I did, if anyone is interested:









I also used velcro to put up my boards. Except I attached each piece to the window separately, with a strip of velcro on each end of each board. They held up nicely for me, and we have a tendency to have some very strong winds around Halloween season. But then again, I also have an aluminum (I think, might be some other kind of metal) window casing on the outside, so I don't have to worry about messing them up. To get them off, I just went underneath the velcro attached to the window with a pair of tweezers and ripped them off. Hope this helps!


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## Hoodoo_Hermit

Thanks for a great tutorial. I've been putting off doing the boarded up window look because my wife would have a heart-attack if the velcro tabs won't come off the windows later lol. Where would you recommend getting the canvas straps?


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## rchassel

Hoodoo_Hermit said:


> Thanks for a great tutorial. I've been putting off doing the boarded up window look because my wife would have a heart-attack if the velcro tabs won't come off the windows later lol. Where would you recommend getting the canvas straps?


I think something here would do nicely:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=MILITARY+SURPLUS+CARGO+STRAPS


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## Xane

You could also make something shaped like a "football goal", either H shaped for stability or just two tall sticks on either side of the window either driven into the ground below it or with a base plate to hold it still. Paint it the same color as the house. Make sure it is as close to the wall as possible, then screw/glue/velcro/nail/epoxy/weld/whatever your boards to it.


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## RunawayOctober

I still haven't figured out how to attach these, so I haven't started making any. :/ Has anyone had any luck with stucco windows? Well, windows surrounded by stucco... The typical tract housing windows these days.. They mount flat to the side of the house, the flashing is metal, and in October it will still be pretty hot, so I don't think Velcro would work. Screwing anything into the stucco will just leave very large holes. Also, in relation to comment above, most of the windows are second story, the windows on the first floor are over the porch, so no ground to drive stakes into. 

Do you guys think the 3M command strips would hold up in the heat? My street front is south facing and takes a beating through the day. It can still reach the 90s in October.


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## Xane

Since Command adhesive seems to be some kind of strange gooey substance that never fully dries, I'm going to say the heat will probably melt it (or the elements will make it fail) but you never know. Since Halloween is 2 months away, you might want to stick a few outside right now, hang something of moderate weight on them, and see how long it takes for them to fall off. Then don't put your boards up until that many days before Halloween


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## Hoodoo_Hermit

rchassel said:


> I think something here would do nicely:
> http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=MILITARY+SURPLUS+CARGO+STRAPS


Thanks so much. Perhaps I'll look into my local army/navy store as well.


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## BallstonManor

Okay, your faux painting skills are worthy of praise. Dang.


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## rchassel

Thanks, BallstonManor


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## rchassel

RunawayOctober said:


> I still haven't figured out how to attach these, so I haven't started making any. :/


Hi, Katie. You mentioned that your windows slide open sideways. If you can post a pic of your windows with them opened a bit maybe we can figure out a way to secure the boards.


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## RunawayOctober

Okay, sure! I'll get some pictures tomorrow in the day light.


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## Atelier*Motives

I love the way you have them attatched! Last year I had attatched my foam board with the command strips, they worked alright but several had blown off with high winds. I'm definately going to see if my windows will work with your mini leash idea. It will save a lot of money, and looks like it will hold up better.  Thank you for posting this!


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## RunawayOctober

Okay, here's some pictures. Thank you very much for the help guys!
















These are the five windows I need to worry about. The others on the sides of the house are not viewable or second story with no easy way to get to them. The 3 small ones do not open at all, but are flush mount and have the same flashing as the rest. Both of the big windows open and slide to the right. There are screens on them, but I can take them off since it probably wont be cool enough in Oct to leave the windows open. 








And is it just me, or does anyone else see the ghost in the top middle window??!


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## rchassel

Hi, Katie. From your pic below and from your description it appears that only the left pane slides open and the right pane is fixed. Does that sound right?


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## RunawayOctober

Yep, exactly.


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## Xane

Are your frames aluminum? Even if they are, the screws might be enough for you to use super high power magnets. Or maybe those clips used to jam plywood into window frames for a hurricane. Plylox is one brand but they look too aggressive. I'm sure I've seen plastic ones.


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## RunawayOctober

Yes, just checked with a magnet. They must be aluminum. And there's no exposed screws. Maybe I should just hang this project up for this year.


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## RunawayOctober

I looked up the Plylox stuff. You have to have a casing. 

Eh, I need to stop being discouraged. I think I'm gonna grab some velcro, suction cups or those command strips and give them all a whirl. I think that, if all else fails, I can hot glue the suction cups to the windows. And just use a razor to scrap them off when done. Is this a dumb idea?


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## Xane

That might work, I'd use a plastic scraper and not a razor. Suction cups to the windows sounds good too. Use those kinds where you press them on, then push down the hook to pull out the middle of it for even stronger suction.


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## RunawayOctober

Alright, I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for your help Xane and Rob. You guys are awesome!


