riogrande5761 Naturally they are in an inconvenient location.
My brother in law is an electrician, so I am hoping to save some money there. There are also two poles in that layout area.
York1 I'm too old to get a second wife or another house, so I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the small layout!
I'm too old to get a second wife or another house, so I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the small layout!
My ex's father remarried in his early 80's so there isn't necessarily a "too old" thing.
But it's sad or disappointing your wife won't let you have more space so you can enjoy your hobby. She sounds like quite the taskmaster.
Brammy Yeah, we need to do the expensive option. We also need to get the driveway done. It's second on the list for extremely expensive home repairs. It's why I said "10 years" becuse other more expensive stuff is higher on the list.
Yeah, we need to do the expensive option. We also need to get the driveway done. It's second on the list for extremely expensive home repairs. It's why I said "10 years" becuse other more expensive stuff is higher on the list.
We got some quotes to dig down and fix the seeps from out side. One guy came in and did a dog and pony show and it was looking like something waaaaaaaay out of our budget, especially for a townhome we only planned to live in 4 or 5 years. Guessing he was in the $15k price point. After about 10 minutes into his presentation, I interupted him and said I didn't think it was worth spending more time when this solution wasn't going to fit our budget. The guy got offended and left quickly and forgot his notebooks and materials and had to contact us later to retieve them. SMH.
We finally found an outfit that charged us $1550 for each of two seep areas, costing $3100 total. A good chunk of change but much cheaper than $15k or more! It required a small crew of guys to hand dig down about 8 feet each excavation in summer - quite the job.
Anyway, I get that to-do list! The house my wife found with a decent open basement (unfinished); the home was a bank owned home built in 2006 and it had been neglected and needed some rehab, mainly the kitchen, which is why som many probably walked away - but good for us. While it had been painted and new carpet throughout and looked pretty good cosmetically, the kitchen was in pretty poor shape. The builder applicances were still therer and on their last legs. The laminate counter tops were peeling and needed replaced. The disposal didn't work and the fauciet squirted water out the side. We knew the house was going to require some work so we did factor that in when buying it.
Here is a list of things holding back layout construction:
- New water heater.
- Radon mitigation system needed for basement.
- kitchen need total rehab (all new applicances including washer and dryer for the laundry room next to the kitchen), sanded and stained all cabinets, new granite counter tops to replace the peeling laminate ones, new sink, faucet and disposol.
- Front door threshold water damage, replace bad wood and install new front door and storm door.
- Master bath shower water damage in floor. Gut shower and jacuzzi tub to the studs and install new custom shower and new tub.
- Oh, did I tell you the basment is unfinished? Wife and I are finishing it ourselves except for the plumbing and electric. I didn't want to build a layout in an unfinished basement. As a bonus, all the stud wall were in before bought the home. Last Christmas day wife and I begain installing drywell, then taped and mudded and got the walls painted by early May. Have since installed all the suspended ceiling and are currently working on the bathroom. I did the drywall, mudding, cement board, sloped motar shower floor etc but my wife, bless her, installed the shower floor tile yesterday.
We hope to have the basement finished guessing late Sept or Oct. That means waiting 2 years from purchase to finally being able to start layout construction.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
CHARTER MEMBER OF THE MILWAUKEE FALLEN FLAG MODEL TRAIN CLUB . I COLLECT HO, N , O-3rail & On30 Trains & run them ! I Use KATO HO & N scale Track . I also Use Lionel Fast Track ! I change track layouts Often !
riogrande5761 It's goint to take 10 years to address the water seepage? I had a water seepage issue in my town home prior to moving which needed addressed. Dealing with it from the inside was only a short term solution. As a long-term solution, we found a contractor who who dug down to the bottom of the basement foundation and sealed the cracks in two places (two excavations) and included a membrane to cover over the cracks and block the seeps. We later sold the town home as we wanted to move into a stand-alone home with bigger basement and a yard but we left the townhome in better shape than it was when we moved in. Those seeps did delay construction of the layout in the basement room affected.
It's goint to take 10 years to address the water seepage? I had a water seepage issue in my town home prior to moving which needed addressed. Dealing with it from the inside was only a short term solution. As a long-term solution, we found a contractor who who dug down to the bottom of the basement foundation and sealed the cracks in two places (two excavations) and included a membrane to cover over the cracks and block the seeps. We later sold the town home as we wanted to move into a stand-alone home with bigger basement and a yard but we left the townhome in better shape than it was when we moved in.
