hon30critter richhotrain Something had to be wrong with the wall surface preparation to require 4 coats of paint. If properly primed and with quality paint, two coats should be sufficient. Rich, I'm a little bit perturbed that you would dismiss our painter's professionalism so quickly. His work ethic is incredible. He uses Benjamin Moore paints. He takes all of the wall plates and ceiling fixture plates down and then reinstalls them. He removes and rehangs all of the pictures and wall decorations. He fixes drywall problems at no extra cost. We have never found a single drop of stray paint. We have used his services many times and we will use him many more times again. FYI, he primed the bedroom twice. The previous colour was a hideous dark brown. Obviously we didn't have a clue about decorating when we did that, and there were problems with old wallpaper glue bleeding through the brown. It was his decision to do the four coats, and he did not charge for the additional paint required. The resulting colour is very rich. Cheers!! Dave
richhotrain Something had to be wrong with the wall surface preparation to require 4 coats of paint. If properly primed and with quality paint, two coats should be sufficient.
Rich, I'm a little bit perturbed that you would dismiss our painter's professionalism so quickly. His work ethic is incredible. He uses Benjamin Moore paints. He takes all of the wall plates and ceiling fixture plates down and then reinstalls them. He removes and rehangs all of the pictures and wall decorations. He fixes drywall problems at no extra cost. We have never found a single drop of stray paint. We have used his services many times and we will use him many more times again.
FYI, he primed the bedroom twice. The previous colour was a hideous dark brown. Obviously we didn't have a clue about decorating when we did that, and there were problems with old wallpaper glue bleeding through the brown. It was his decision to do the four coats, and he did not charge for the additional paint required. The resulting colour is very rich.
Cheers!!
Dave
Rich
Alton Junction
Douglas - Thanks! I always feel like I'm progressing at a snail's pace, but I have to admit this past month saw a lot of progress.
Dave - Two coats certainly will do it! If (as I expect) there are still some areas that could use a third coat, the official story will be that those areas are weathered and sun-bleached. Remember, these are the Q's exterior colors.
I meant to get the primer tinted when I bought it, but I just plain forgot. I've done that before (tinted the primer, that is) and it works great! But at this point it is what it is.
Rich - You're right in that wall prep is extremely important. My prep failure was in priming the wall white while planning to put on a dark color. Funny thing, though - the liquid primer had a distinctly grey cast to it. It turned white after drying.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
9 June 2020
The second and final wall coat was finished a few days ago. It didn't come out too bad:
I've started on the trim painting. There's enough done for me to see that it really subdues the lower flanges on the ceiling joists. They, and the wall supports, really receed into the background once painted.
Awesome photos, Mark. Damm, that looks good.
richhotrainAwesome photos, Mark. Damm, that looks good.
I agree!
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thanks, Rich and Dave!
11 June 2020
I got the first bits of ceiling trim up in the alcove:
It looks a lot better than the ragged edge of the sheetrock.
My wife's friend Lina is visiting from Spokane. Not being one to pass up an opportunity, I put her to right to work painting the ceiling joist flanges:
We're going to pick up the vinyl plank flooring in the next day or two and start laying it in the alcove, where essentially all the painting is finished. Layout time is getting closer!
I like the finished look of the trim and painted flanges. I'm not a big fan of the way drop ceilings look, so leaving the joists bare was a time and money saver, IMO.
If your wife happened to have a few sisters or more friends, you might be able to paint the entire ceiling black and those joists would disappear, also being on the backside of the bright lights would help.
Or like your mudder guy, maybe think about hiring a painter to spray the ceiling black before the floor goes in.
- Douglas
Thanks, Douglas!
18 June 2020
We've progressed to finished flooring! We picked up 50(!) boxes of vinyl plank flooring. Here the first two pieces have been "installed" on the subfloor:
We have a long way to go!
And here we've finished the first row, and are about to start on the second. This was June 12th.
Two days later and we've got about three feet installed along the wall, and the alcove is complete as well:
This was about five hours' work total. Then I discovered that my right knee had a huge blister on it from all the kneeling and moving around. Knee pads weren't quite cutting it. So I'm off flooring duty for a week or two.
But my wife and her friend Lina, visiting from Spokane, jumped right in! My wife was chomping at the bit to try her hand at this, so off they went (sorry for the slightly blurry picture):
These planks lock together on all four sides, so they're not easy to lay. It took a dozen or so planks for me to get the hang of it, and my wife is learning the same thing. Still, we're getting there!
Thank goodness for friends, especially those willing to lend a hand. I keep seeing progress, and doggedness, so that's good between the two of you, Mark.
You'll be back to cutting milled lumber in no time at all.
The flooring looks great Mark. I'm so glad to see that your wife is contributing so much, and having her friend pitch in too is fantastic!