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## SavageEye

RunawayOctober said:


> I looked up the Plylox stuff. You have to have a casing.
> 
> Eh, I need to stop being discouraged. I think I'm gonna grab some velcro, suction cups or those command strips and give them all a whirl. I think that, if all else fails, I can hot glue the suction cups to the windows. And just use a razor to scrap them off when done. Is this a dumb idea?


Runaway,

You can get heavy duty velcro at Home Depot. This is what I used last year. You may need to glue a scrap piece of foam to the back of the boards to act as a spacer depending on how "inset" your windows are from your stucco frame. This will bring your boards out far enough so that your boards are all on the same plane. Make sense? I am going out to work on redoing my boards today. I will try to take a picture.


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## RunawayOctober

I would love to see how you do it! Thank you very much!


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## SavageEye

*Oops*



RunawayOctober said:


> I would love to see how you do it! Thank you very much!


Runaway, I went out yesterday to start working on my boards and realized that I had taken them apart when I stored them so I have no pictures to share . I am off to Lowe's to get some more foam so that I can redo my boards for this year. Good luck and if you have any questions, please post.


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## GodOfThunder

I had been gnashing teeth about finding foam for headstones and for the boarded up windows effect and scored bigtime! While we don't have anything greater than 1/2" thickness in TX because of the climate, much of my neighborhood is still under construction. They just framed a house close by and in the trash pen, there were remnants of the blue foam I so desperately needed! 

Best part: free. 

I scored enough long strips to effectively pull the boards effect off. Couple that are 90"+ long which may cover a partial diagonal of my largest front windows. Going to get started soon. So if there are some new neighborhoods in your area, I'd suggest doing some 'dumpster diving' as it were to take trash pieces from a work site.


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## GodOfThunder

I've finished painting my foam boards this AM, although I've not yet done the watered down black wash to age them. I have to say, I loved how they turned out! I'll be assembling and putting them up next weekend probably.


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## clyparkr

Haha those look crazy real. Great work


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## jbaum

I screwed cup hooks in the corners of the window frames and then used spider fishing line run from top to bottom to secure them to the house. You can't see the line and they held everything in place through the windy days. The cup hooks were also used for the Christmas lights around the windows. I like the idea of using fabric to hold them in place and close the windows on it. Lots of good ideas out there.


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## SavageEye

GodOfThunder said:


> I've finished painting my foam boards this AM, although I've not yet done the watered down black wash to age them. I have to say, I loved how they turned out! I'll be assembling and putting them up next weekend probably.
> View attachment 90366
> View attachment 90367


Those look sweet. What colors did you use and in what order?


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## Zombiegirl1

Great work. If ur going for the delapidated old abandoned house look, I would take a hammer to those boards. Esp around the sides/ends. It looks fantastic when u make a cool knot hole drybrushed w/blck & bash the center in. Ill try to fish my boards out & send a pic. Bc we all know that no one uses good/perfectly str8 boards to board up an old house that could fall down any moment. They would use odds/ends, old boards, scrap wood no one cared about. Just a suggstn.


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## DezzyLee99

*I used Magnets*

Don't mean to hijack the thread or anything but here is how I have been hanging mine. 

http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-step-step/85150-magnetic-boarded-up-windows.html

Hope this helps some of you.


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## GodOfThunder

SavageEye said:


> Those look sweet. What colors did you use and in what order?


Well, for the base color, I actually gambled and bought a can of "Oops" paint at Lowe's for $5...it was a lighter tan/taupe color, unsure which precisely. 

Then I took the Behr Faux Glaze and mixed in Burnt Umber, Chocolate Brown and Black acrilyc paint (the little 2 oz bottles like at Michael's) in wholly unscientific amounts. I used almost a whole bottle of the former two and just a small squirt of the black. 

Just a heads up though: the mix almost looks greyish at first, I thought I had screwed it up, but once I applied it, it was brown enough. I did throw in some more of the burnt umber when I first saw the mix. Because it's a glaze base and not paint, it acts just as a stain or glaze would, so your brushstrokes certainly show. I slathered the boards up, made sure my brush strokes were smoothed out and then raked it over with the cardboard spikes. 

And good tip by Zombiegirl---I've got a patina mix that I'm going to treat nails and insert them into the foam. 

The magnets are a good idea to adhere them too. I'm going to run with the heavy duty velcro first and hope that secures the assembly but may have to get more innovative depending on adhesion.


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## rchassel

They look great, GodOfThunder!



GodOfThunder said:


> I've finished painting my foam boards this AM, although I've not yet done the watered down black wash to age them. I have to say, I loved how they turned out! I'll be assembling and putting them up next weekend probably.


