Anchoring Buildings

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

  My wife and I are just getting started in the hobby. We are in the process of purchasing track, preparing the site for the railroad etc. We have also begun purchasing and building some G-Scale buildings from Piko and Pola. One thing that came to mind the other day (during a storm) is that it is not uncommon in our area, seveal times a year, to have some thunderstorms roll through with wind gusts of 50mph or more.  Surely these winds have the possibility of taking any G-Scale building and depositing it in the next county. Our question is do most people anchor these buldings in some fashion?  If so how or what is the best method to accomplish this.

 

Thanks!

Dennis

[jhsimpson62]

Dennis, Yes the wind can blow over our buildings. I have used two methods to reduce the chance of this. My building are all build from wood (mostly from plans), at first I places a wooded leg in each corner extending 3 to 4 inches. I now glue a cornor block drilled out in which I glue a piece of 3/8" PVC tubing. In both cases I mark the legs, drive a 1/2" rebar a little deeper than the leg fill the hole with portland cement, flood with water and set the building in place. Seems to work well, we've recently had several storms and haven't lost a building yet. I changed to the PVC legs so I wouldn't have the cedar ones eventually rot off. Jack

[altterrain]

A lot of my buildings I mount to a piece of hardibacker tile board. I use 1/4 inch thick board, file the edges and give it a couple of coats of spray paint. Building can be attached with silicone or liquid nails. I have also heard of guys using concrete patio pads or big floor tiles (use porcelain ones if in a cold winter area).

Hardibacker is also the roof on this building.

-Brian 

[Anonymous]

A BIG and glade to have you here!

If you have any questions just ask us

Ole Toad

[Coogler Rail Line]

I have a assortment of Pola and Piko buildings that have been out for almost a year.  The only one I have had that toppled over was the brewery smoke stack and we have had a few thunder storms with wind gusts in the 50mph range.  The smoke stack is very tall with a somewhat small base. 

[emipapa]

Dennis

I don't know if it is the "BEST" way but what I do is get a FOIL 1/4 or 1/2 sheet cake PAN, criss cross wire coat hangers in it so they come through the sides and act as "RE" Bars and they are off the bottom about a 1/2".  I then use Pre-Mix cement and do a pour, when I do the pour I always do at least 2 of each size so I always have some "IN STOCK. After the cement is cured  I silicone the buildings down to the cement. I live near the ocean and we have normal winds up to 50 MPH and I haven't lost a building yet. One thing I almost forgot is I always  put a short piece of 3/4" pve pipe through the pan before the pour so I have a chase for wiring. I hope this is a help.

Good Luck, Ron

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tips !!  Looks Like I have a couple of options to think about now.

 

 

Dennis

[Independent Operator]

I've been using one of the methods that Brian mentioned, over the last four years.  I had an over abundance of patio round concrete pads.  I take a sledge hammer to them and use the pieces to glue my buildings and people to with Household Goop Glue (the purple tube).  I bury the pad jut below ground level and cover it with dirt or whatever I use in that particular part of my layout.  I've lived in this area since I got out of the service in the sixties and we just had the worst storm here a few weeks ago that I've ever seen here.  First thing I ran to after work was the backyard. None of my structures or people were bothered.  One neighbor lost part of his chimminey, others lost fences and many power lines went down.  Amazing how that goop holds it all to the concrete pads.  Only problem I have is when one of our dogs thinks my layout is his playpen and I don't know how to resolve that :)

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Mine have withstood 70+ MPH winds by being glued with common exterior construction adhesive to 1/2 inch thick hardy-board.   I use a masonry blade in a circular saw to cut the concrete board (nicer looking edge that way than the score and break method).   Also use clear silicone to reinforce joints in the Pola buildings as thier glue will eventually give way.

 I have a station and 3 platforms in a row mounted on 2 layers of hardy board (to make raised platform for passenger trains), and that installation has been out year round for 3.5 years.