You aren't exactly a spring chicken so I'm not surprised that your knees are sore and blistered. I'm glad that you have decided to give yourself some time off. The amount of work that you have put into the layout in just a few months is amazing. I think I have blisters on my brain from thinking about it!
Just remember to keep things fun. If you take a break you don't have to apologise to anyone!!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Thanks Dave... I think. {cluck cluck cluck}.
After a couple days off while my wife adding a few rows of flooring, my blistered knee healed enough that I can bend it without making the blister seep (that sounds gross, doesn't it?) and without pain in it. I found I could get down on my left knee to install flooring planks. It's harder than doing it on both knees (which is hard enough!), so I can do two to three rows per session, and maybe two sessions a day, with my wife doing a row or two a day as well. We're now around 40% done with the flooring.
Unfortunately, my wife's friend went back home to Spokane Monday morning. But before she left they finished the ceiling painting! (then I told her where her car keys were hidden )
Bear, the spare room is all made up and ready for you! Shall I expect you on Monday? Don't worry - I'm not a hard taskmaster. You'll get Sundays off, as long as you stay on schedule!
23 June 2020
Flooring work continues apace.
I wasn't sure how decent a job I could do getting the flooring around the tubular obstructions near the furnace, but I think they came out okay:
Here's the current progress:
Either tomorrow or Thursday we'll be finished with the flooring. Then it's just trim and baseboards (and a few more lights).
PruittI wasn't sure how decent a job I could do getting the flooring around the tubular obstructions near the furnace, but I think they came out okay:
I'd say they look pretty good!
I'm curious. What is the purpose of the short white pipe with the cap on that sits in the 'middle' of the floor? The position seems to be a PITA.
Thanks, Dave.
I've been wondering that same thing ever since we moved in. My best guess is that it's a toilet drain if ever a basement bathroom is added. It won't be while I'm here.
Crandell, I didn't mean to ignore you earlier. Yes, my wife's friend was a big help with all the joist painting.
25 June 2020
The flooring planks are all laid and the floor is completed. Just in time, too - my hips and thighs (to say nothing of my still-healing blistered right knee) are sore from all the kneeling, sliding along, rising, and repeating a jillion times...
Here's a photo:
This was the last corner finished:
Another of my wife's friends came over for lunch yesterday, with her husband and daughter. In short order he was helping me with a row of narrow planks adjacent to the wall by the furnace (not in these pohotos). The top surface of those planks is hard! To cut them you score the top surface with a utility knife, then snap the pieces apart much like styrene. Scoring lenghtwise sure dulls the blades fast.
Now it's just trim, baseboard, a couple more lights, and trains! Not necessarily in that order. (guess which will start in the next day or two! )
Indeed that pvc pipe is for a future drain - it's added before the slab is poured. Usual term would be it's "stubbed" for a drain such as a toilet or shower. The water supply would run thru the wall studs but the drainage must be at a low point.
Another use could to provide access to the main drain for clearing future with a snake
hon30critter Pruitt I wasn't sure how decent a job I could do getting the flooring around the tubular obstructions near the furnace, but I think they came out okay: I'd say they look pretty good! I'm curious. What is the purpose of the short white pipe with the cap on that sits in the 'middle' of the floor? The position seems to be a PITA. Dave
Pruitt I wasn't sure how decent a job I could do getting the flooring around the tubular obstructions near the furnace, but I think they came out okay:
We call them 'cleanouts' up here. I have several around the permiter of the house, but outside, to service the perimeter drainage. I see them inside houses these years for future considerations if they are connected to the dark water sewer (probably part of a future upgrade or revenue suite), or to inspect the main drainage and if necessary to run a clearance device down them to get rid of obstructions.
Erie Lackawanna in GeorgiaIndeed that pvc pipe is for a future drain - it's added before the slab is poured. Usual term would be it's "stubbed" for a drain such as a toilet or shower. The water supply would run thru the wall studs but the drainage must be at a low point.
Thanks Erie Lackawanna,
The house builders certainly could have done a better job than just leaving a pipe sticking up out of the floor. They could have installed a proper drain connector level with the floor with a screwed on plate to seal it, like this:
Oh well, I'll stop stirring the bucket.
Erie, Crandell, There are cleanouts near the floor on all the soil pipes. So at least getting a line snaked won't mean cutting off this cap and then sealing it back up.
Dave, I agree with you completely. But as we've been learning, everything in the house was done as cheaply as possible. Workmanship is generally adequate, but clearly the buildert cut every corner he could.
27 June 2020
Work on the layout has finally started!
The evening of June 25th I rounded up all the L-girders and legs for the Casper sections of the layout:
And yesterday I started modifying the legs fof the new layout. Casper sits a bit higher in this design than it was on the old layout, so I had to add extensions to the legs. Because the floor is not just bare concrete, I also need to use something a bit easier on it than just T-nuts and hex bolts. For the Casper sections, since I'll have to move them around a bit for a while, I decided to add casters to the bottom. Other sections will have furniture feet. Here's the first leg for the Casper sections modified and ready to go:
It's not much, I know, but it is a start!