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## terror31

Thanks Rob! this helped me tremendously. I was worried about not getting the right colors. I had some carmel like color from the returned paint section at HD. I mixed some brown paint I had also. It came out kinda beige. Then I bought the Faux Glaze but I quickly realized that I didn't hardly use any of it. You can get a way with a quart if you only use a 4x8 sheet for your boards. I got 12 4" boards from my sheet and only used maybe 8-10 oz of glaze mixed with some brown paints I got from Hobby Lobby.

Once I got the glaze on I used your "cardboard trowel" to make the grain. It was very shiny at first and didn't look right at all. Patience is all it takes to make it look good. I also wasn't sure how to make the cardboard teeth. Yours doesn't seem to match up with the pictures. The gaps between the teeth is what makes the dark grain so yours made it seem that the grain was very wide. I finally decided to make mine fairly close together and it turned out great.

I ended up using velcro to attach the boards to the brick. It is called Velcro eXtreme for rough surfaces.

Here are a few pics. There are more on my website but my gallery is messed up so it may take awhile for the thumbnails to get fixed. If you click on "Download... original..." you can see the actual images.



































This is freshly painted so it is shiny, it looks much better after it dries.

I have one more to put up which is about 8' wide with 3 windows. I will try and post that pic later today.


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## mcwthethird

*Big thanks Rob...*

Was looking for something to add to the front of the house...great idea! Thanks so much.


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## Bryan316

If you're sticking these boards to vinyl or aluminum siding or glass, use Seal-N-Peel  temporary caulk. It can hold lightweight stuff, but peels right off with a very weak bond without ruining surfaces. Yes it works on brick, but you might need a wire brush to get little particles off afterwards.


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## rchassel

Awesome job, terror31 and mcwthethird 



terror31 said:


> Here are a few pics. There are more on my website but my gallery is messed up so it may take awhile for the thumbnails to get fixed. If you click on "Download... original..." you can see the actual images.





mcwthethird said:


> Was looking for something to add to the front of the house...great idea! Thanks so much.


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## Zombiegirl1

Oh wow really like that idea. I lov the spot lights under it, to help w/shadows. It gives it an eerie glow too. 
I also have that fence but havn't put it up this yr. Right now some of my boards are falling off. Its usually the ones on the 2nd story, that give me a hard time when the temp drops. They stay on as long as the temp doesnt fall 20 deg or more. 
This yr I tried the Command poster board stickies that peel off easily. They work on most of the boards but found out the paint on the 2nd story shutters has a powdery coating on it. I should have used some alcohol and cleaned it off b4 using the poster stickies. I also like to use Command picture hanging adhesive strips bc that can hold up to 5lbs. Those usually do the trick but are somewhat expensive when u have a lot of boards. Ill look this seal & peel up. It might be more cost effective. Ur windows look great!~~


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## terror31

Bryan316 said:


> If you're sticking these boards to vinyl or aluminum siding or glass, use Seal-N-Peel  temporary caulk. It can hold lightweight stuff, but peels right off with a very weak bond without ruining surfaces. Yes it works on brick, but you might need a wire brush to get little particles off afterwards.


Great info Bryan, I will have to try this. I have a set of 3 windows in my dining room that I am having issues hanging the boards due to the fact that the middle brick isn't even with the outer edge of the windows. I need foam spacing and then need to secure it somehow but since it isn't flush the velcro has more pressure pulling it from the brick so the adhesive isn't working well. I either am going to gorilla glue the velcro to the foam (but then maybe it won't stay on the brick) or I will try your idea. How long do you need to apply the pressure to adhere this to the brick? I leaned 2x4's against the bricks to adhere my gorilla glue since I didn't glue this one ahead of time because it is 8' wide and wasn't sure if I was going to try and break it up or use one large section. I have been trying to strategically place the boards so that I can cut them in sections (for storage) without noticing they are cut.


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## terror31

DezzyLee99 said:


> Don't mean to hijack the thread or anything but here is how I have been hanging mine.
> 
> http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutorials-step-step/85150-magnetic-boarded-up-windows.html
> 
> Hope this helps some of you.


Yet another great idea. I have one set of windows that this might work best on. I have a few different things to try now. Thanks!


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## funhousejoe

Xane said:


> Since Command adhesive seems to be some kind of strange gooey substance that never fully dries, I'm going to say the heat will probably melt it (or the elements will make it fail) but you never know. Since Halloween is 2 months away, you might want to stick a few outside right now, hang something of moderate weight on them, and see how long it takes for them to fall off. Then don't put your boards up until that many days before Halloween


they sell the command hooks for hanging christmas wreayhs so i think cold is not an issue


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## Bryan316

The temp caulk takes just as long as any other caulk to cure. But if you use this to caulk the velcro in place and lean a 2x4 against it at a 45 degree angle, it should tack up and stay put after 2 hours. Then the next day, stick your velcro'd boards in place.

Remember, foam board doesn't like certain solvents, so make sure the glue you use on the velcro doesn't dissolve the foam. I'd say use the Loctite PL 300 foam board adhesive to stick the velcro to the foam. Scuff up the foam surface to get a good textured surface for the PL 300 to grip to, and a block and clamp and leave it overnight.


