I am using 1/4 in hardboard with the shiny side painted for my fascia. However there are some obvious seams between the separate panels. I am thinking of sheet rock joint compound which can be smoothed, sanded and painted to fill in the seams. Any one ever tried this? If so what were the results.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
Traditional drywall tape and mud worked for me. But lots of feathering.
Without the tape, I think it would eventually crack since hardboard does expand and contract some.
- Douglas
You could try caulk. Allows for expansion/contraction of the finished joint. Wipe smooth with damp sponge immediately after application. Not a completely invisible joint, but better than a gaping gap, especially when painted to match the rest of the fascia.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
Glue the ends together and sand them smooth.
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
I've always heard that best practice is to leave fascia removable.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
Oops. I read Fascia but thought Backdrop. But tape and mud would still hide the seems, if you really thought that was necessary for fascia.
1/4", huh? That's some significant board.
I would recommend reinforcing the joint before filling it. If the fascia is, say, 6", then the reinforcement should be at least 12" "long". Longer would be better. So, you get your 6" x 12" piece of board and make sure it will fit. Then you glue it on the inside. You use a couple of chunks of wood to spread the load of the multiple C-clamps that you will use.
One the glue is set, you can start filling the joint. The absolute best stuff will be Smith's Fill-it. It very expensive and very good. And the only stuff I would bother to use, because who wants to do it over again, later? Especially after you paint it to look good.
Ed
Ed, and the rest of the responders, thank you but I omitted one, as it turns out, important fact, the seams are where the various panels join in corners, either inside corners or outside corners. Caulking probably wont work. I thought of that but a couple of the seams are pretty wide, about 1/4" partway through. there are no two straight panels that butt up against each other.
As for the 1/4" board, yeah, it is serious, since I have a couple of fascia panels where I have installed a UTP panel and I want it to be strong enough to withstand the possiblity of constant plugging and unplugging of a cab throttle.
Bear, you could pre-make some "L" shaped blocks of wood, which would fit on the inside of the corner, fasten the fascia to the "corner block.
Where it's an outside joint on the fascia, you just need a piece of wood, like a 1"x1" block, on the inside of the fascia.
You could use maybe a #6 by 1/2" flathead screw to fasten the hardboard to the corner blocks.
Drill pilot holes first, and use a counter sink for the screw head, because in hardboard, the screw won't make it's own counter sink, like it does on soft wood.
Without drawing a picture, hopefully you understand.
Just a thought,
Mike.
My You Tube
I think I get you, Mike
I use have used lightweight spackle on my facia. Fill it with one pass. Let it dry. Sand with 220 grit. For the second pass it goes on thin and finish it with a damp putty knife. It is almost un noticible with a coat of eggshell latex paint. It is also flexible so you dont have to wotry about cracks. I would advoid joint compound as it might crack.
There is a right angle wooden molding, whose name escapes me, you could use on outside corners and 1/4 round you could use on inside corners, it is bulky though.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
You could also use metal brackets, from the hardware store, for corners, but you'd have to bolt the fascia board to the bracket.
Either way, the blocking, or the brackets would be hidden, behind the fascia, with only screw, or bolt heads showing.
Might I suggest - and I swear I am not making this up -- "paper-faced inner cove bullnose tape on" for the corners.
https://www.clarkdietrich.com/products/paper-faced-bullnose-corner-beads/paper-faced-inner-cove-tape-p2bi
Or the nail on version
https://www.clarkdietrich.com/products/paper-faced-bullnose-corner-beads/paper-faced-bullnose-nail-p1bn
Dave Nelson
I used 1/8" Masonite for the fascia, as the benchwork, including the front member, is 1"x4" pine, so plenty of room to solidly mount electrical toggles and plug-ins for a walkaround throttle...
Not much in the way of corners, either, and I'm not too concerned about the butt joints. Once the fascia is painted black, the joints shouldn't be noticeable. In the photo below, the upper fascia is a number of pieces spliced together with backing plates of the same material, a continuous piece about 50' long. The portion on the left and the far end will be unscrewed from the benchwork and temporarily fastened, using clamps, to the still-mounted upper fascia on the right side of the aisle, when I get around to re-doing the turnout controls on the lower left side of this area...
Wayne
the only problem with some of the suggestions, and I do appreciate them, is that the corners are not 90 degrees. Some are supposed to be but I doubt that they are all that close to 90 degrees, and a couple are NOT 90 degrees by design. I am goiong to try the dry wall mud and see what happens. And I am not concerned about any butt joints. 1/8 inch hardboard will bend, 1/4 inch will not, or at least not enough.
Seams in Masonite Wall PanelsI have a little different problem, but related. I am covering the insulated walls and ceiling in my 12x16 train shed with 4x8 sheets of 1/8" masonite stapled to the 2x4 studs of the shed.
I have very carefully keep the seams very tight, and used staples ever 6-8 inches down each side of a seam. So my seams are very well joined. The staples for the most part are 'recessed', although there are some bumps spots and flattened staples in spots where the staple didn't go recessed.
So now I am thinking about 'taping' the seams prior to painting the masonite. Drywall type taping doesn't sound to appealing, and its not like I am attempting to have a finished wall you find inside a home (i do hope to eventyally cover this masonite with paint and then a printed backdrop of some kind.