Those seeps did delay construction of the layout in the basement room affected.
Also, the area I want to build the layout also has the circuit breakers, so I am thinking of moving that out of my way.
riogrande5761Ouch Only a corner of a small bedroom? Bummer! I'm in my second marriage and she made it a priority to find a house that had a decent sized space for a layout. It was a top priority on our house hunting check list.
York1 John
Mel,
You've got me by a year!
Let me add a couple of points.
I first saw N in 1973. I remember it well - I was TDY in Germany and stopped in the BX to get some shaving cream on the way to a swing shift duty. I saw an Atlas set of cars and was immediately taken with it. I skipped lunch a couple of days and bought the set - just cars, no loco. The guys thought I was nuts. It was a couple of years before I could swing some flex and a loco - a truely terrible Lima switcher, but I was launched into N Scale. It boils down to what grabs you.
David K. Smith said recently in another forum that we each have a home scale. Sometimes we have to explore a bit to find out which one that is.
I'm in HO now and will be to the end, but after a year and a half, I still feel that somethings wrong. Everything looks too big. I have room for thirty inch radius - the same as I used in N, but things look silly going around them. Let's not talk about buildings.
So, my advice is stay in N or go to HO, whichever scale you feel most comfortable in. It's all about having fun.
Good luck
Don
York1I chose N because my home's boss gave me only a corner of a small bedroom
Ouch Only a corner of a small bedroom? Bummer!
I'm in my second marriage and she made it a priority to find a house that had a decent sized space for a layout. It was a top priority on our house hunting check list.
BrammyI am about 10 years away from being able to build a layout in my basement. We need to address the water seepage first.
If room is not a concern, I don't see a problem.
I chose N because my home's boss gave me only a corner of a small bedroom.
I built an N layout in 1987-8, although my normal modeling was in HO. I had a spare bedroom and felt I could get more RR in a given space vs. HO, and of course that was true.
But then the real world hit me......While I could work quite well with HO, N was soon found to be a struggle. For me, I just couldn't work to my standards in N vs. HO. Of course aging eyesight made it worse too.
Today, at 75, with the help of all kinds of aids, I can still do pretty good with HO, but seriously doubt I could with N.
Anyway, I sold all the N, built a room filling HO layout that lasted to 2008, tore it down and built a new one - also in HO - ..........and I am happy MR!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I disposed of all my other N scale stuff in a violent purge
Violent?
to the Model Railroader forums. Your first few posts will be delayed by the moderators, but that will end soon enough. Please stick around and join into the discussions.
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I switched from N to HO in the 1990s because the new Proto-2000 freight cars were so beautiful. At least that is what pushed me over the edge, there were other considerations as well.
I have no regrets. I gave all my N scale stuff to a close friend that models the NORFOLK SOUTHERN in N scale. As far as I know, he has the only layout in existance that interchanges with the STRATTON AND GILLETTE.
I disposed of all my other N scale stuff in a violent purge, bought an HO scale diesel locomotive and never looked back.
If you ask any specific questions, I will be glad to let you know my experiences.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I switched from N to HO in the 1980's, mainly because the rolling stock I needed wasn't available in N. HO has some lovely stuff, especially during the past 15 or so years, but N has come a long way in the last 15 years too in terms of available rolling stock.
HO, of course, needs a lot more space if you want a model RR with a decent run, so that's a factor.
When I switched, I sold off some of the N scale stuff I had but kept a shoebox with an old Trix UP F7, UP caboose and 4 or 5 freight cars and a bunch of track including 5 turnouts. I've recently started to pick up some N scale rolling stock and have plans, at the prompting of my wife, to build a small N scale layout in the back basement room.
Declining health and problems with my fingers led me to switch a couple of years ago. I have regreted it from the first day.
I've seen wonderful railroads in HO, I don't hate the scale, but it's not what I wanted to do.
I will say that it has allowed me to stay active, where I probably would be out othe hobby at this point, but I miss my N Scale layout every day. For me, there's no going back, but think hard about this. I know people that are very happy with their move form N to HO, but think hard about it. If you're happy with the look and feel of N and you feel you can model in it, why change?
Hello everyone. I have been modeling in N Scale my entire adult life. I began with HO but took up N at 17. I am considering switching back to HO. If anyone else has made a similar change I would appreciate relevent thoughts. Thanks.