I like magnets! If you epoxy the magnets to the brick face or window frames, you can just leave them up year round, they'll never be bothered.


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## Misdomt

Great Ideas! Based on this tutorial I made some quick and dirty ones for my inside windows to use during my Zombie Apocalypse halloween party.


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## GodOfThunder

Here's my finished product up on the house! The only thing I didn't do was use the rust/antiquing effect on some nails to stick into the foam--I just flat-out ran out of time. 

Also, the night before our party we ended up having a big cold snap, wind and rain storm, so a few boards had to be reattached with velcro. The bricks had gotten wet so the adhesion was adversely impacted, however, the heavy duty velcro worked like a champ. Except for a few instances, I was able to adhere it to the brick directly as well as stick a few of the boards to one another without using the shutters. No question that it ended up being a great effect and my partygoers and the trick or treaters all loved it!


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## MarkOf13

Here are the ones that I did:






















I wanted them to look really old and sun-bleached but I think I added too much white. They aren't attached to the outside wall. I'm using a combination of techniques - an "H" frame at the top and strings through the window on the bottom.


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## Retaliation

I am such a procrastinator but it all worked out pretty well. I started working on my boards 2-3 days after finding this thread on the 24th of October. I cut them on monday, painted a base coat on tuesday, painted the grain on wednesday, aged them and colored them more on thursday, hung them the next day for a party Friday night. That was a rough week. Pretty much everyone at the party and trick or treater parents were asking me how I hung that wood up there. I'll definitely be making some more boards to add to these next year. Oh, and 3m double sided mounting tape works the best. Sticks to aluminum window frames and brick and holds the foam solid, then peels off fairly easily.








After the base coat of a light light brown, when I painted the grain, I was really displeased with how it turned out. It looked like bacon.








But the next step I just used some acrylic paint and thinly painted over it (not watered down), using grey, brown, black, and burnt sienna, for different types of random planks. Then it really turned out nice I thought.


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## bootoyou

Cool, I wanted to do that this year, didn't happen, did you texture the foam with a wire brush first? Also was the pink, or blue foam the way to go, or the white?


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## Retaliation

I didn't texture the foam at all. The grain was done like the OP originally instructed and I cut some wedges out of a piece of cardboard, then dragged the cardboard over the foam while it had the glaze/paint mixture on it. When I do it next year though, I'll buy a cheap plastic dustpan and cut wedges in that instead. It'll be more sturdy, won't sop up the paint, and give you more defined grain.

The Lowes I got my foam at only had the blue kind, so that's what I used.


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## SB_Haunts

awesome job on the paint work,i was trying to figure out a new window treatment, im on second yr of using Hallowindows so this can be fresh like the video running of someone tryint to get out and being chased sillohette


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## Xane

So *that's* how they make Beggin' Strips! 

Seriously though, it looks great! I probably would have gotten frustrated at the bacon stage, even though I *know* projects don't look right until they're fully completed!


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## LT Scare

WOW, Great Job! The foam REALLY looks like wood. Very cool.


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## Rclsu13

Just throwing out there that I have had great success from using an exacto or hobby knife doing grain. Just run your knife randomly down the "boards" add some knots in there, but dont carve them out. Just slice it then get your trusty heat gun and hit it. The heat gun will harden the foam making them slightly more durable and it will really open up the grain, looks real nice. Much quicker than making a tool to create the grain for you, also wont have a pattern showing as using a tool would create.


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## dionicia

That is really creative and those are so realistic. Great job.


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## rchassel

Thanks, Kristy! 



dionicia said:


> That is really creative and those are so realistic. Great job.


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## Kev730

I was looking at this and i was wondering what this picture is






obviously the one next to it is paint.


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## Dminor

It's a piece of cardboard with small notches cut out of it. It's how the original poster got the wood grain on their foam boards.


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## sheamiyake

Going to do this, this year!


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## the home haunter

do you think i can use real wood instead?


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## Dminor

the home haunter said:


> do you think i can use real wood instead?


You could, but it would be much heavier than foam. The first year I did this, I used pieces of cardboard covered in woodgrain contact paper (the stuff you'd line your cabinets with) and it looked just like wood in the dark and didn't cost very much.


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## kimcfadd

The Home Haunter,

I used wood from scrap pallets. I first made a frame that would attach to the house and then attached the random pieces of wood from the scrap pallets to the frame. The weight is not bad at all. Having the frame makes it very easy to attach each halloween and to store.


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## Monroe58

Misdomt said:


> Thanks for the tutorial. I was going to do the same thing this year but inside for my Zombie theme Halloween party. Now I have a great reference.


Me too, for this year! This will be perfect. Thanks so much!


