Medina1128 There seems to be an aversion to my suggestion of removing walls. If or when you think about reselling the house, walls can be framed back in.
There seems to be an aversion to my suggestion of removing walls. If or when you think about reselling the house, walls can be framed back in.
This is true, although I wouldn't do any extensive modification, replacing a non bearing wall/ closets at a later date is a fairly simple job. Any elec/ closet lighting just needs to be backed off and capped on blank covered box for the time being.
CT really brings up some good points. Your future "family" plans could really torpedo many of this wishful thinking. You could end up in the garage anyway.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
I would agree with you. Personnally I would build a new closet in BR 3. Close off the door to the existing closet in BR 3. Tear out the remaining walls in BR 4. You now have 3 useable bedrooms plus a dedicated RR room. If you sell later the RR room can be converted to office, workout room or back to bedroom. Three BR 2 bath homes are very sellable. The only other issue is the large front window. Put blinds on it and close permanently so it looks OK from the outside. Then build an enclosure on the inside to cover the blinds. This could be built to be removable for future sale or if the window gets broken.
Having to remodel a house in order to sell it works fine, as long as the circumstances permit (e.g. you have money and are moving up, or you planned for it, etc.). However, lots of people end up moving to find work, etc. and funds to remodel a house before you sell it may not be available. Just something to think about.
I second the advise about using BR4 instead of 2 or 3 for the train room. Whether kids or guests, bathroom access is really important, and BR4 has less of it that 2 and 3. The jog at the entrance to BR4 is minor to deal with when considering how to run track across the doorway if you want that; otherwise it won't really matter.. The window at the front could be used for a seasonal display from the outside, perhaps even incorporating your trains.
Since there does not appear to be a basement, I'm going to assume this house is somewhere in the south (you mentioned moving up north in the future too). Depending on where in the south, a garage becomes completely uninhabitable in the summer months. You can dress warmly for an operating session in an unheated but insulated garage (and you can add a little heat relatively easily), but you cannot dress cool enough to be comfortable in a stifling garage, especially if a hot car is parked in the other half.
Andy
I would utilize bedrooms 3 & 4 and switch to N-Scale.
hey everyone. thanks for the advice on everything. I got the mr book designing and building multi-deck mr and there are a lot of good pointers in there too. I'm really torn between what bedroom. The misses wants the 4th room to be a little office room, But she alsoes the idea for the christmas scene. I do like room 4 because of the door and closet are on the same side wall and the door is off set a little. I am in the process of restoring and 300zx and once i finish it i can use the whole garage and leave room to park one car in there. I am located in florida but i can handle the heat. If i used foam board, it shouldn't compress and expand as bad in the heat. so its still a toss up. I can have a huge layout or and small one in the a/c???
The preference fromt he other half seems to make my idea a decent one - use bedroom 4 as an office, but take downt he closet doors and put your workbench there - then you won;t be 'hiding' from her while working on trains. And you cna easily cut a hole in the closet wall between the close in 3 and the closet in 4 to allow for a testtrack connection and/or staging fromt he layout, which would be in bedroom 3.
When it's time to sell and move, patch the hole (99% of the people who come look at the place will never even see it, inside a closet - I'm not talking a 2 foot square hole here, just needs to be enough to clear the trains) and rehang the closet doors. Layout? What layout?
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I completely agree. and like the idea alot. If i can get her to sign off on the hole part then there is a good chance that I would end up doing that. i am going to do some sweet talking and a nice back rub to try and get her to say ok with that. lol
The Mrs better be a sound sleeper. Putting a layout close to were she sleeps? Yikes!
Joe C