Outdoor Buildings

[Anonymous]

I am starting an outdoor railroad and have a question about leaving buildings out all the time. In designing my new railroad, I set the buildings up where I wanted them on the layout, and left them out for several months. During that time they got rained on, bugs in them, etc. In all the magazine photos I see, all the building look really good. Should I be leaving buildings out or bring them in when not showing the railroad or running trains? I have also had a problem with the roofs warping. How do I prevent that? Thanks for any help.

Tom

[Anonymous]

Hi tom, I leave my buildings out for most of the year here in Chicago . They stay out for the winter and around early April i'll bring them in to clean them up and make any repairs if necessary . April around here also coinsides with the thunderstorm / hale season , so i'd rather have them in for the month or so till the weather around here settles down . My buildings are all eather Pico or Pola ,so they are made for outside use. As I leave them out year after year they are getting a natural weathering which I like. As far as warpage on the roofs I haven't had that problem yet . Are your buildings wood ? If so you might have to seal them inside and out . If the're plastic , then are you using a UV paint on them?

[whiterab]

I don't bring mine in except to reseal the wooden buildings every couple of years. The only problems I have had has been some glue failures on a couple of the plastic buildings. No problems at all with the wooden ones. They stand up well to the summer heat. Don't know about snow as it's kind of rare here.

On your roof warping, was this a wooden or a plastic building?

You d

[Anonymous]

I generally leave mine outside, mostly because they'd take up too much space inside. I don't have too much trouble with bugs taking up residence after I happened upon the simple solution of putting a couple moth balls in each building 2 or 3 times a year. I understand mice and other small critters don't like them much either.

The darned cat and a stray dog are another story...I have to fix about half of the town now.

I never had the problem with the roofs warping, but then my garden only gets the morning sun. BTW I have the cheapy Piko plastic "Wild West" buildings with the false fronts gabled to look more Eastern US

[Anonymous]

Thanks, guys. I have Piko and Pola plastic buildings. I have not UV protected the roofs, is there a preferable paint to do that with? I like the mothball idea for the critters, will give that a try. Out here in Oregon, my main problem is the rain, so I will have to make a good base for the buildings to keep the rain from getting them all dirty. Hate to sound really dumb on this, but what would be good for a base for the buildings? Or should I just set thm on some crushed stone or whatever? Thanks again.

[kstrong]

Crushed stone will work well for a base, but you can use vegetation around it as well--anything to minimize the dirt which splashes back up on the buildings.

The roofs on the Pola kits are UV stable, but any exterior grade paint will work very well. I just use artists' acrylics--the cheap bottles you get at craft stores.

A trick for cleaning the buildings--get a garden sprayer--the kind used to apply pesticides and such. The fine spray head is great for rinsing down buildings.

Later,

K

[Capt Bob Johnson]

I like cement board (as used behind tile in showers) as a building base. I prefer the brand "Hardiboard" but others will work. The 1/2 inch thick stuff gives nice weight to the buildings so they won't blow away. My station & waiting platforms are glued down to it using exterior construction adheasive, and they withstood an 80 MPH wind the other morning!

The station is the only building so far that stays out all year round. Most of the others go into the garage November to mid April. Station on 2nd winter out and not yet showing signs of distress!

[Anonymous]

Thank you guys. Appreciate the help. I will take a look at the Hardiboard for the base of the building, and from the pictures I have seen in Garden Railways, I can use the crushed stone around that. Thanks again.

Tom

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Capt Bob Johnson

I like cement board (as used behind tile in showers) as a building base. I prefer the brand "Hardiboard" but others will work. The 1/2 inch thick stuff gives nice weight to the buildings so they won't blow away. My station & waiting platforms are glued down to it using exterior construction adheasive, and they withstood an 80 MPH wind the other morning!

The station is the only building so far that stays out all year round. Most of the others go into the garage November to mid April. Station on 2nd winter out and not yet showing signs of distress!

Capt Bob, I had the same idea about making buildings using the cement-type board. I too have had some really strong winds. You must be refereing too this past weekend!! WOW!!! I lost one shingle and three more were getting ready to fly off my garage. Had to climb upp on the roof Sunday (still pretty windy) and nail them back down. I live in Centreville Maryland (Eastern Shore) not too far from Deleware.

dan

[Tom The Brat]

A guy I know leaves his pola buildings out all year. For winter, he puts his cars and other accessories inside the buildings. He keeps the trains indoors.