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## mikeerdas

Dminor said:


> You could, but it would be much heavier than foam. The first year I did this, I used pieces of cardboard covered in woodgrain contact paper (the stuff you'd line your cabinets with) and it looked just like wood in the dark and didn't cost very much.


Dminor, I love your idea of using cardboard + woodgrain contact paper. Simple, light and effective. Any photos?


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## DexterSinister

the home haunter said:


> do you think i can use real wood instead?


You can use wood. My take on boarded windows is here. For me it was a matter of the tools and materials that I had available vs. my lack of experience working with foam and painting it. Also, the TOTs would be walking right next to the boards and I felt that real wood would look better up close and be less likely to be pulled off by a curious TOT


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## bkgaz

Awesome Talent and Idea! Thanks for sharing.


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## VIGILANTE

You have the best window mounting idea I have seen in a while. I like your storage method also, it is the same way I store my fence panels.


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## Scruffywolf

They look great......i did them last year and got a lot of comments on them......http://www.halloweenforum.com/members/scruffywolf-albums-2011-stuff-picture94855-dsc-0020.html


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## Slasher Movie Apologist

Awesome work! Well-written tutorial, too. 

Think I might end up stealing this method from you for my haunt.


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## mikeerdas

*Party City boarded-up cardboard windows - glow in the dark $5/pack*

Sorry, no photo, but I saw that Party City had packs of cardboard boarded-up window planks, glow in the dark, for $5 each. Probably 2 to a pack, maybe max of 4. Don't recall. I like the idea if making my own cardboard ones and using spray to make them look like wood. But in a pinch, I may purchase these.


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## Dminor

Figured I'd share my boards...










What I found worked well was to paint the boards dark and then do your glaze in a lighter color. I used a wood graining tool that I found at Home depot. Definitely helped give it a "wood" look.

To boards to the top left (cut off in the picture) were painted a lighter color with a darker glaze and the rest were painted a chocolate brown with a light brown glaze.

I may go back later and give them a light brushing in some more woody tones, but I think that at night, they'll look just like the real thing.


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## Dminor

mikeerdas said:


> Dminor, I love your idea of using cardboard + woodgrain contact paper. Simple, light and effective. Any photos?


No unfortunately not, it was years ago. But I will say that from a distance at night they did the trick!


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## mikeerdas

Great job Dminor. Thanks for posting these.



Dminor said:


> Figured I'd share my boards...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What I found worked well was to paint the boards dark and then do your glaze in a lighter color.
> 
> To boards to the top left (cut off in the picture) were painted a lighter color with a darker glaze and the rest were painted a chocolate brown with a light brown glaze.
> 
> I may go back later and give them a light brushing in some more woody tones, but I think that at night, they'll look just like the real thing.


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## matrixmom

Did cardboard last year, it rained a couple of times and they warped. Just wanted to let you know.


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## kimcfadd

Dminor said:


> Figured I'd share my boards...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What I found worked well was to paint the boards dark and then do your glaze in a lighter color. I used a wood graining tool that I found at Home depot. Definitely helped give it a "wood" look.
> 
> To boards to the top left (cut off in the picture) were painted a lighter color with a darker glaze and the rest were painted a chocolate brown with a light brown glaze.
> 
> I may go back later and give them a light brushing in some more woody tones, but I think that at night, they'll look just like the real thing.


Awesome job!! I actually think they look better than mine and mine are real wood.


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## SavageEye

Dminor said:


> What I found worked well was to paint the boards dark and then do your glaze in a lighter color. I used a wood graining tool that I found at Home depot. Definitely helped give it a "wood" look.


*If you had to start over… Would you do the darker glaze over the lighter color or the other way around? I cant really tell from the picture but it appears that the top left boards (darker glaze over lighter) have a darker, more realistic, "wood" look.

BTW, they look great! What thickness foam did you use?*


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## Dminor

SavageEye said:


> *If you had to start over… Would you do the darker glaze over the lighter color or the other way around? I cant really tell from the picture but it appears that the top left boards (darker glaze over lighter) have a darker, more realistic, "wood" look.
> 
> BTW, they look great! What thickness foam did you use?*


I think I prefer the variety of color that I was able to get by doing the two different colors. It also helps to provide tonal variance so that in the dark it doesn't just look like flat slats of "something". I have a feeling that the lighter colored boards will "read" better at night though. 

Honestly, the picture doesn't do the color any justice. Because I took the picture in the shade, I think it has almost a purple color cast to it. In normal light they each look surprisingly realistic. 

As for the thickness, it's 1/2" blue foam from lowes.

Here's another picture with the two colors side by side:


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## HomerFett

Dminor said:


> I think I prefer the variety of color that I was able to get by doing the two different colors. It also helps to provide tonal variance so that in the dark it doesn't just look like flat slats of "something". I have a feeling that the lighter colored boards will "read" better at night though.
> 
> Honestly, the picture doesn't do the color any justice. Because I took the picture in the shade, I think it has almost a purple color cast to it. In normal light they each look surprisingly realistic.
> 
> As for the thickness, it's 1/2" blue foam from lowes.
> 
> Here's another picture with the two colors side by side:


These look great! I am finishing up my first attempt at foam boarded-up windows.

