Well, here we are in Central Florida looking for a house. One of the focus points is a room for the trains. After reading previous posts, I already know about the "climate" concerns.
This question (off the topic) for those of you who live in Florida (or the South). I have always lived in an apartment and was hoping someday to have a basement. Of, course, not in Florida. Aside from your trainroom, where do you set up an ordinary "work shop" - you know with tools and such. The garages seem to be soooooo hot! As always, many thanks.
Generally folks would put a shed, either somewhere against the house, which I don't like, or somewhere in the back of the yard, or along the side of the yard if you happen to have a lake or canal in the back.
Balidas: Thanks....This looks to be a REAL learning experience.
In California, but I actually converted a 6-6"' x 6'-6" closet for my workbench area, its tighter than I would like but its indoors where there is a/c.
Have fun with your trains
well i live in the tampa bay area of florida and not having a lot of room for a work place and not having a garage what i did was found an old roll top desk at a garage sale and proceded to fix it up as a work area for just my trains and stuff. i use the drawers for tools and supplies and paints and stuff and the writing top for a place to work on the trains and build structures and paint etc. it works out because if i am in the middle of a project and cant finish, its nice just to be able to close the roll top and leave it nice and neat looking till i come back to it. it sure saves a lot of screaming and hollering from the other side, if you know what i mean , and it gives me a place to keep all my" junk " in one place. try it it might work for you too.
vsmith and nomthever: Thanks for the posts.
My workshop is in the same 10 x 20-foot room as my around-the-walls layout. The layout is 45 inches high and 2 3/4 inches thick at most, giving me at least 41 1/4 inches clearance underneath. I fit a desk, a workbench, four bookcases, two chests of drawers, two cabinets, and two stacks of Elfa wire-basket drawers full of tools under the layout. The desk and workbench intrude about a foot into the open space in the middle.
Bob Nelson
"The garages seem to be soooooo hot! "
not all year round. i have most of my power tools in the garage and do any big cutting i need in there.
I live in SW Georgia and we have plenty of HOT days. While I do most repairs in the train room, the majority of my big tools are located in a attached garage. Still too hot most of the summer, but I limit what I do out there. Even with the heat, before 10am and after 8pm, I can do a lot in that same garage.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Finish the garage with insulation and wall board if block. Otherwise, if already finished put some insulation in the attic above the garage, get an insulated garage door. Many FL houses do not have insulation on the garage outside wall, garage attic or insulated garage doors.
Before you do anything get a Sawzall and cut out an area of the outside wall for your new AC unit (window shaker). A 100 dollar unit wont get it done, 300 more likely.
If you can afford, and cant get a detached space... Go for the 3 car garage and wall off 1 stall for you.
I'm a huge believer in insulation and I second the above post. In my opinion, you can't insulate enough.
Hey guys.....CAN'T thank you enough for your advice and input. Several days of "looking" really caused some concern. I'll keep reading and (after all is said and done) I'll post the results. Hope it won't be too long as I am excited about the move. Thanks, again.
Traindaddy.......the last foray down to Disney with the family had us renting an off site, new(er) house with a screened in pool and outdoor jacuzzi in a residential development. The renting owners had the house built with flexibility in mind. The attached 2+ car garage was insulated and was hooked up to the central a/c, turned into a game and exercise room with sealed floors. At the end of the day and on a relative basis, what is one more room to cool? Might have been a better, more economic idea to skip the central a/c and just go with a 15,000 btu sleeve unit, cooler air only when wanted. Don't know if the garage roof was framed or trussed; and I didn't see any peak or soffit venting or thermostatically controlled "attic" fan. Had a taller ceiling too, so the garage door apparatus wasn't obtrusive.
Jack.
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Being that was a new development, the roofs are trussed. Even cathedral ceilings are trussed. That's all I've ever seen down here.
Up here in the Northeast trusses probably did not come into vogue in new house construction until the 1990s.
Regarding using the garage for a layout. I recall a previous thread about finding room for a layout when available interior house space (and wives) become a stumbling block. One idea suggested suspendeding the layout by retractable cable from the ceiling of the garage so the layout could be lifted out of the way for the cars.
Chief commandeered his attic for his layout, finished it, and even dormered it I believe.
Second, I imagine the folks in FLA would be relative experts on how--beyond insulation and a/c--to keep the garages cooler, like roofing materials. Also, venting and fans.
Up here in the Northeast I had a whole house fan installed in the upstairs hallway ceiling. It is a louvered, variable-speed belt driven fan, blade diameter is 36". Evacuates a 2400 sq. ft. house about every 3 minutes according to the spec.
The fan draws air from the house which is drawing in outside air (through open windows of course) and pushes it into the attic. Peak and soffit vents provide the outlet for the hot air in the attic, so you can drop the Summer attic temperatures down appreciably below an expected 145 degrees +, closer to the ambient temperature.
Something like this might be used to keep the trussed area above the garage, and hence the garage, from becoming a blast furnace.
If you can afford it, buy a house with an extra bedroom or large walk-in closet and make that your train room. I do most of my work on my trains next to my computor, which is near the train room. Only a few repairs need to go outside to the garage area to be taken care of. If you can afford it and want to run engines with a smoke unit I recommend an exhaust fan that vents to the outside, for MTH engines.
I don't recommend an outside building as I have seen it get super hot down here in West Palm Beach FL area.
With a large layout I find that a dremel tool is very handy, helps clean wheels with a wire brush attachment, sands down uneven track with a sanding wheel for hard metals, even use the dremel tool for minor door hinge adjustments. Another handy tool is a battery powered screwdriver for installing track screws.
Lee F.
I live in Ocala Florida. I purchased a Handi-House shed for my automotive work. I installed 1/2" wafer board as inside walls to be able to hang my tools. Sometime about two years after setting up the shed I found a single edge razor blade that I'd stuck in a beam while working. Now there was no rust on the blade and there was no insulation amd the ceiling was just the open frame and aluminum. I decided to get another shed for my trains. It is 10 X 12 and this time I insulated the whole shed, walls,floors and ceiling. I installed a 5,000 BTU air conditioner and keep it at 77 degrees all year round. I have been using it for almost five years and have no rust or moisture problems. My elec bill is around $15.00 more a month. The trick is to keep the ac working all year round as what causes the problems is temperature changes which cause condensation.
Ed
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month