I was thinking of maybe a 2" wide adhesive tape of some kind, ....perhaps a really good duck tape or gorilla tape?? That would serve a double duty of hiding some of my 'imperfections', while subtlely 'hi-liting' my stud locations.(no photos at this moment)
Brian
My Layout Plan
Interesting new Plan Consideration
I use 1/8 in hardboard and buy the plastic joint covers designed for hardboard or paneling. They are like channeling that covers the joint. Don't know if they are available for 1/4 in too.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
dave H. what are you talking about? Do you have a link? are they flexible?
@railandsail...unfortunately when I did my bnech work I was not all that careful about corners. So, when the hardboard fascia has been attached any imperfections in the benchwork joints are magnified.
dehusman I use 1/8 in hardboard and buy the plastic joint covers designed for hardboard or paneling. They are like channeling that covers the joint. Don't know if they are available for 1/4 in too.
I assume you are talking about a plastic 'H-type' joint cover?They are too proud (not flush enough), and usually to short in width to mask the 1"-2" wide joint I wish to hide.
bearman @railandsail...unfortunately when I did my bnech work I was not all that careful about corners. So, when the hardboard fascia has been attached any imperfections in the benchwork joints are magnified.
I was real careful such that my vertical wall seams are almost perfectly mated.
My ceiling to wall joints are an unusual angle so molding will probably not be a viable solution. But here again I cut very good fit that can likely just be caulked in.
Wondering what adhesives (tape and caulk) are most suitable/compatible with Masonite??
BTW, I intend to glue a double layer of this tempered hardboard (Masonite) together to build the roadbed for my helix.
railandsail ...Wondering what adhesives (tape and caulk) are most suitable/compatible with Masonite??....
...Wondering what adhesives (tape and caulk) are most suitable/compatible with Masonite??....
I'd think that just about any tape would stick to Masonite, but how long it would hold is a different concern. While caulk does stick to things, I wouldn't consider it to be a very good adhesive, particularly for construction uses. Better choices would be yellow carpenter's glue, or LePage's PL Premium - I used the latter to splice my upper level fascia together into that 50' long section. C-clamps held things together until the PL cured. Another good choice would be contact cement, but be sure to follow the instructions on the can.
railandsail ....I intend to glue a double layer of this tempered hardboard (Masonite) together to build the roadbed for my helix.
....I intend to glue a double layer of this tempered hardboard (Masonite) together to build the roadbed for my helix.
Use spackle, the pink stuff that turns white when dry.
The only problem with putting tape over the joints with the staples is now you will have the opposite problem - the tape will stick out relative to the rest of the surface. It works with drywall tape because tehn you cover it with mud and feather it out so there isn't a bump just at the joint, it gradually bulges such that (with a good job) you don't realize it. If the visible parts will be covered with printed backdrops eventually, I don't know that I'd worry about it, especially if the full panel width gaps are pretty tight. The printed backdrops will cover any divots where the staples are. I'm not sure how well drywall mud will stick to masonite, compared to actual drywall, the masonite is very smooth. Perhaps if you rough up the masonite first. But not to go nuts and tape the joint then attempt to feather it all in, more along the lines of using some spackle like filling a hole in a wall left after removing a picture. Again, if it will end up covered by something anyway, it won't have to be perfect.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker...I'm not sure how well drywall mud will stick to masonite, compared to actual drywall, the masonite is very smooth. Perhaps if you rough up the masonite first.....
When I did the coved corners on my backdrop, I use sandpaper to scuff-up the Masonite on the face of the vertical edges, and the drywall mud sticks to it like....never mind.
It's been in place since the layout room was built, about 25 years, I'd guess, and no cracks or bulges whatsoever.
rrinker....if it will end up covered by something anyway, it won't have to be perfect.
Randy's right, no need to be concerned if you're later going to cover it anyway.
BTW, untreated masonite warps badly with humidity swings. For those who are expecting a smooth finish using masonite in an unconditioned space, the first humid summer will be an experience.
I have a stack of it (two full sheets cut into strips 4 feet long, less the 2 pieces I had installed on the old layout) standing in my unconditioned basement (it's finished, and has heat, but that just makes the low humidity in winter even worse - in summer with no dehumidifier it's rather damp) for almost 4 years now, and other than being a little bowed from standing on edge, it's not in the least bit warped.
rrinker I have a stack of it (two full sheets cut into strips 4 feet long, less the 2 pieces I had installed on the old layout) standing in my unconditioned basement (it's finished, and has heat, but that just makes the low humidity in winter even worse - in summer with no dehumidifier it's rather damp) for almost 4 years now, and other than being a little bowed from standing on edge, it's not in the least bit warped. --Randy
I think since its unattached and resting it has unrestricted freedom to move with the changes in humidity.
When its attached to the walls like a backdrop or sheething, the humidity caused mine to expand and contract differently than the substance it was attached to. Once I removed my untreated hardboard and primed it on both sides and all 4 edges, I was able to reinstall it without gaps and it never warped.
Per this spec sheet:
http://www.justtimberandpanels.info/Brochures%20in%20pdf/Masonite%20Standard_PDS.pdf
The humity expansion is 0.25% from 50 to 90% relative humidity. So an 8 foot long piece will expand by .24" if the humity goes from 50 to 90%. Not a whole lot.