My question is does anyone put polyurethane or anything over the paint to protect it from the elements?


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## Dminor

Thanks! Everything is painted with exterior latex paint, so it's protected. Even acrylic paints are water resistant, so you'd be safe with that as well.


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## Birk

So basically paint the foam brown and then use acrylic with a wood graining tool from home depot? How does that tool work with the paint? BTW man these look awesome man


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## Dminor

Birk said:


> So basically paint the foam brown and then use acrylic with a wood graining tool from home depot? How does that tool work with the paint? BTW man these look awesome man


I used glaze with my paint for the wood grain. It makes the paint more liquid so that you can more easilly move the wood grain tool thru the paint. 

I'm sure you can do the same with acrylic. 

As for the tool, here's a video that explains how it works (made by forum member Terra):


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## Birk

Wow thats awesome and easy, one question though. What exactly is glaze and where do i buy it at? And thanks for the video, i just painted one side of my boards for the windows and going to let them dry overnight and finish the other sides in the morning


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## Dminor

Glaze can be found in the paint department. It's a type of paint that helps to "water down" your paint without actually using water. It makes the paint more translucent. It also, in this instance, allows you a longer drying time so that if you hate the first pass at your wood grain, you can just go back and try it again.

I will give this one word of advice, if it's warm outside the glaze/paint mixture will dry fast, so you'll only get one crack at it. But trust me, the wood grain tool is super easy to use and your boards will look as good, if not better than mine.


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## Dminor

I should also mention, I skipped the first step in Terra's video. I just painted the boards (let them dry) and then did the wood graining.


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## Dminor

This is another great video on wood graining:


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## Weathernut

What is the best glaze to get?


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## Dminor

Weathernut said:


> What is the best glaze to get?


I couldn't tell you. I would say go with the cheapest.


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## werefox

They look awesome. I have been wanting to have boarded up windows for a zombie invasion scene. I don't know if I can get to it this year or not though.


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## Birk

Got some up today...still need to add more


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## coastguard

About how much of each paint did you use if i may ask?


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## Dminor

Way more glaze than paint. Like a 4 to 1 ratio. Watch Terra's faux wood tutorial towards the top of this page (page 11) for a recipe. She's got a good mix.


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## Birk

coastguard said:


> About how much of each paint did you use if i may ask?


On those maybe a 1/4 gallon of cheap brown paint which was $8, and i used a Gel Stain which was $10, and used about a 1/4 quart of that on those. I painted both sides with the cheap brown.


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## Hauntmaster1

Can somebody recommend the name of a glaze product. I see videos of the glaze being white and I asked + showed the paint kid at home depot what I needed and he had no idea what the white glaze was in the video. Only glaze he knew of was clear. #Frustrated


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## LT Scare

I think you are asking about Drylock. Drylock is a seal that will keep the rain from penetrating your prop. It goes on white.

I've also used the Painter's Touch clear acrylic at Home Depot to seal and protect (acrylic over foam for example), however it drys in a gloss. I wait until the clear acrylic drys, then spray with a dull coat.


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## Hauntmaster1

Yeah whatever the woman in the video was using. She referred to it as '' glaze''and it was a white pasty color. Then she dumped in the paint.


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## Hauntmaster1

The home depot paint guy tried to sell me a clear gloss that you put on wood after its painted. There was nothing called '' glaze'' of any sort. Maybe I should check an arts and crafts store?


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## Dminor

Here's what I used: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...3&langId=-1&keyword=paint+glaze&storeId=10051


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## Dminor

Hauntmaster1 said:


> The home depot paint guy tried to sell me a clear gloss that you put on wood after its painted. There was nothing called '' glaze'' of any sort. Maybe I should check an arts and crafts store?


Keep in mind that a vast majority people who work at home depot know very little about the department they work in. They only know what they've been taught in most cases, which doesn't always cover things like faux finishing and the products used to do so.


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## Hauntmaster1

Hey thank you so much Dminor.


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## Coffin Joe

Some great ideas on here thanks for posting


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## mikeerdas

*Foam board @ Dollar Tree $1 = two boards each*

Just picked up several pieces of foam board from Dollar Tree at $1 a piece. I'll be able to cut *three* planks per whole piece of foam board--not two as I mistakenly wrote in the title--so it's a good deal. Walmart wanted $2.88 per piece of foam board, by the way.

Will cover with the free wood grained contact paper I picked up at Lowes ($10 off $10 minimum coupon deal a few weeks back). I have some of the pre-made ones ("Battered Boards") from Party City for reference. Think I've lost the receipt, so I may be stuck with them. No promises, but I may do a test with the Party City ones and my own to see the difference. These should go well with my whole-house upstairs brownout lighting effect.