And what a great start it is with so much of your nice work making the journey to a 'nuther life. It gets a lot more fun now....
PruittIt's not much, I know, but it is a start!
I continue to be amazed by your work pace! I predict that things will take shape quickly, as did the work on the layout room.
Thanks, Selector! I hope it gets more fun!
Exactly my reaction, JaBear!
Dave, I continue to be amazed that folks think I work fast. I feel like I move at a snail's pace.
30 June 2020
I'm continuing to do finish work on the train room, but mostly I've been - wait for it - working on the layout!
I got the Casper L-Girders reassembled:
And then set the Casper yard and engine servicing area into place:
You've probably noticed that there a few windows missing from the roundhouse. They came off during the move, but I have them all (I think) and will reinstall them when I can find my glue.
I reconnected the sections together end-to-end, then attached them to the L-Girders. Now I can start replacing the track at the section breaks. Here's what it looks likes right now at the break in the body tracks:
PruittDave, I continue to be amazed that folks think I work fast. I feel like I move at a snail's pace.
I'd say you hold a world speed record for snails!
I'm amazed that the roundhouse survived the move as well as it did! Every time I saw a picture of it sitting in the background I wondered if it would survive. With my luck I would have hit it with a 2x4 or a ladder and destroyed the whole thing!!
Your posts are very motivating Mark! Please keep it up.
Dave, I was sure I was going to step back at some point and turn the roundhouse back into a kit. The fact that it's mostly intact amazes me too!
3 July 2020
I just posted my latest construction update video:
Casper is (very) slowly coming back together.
I've restrung the DCC buss, but as you can see, track feeders are yet to be reconnected:
I use spade terminals for the buss wires to the barrier strips. All my supplies are in disarray, with a lot of stuff still in boxes, so after about five hours of searching I still couldn't find the terminals I needed. And the hardware stores don't have the right sizes, either. But I had some slightly oversize ring terminals that take #12 ga. wire (my buss size), so I laborious cut the sides of those down so they would fit the barrier strips. Then I found the spade terminals.
All that moving left particularly the engine terminal section outrageously dusty. You can see how bad it was in this shot of the roundhouse roof - the darker sections are the removeable roof sections that were in a box.
After running my mini-vac with a brush attachment over the glued-down roof sections (the light gray ones above), it looks much better:
So I ran the vacuum over the entire three sections of Casper. The amount of dust collected was amazing!
And today I built a set of shelves for my DCC system and attached it to one of the Casper yard L-Girders. No more setting the system on a paint can for me (that's where it was for over a year in New Jersey):
The other really fun thing I did today was spend hours and hours looking for the turnouts that span the split between the engine terminal and the classification yard. After not finding them anywhere, I had resigned myself to rebuilding them when, with a mix of relief and intense frustration at myself, I found them sitting on the layout right near where they need to be reinstalled! I dug out a box of turnouts a couple days ago and spread all the turnouts on the layout. I missed those two when I looked then. I'm going to start forgetting my own name soon, I swear!
PruittThen I found the spade terminals.
Bear, getting older sucks. The only thing worse is not getting older.
11 July 2020
I've got a bit of Casper up and running again. I was going to post a short video of the first loco in Casper (in Casper) running up and down the mainline, but it's pretty lame so I decided to spare everyone. EDIT: I changed my mind. The video's only 46 seconds long.
Other than the engine terminal I have all the feeders reconnected to the power buss under Casper, and now I'm splicing in track at the section joints.
That gap in the rails front of the loco at the end of the clip was at the yard section break. Here's the splice I installed after the clip was taken:
Doesn't look straight,does it? That's because it isn't painted yet. It's actually aligned pretty well. Here's proof:
I've got five tracks left to splice at this break. I've spliced the mainline at the engine terminal break, and reinstalled one of the two switches (didn't take long once I found it!). It was delicate work to fit the switch back into the trackwork, but it wasn't really hard. One more track splice and one more switch to go at that break.
Pruitt 11 July 2020 I've got a bit of Casper up and running again. I was going to post a short video of the first loco in Casper (in Casper) running up and down the mainline, but it's pretty lame so I decided to spare everyone. EDIT: I changed my mind. The video's only 46 seconds long.
I'm going to have to switch gears on the layout reassembly. I ran out of rail joiners! I got all but two of the classification tracks spliced, and the engine facility is still isolated.
I ordered several packs of joiners, but it will be a week to ten days before they arrive. One of the few downsides to living in boondocks USA - I have to order almost everything I need for the layout. No local hobby shop to visit. I sure miss Sattler's in Westmont right now!