Was rained out last Halloween and had to make due. So I'm trying to prep for what I can do if we have another rainy Halloween night this season.


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## mikeerdas

*My boards vs. store bought product*

A 20" x 15' roll of woodgrain contact paper at Lowes (less than $10; think it was around $7) plus 5 pieces of $1 each Dollar Tree white foam board yielded 15 "wide" boards and 5 "skinny" boards. Although I had trouble adhering the contact paper to the foam re: bubbles, I don't think the imperfections will show at night. Didn't notch the ends (looks more goofy / less convincing?) and didn't try to age the boards. Again, don't know that any of this will matter at night. The pictures I've included only show some of my best boards. Hope I got the numbers and units right--I'm not good with dimensions, etc.

First, here is the commercial product, "Battered Boards" from Party City. Cost about $5 per package of 4 boards. Dimensions are 27.5" x 5.75". Frankly I didn't care for them. Loved the concept, disliked the implementation. Would rather have Bought Than Built, but used them for reference:









Here is the commercial product compared with the ones I made. I made all boards wider than store bought--30" vs. 27.5" and used roughly the same board height by tracing three per piece of foam board and got one skinnier board extra for 4 boards per each. The skinny one may make a nice cross-piece:









Here is a picture of the 4 total boards I was able to cut per piece of 20" x 30" foam board:









Picture of contact paper packaging from Lowes:









Here was my method:

1. Laid foam board on concrete garage floor, lengthwise.

2. Spread contact paper to slightly more than full length of foam board then cut with scissors at end. The 20" contact paper fit one side of the foam board perfectly. Left a little bit at the end for fold-over on edges.

3. Removed backing and adhered contact paper to uncut foam board (figured it would be easier to do first than later after individual boards were cut). Real pain with bubbles / getting it to adhere flatly. Never used contact paper before and really have no mechanical skills to speak of.

4. Used store-bought board and a pen to trace outline of first board, extending line lengthwise to full length. Traced other two boards, leaving one skinny one.

5. Cut boards with box-cutter on garage floor. 

6. Folded over any excess contact paper and trimmed any sides with any white foam board showing on the surface using box-cutter.

That's it. My boards aren't great. But I'm happy to have something rather than nothing--and boards I feel are an improvement over store-bought. Should look very cool against a half or whole house brown-out lighting effect (using the $10 "shoebox" method from the Boo It Yourself blog). Also nice to have "something rather than nothing" with just this if I'm rained-out again this Halloween night.

Thanks to Dminor for the idea and inspiration of using woodgrained contact paper.

Some potential improvement ideas:

1. I only covered one side of each foam board. This leaves things open to buy a darker or different shade of woodgrain contact paper if I want some variety vs. uniformity. But in the dark, I'm feeling this may not make much of a difference. Have thought of running a small amount of black spray paint over a few boards to age them. But again, if the detail can't be seen I'm not sure I will bother.

2. Buy some clear UV reactive paint, write spooky words on some of the boards, then angle some $8 Target Blacklight strobes at those particular boards on the very slowest strobe setting. Any recommendations for a source of clear UV reactive paint or brand? Only need a very small quantity of it if I add this.

3. Could "notch" the ends of the boards later. Although that might actually detract from the realism of the effect (?).


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## Dminor

Glad to see that you were able to use my technique and that they turned out great!


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## exiled

My windows...


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## mikeerdas

exiled said:


> My windows...
> View attachment 134268
> View attachment 134269


Thanks Dminor.

Exiled, love yours! Looks great in daylight and I'm really digging the zombie hanging out of the window.


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## Birk

Looking ****ing awesome mikeerdas, i love the blood handprints, im going to have to steal the blood prints, those look pretty sturdy..








My gfriend put these up this afternoon


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## SavageEye

*In Progress...*

Making progress on my boarded up windows. 

Got a big party at the house on Sat and a lot of work still to do!!! I will post more when we get them up…

It was raining so we had to bring the project inside.









Closeup of the faux finish...


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## H82GO55

SavageEye, those look way too realistic. Nice attention to detail on your project!


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## SavageEye

H82GO55 said:


> SavageEye, those look way too realistic. Nice attention to detail on your project!


*Thanks H82GO55 (I tend to go faster than 55 too!). I had a neighbor come over and look at them and he was like, "How long did it take you to carve that wood? What kind of stain did you use?" From 5 feet away he thought it was real wood that I had weathered and stained!!! I started laughing and told him that they were foam… Mission accomplished!*


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## H82GO55

SavageEye said:


> *Thanks H82GO55 (I tend to go faster than 55 too!). I had a neighbor come over and look at them and he was like, "How long did it take you to carve that wood? What kind of stain did you use?" From 5 feet away he thought it was real wood that I had weathered and stained!!! I started laughing and told him that they were foam… Mission accomplished!*


I like the way you shaved off the edges of the foam...I did a few of mine like that last week, but from looking at yours I could have taken a lot more off the edges. And as for 55, I always, always drive the posted speed limit


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## Bilbo

Add Content


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## mikeerdas

I'm pretty happy with how my foam boarded up windows looked. You lose detail in the dark so what I had was fine. I can see going through more elaborate construction for boards that will be viewed during the day--well worth the effort for those applications. But overboard, if you'll excuse the pun, for my own night-only purposes.


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## SavageEye

Here is a picture of one of my boarded up windows on Halloween…


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## mikeerdas

SavageEye said:


> Here is a picture of one of my boarded up windows on Halloween…
> 
> View attachment 142541


Nice work SavageEye.


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## SavageEye

Thanks Mikeerdas!


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## SmartisSexy

I have one box of laminate flooring that we never used and it isn't a match to what is in my house so it is basically throw away, I am wondering about using the planks for my windows next year ...


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## Bryan316

You can use the nylon strap method, and screw through the straps to the back sides of the flooring.


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## Retaliation

I made some last year that turned out pretty good. So I went ahead and made a few more this year with far more impressive results. I used a wood graining tool this time around.


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## Wolfbeard

exiled said:


> My windows...
> View attachment 134269


*Hey that same zombie was breaking the foam boards to get into my garage for our party too! He sure gets around really well for a zombie.* 









Eric


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## xPUMPKiNxKiNGx

Wow! Those look like genuine wood. I keep getting thrown off every time I look at them!


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## xPUMPKiNxKiNGx

SavageEye said:


> Here is a picture of one of my boarded up windows on Halloween…
> 
> View attachment 142541


Nice job SavageEye those turned out great! How did you get that wood grain look?


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## Kngtmre

Yeah those are awesome...someone should sell those...people would eat those up! Good job people!


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## SavageEye

Cloak_Dagger said:


> Nice job SavageEye those turned out great! How did you get that wood grain look?


Thanks for the compliment! We painted them a light color as the base and then used the dark color mixed with a glaze over the top. While the glaze was still wet we used a wood grain tool to create the grain. You can get the tool at Home Depot. Sometimes the grain didn't turn out right so we just repainted the glaze color and tried again. It is surprisingly simple! I believe there is a video embedded in this thread that we followed.


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## medicf43

Thanks for the how to i made one of these today


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## kylet

Great work!


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## Oak Lane Cemetery

Started mine tonight! Getting ready to post my progress.


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## Oak Lane Cemetery

Ok, put some serious hours in an got it done in two days lol. Here is my version of the boarded up windows. I did mine to look like really old, weathered and warped wood.


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## pumpkinpie

They are fantastic!!!! Love love love them!!!!


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## mamadada

Amazing. Share ur technique also please?!???!!


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## Oak Lane Cemetery

How I did them is shown here Mamadada - http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/128631-starting-my-boarded-up-windows.html


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## ptbounce

Jeeez. Some of you (okay, a lot of you) are waaaayyyyy too talented


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## 556boyer

That looks awesome. Now throw up an "ALIVE INSIDE" banner and you have a nice zombie theme going on!


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## SnowWolf

This is just too awesome!! Amazing job!!


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## hallowicked

I may need to try this in the near future.


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## Guest

simply awesome idea...thx for posting


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## Machiavellian

The wife and I thought we would try our hand at these boarded up windows. Seemed a little daunting at first but with the help of the forum for technique and critiquing each others work we came up with a result we are very happy with.
Here is a picture of the house 







and here are a few close ups





















The forum has been a great asset and thoroughly enjoy seeing everyone's props and ideas


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## Noalla

Thanks, love it will have to try making them with the teens hopefully this yr if not then it will be next.


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## MyKH3LL

I wish I saw this tutorial before I made my boards last year. The problem I faced was these insulation boards you all use are _stupidly _expensive in Australia - more than $20 for a 1200 x 600 sheet. So I had to use the flimsier, Styrofoam sheets that only cost a couple dollars each for the same size. Mine are 1200mm x 200mm, so I managed to get 3 boards per sheet of the foam.


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## Frankie's Girl

Hey, that is major impressive considering they're made from the super annoying white bead styro... they look amazing!!


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## Oak Lane Cemetery

Those came out great MyKH3LL. Well, my board pics are gone from here, but here is the Youtube tutorial I did...


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## MyKH3LL

Frankie's Girl said:


> Hey, that is major impressive considering they're made from the super annoying white bead styro... they look amazing!!


Thank you very much! You're right though, that stuff is annoying and I made an absolute mess of the yard haha.


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## MyKH3LL

Nightfisher said:


> Those came out great MyKH3LL. Well, my board pics are gone from here, but here is the Youtube tutorial I did...


Wow, yours look GREAT. I need to do some more knots and holes in mine this year, and tone down the brown for a more faded look like yours.


----------

