Went down into the basement of the new house today to check out the future train room. We still haven't moved in and the current owner hasn't moved out yet, but we have access to the house. We have steadily been moving stuff that we can move in our cars from our current house into the new house.
This is the train room. From where I am standing to take this shot to the far wall is 46'. The distance between the left and right walls is just under 14'. The doorway leads to the other half of the basement. The stairs leading into the basement are to my immediate left.
From the far corner of the doorway to the far wall is just under 28'. The doorway is 36" wide. The plan for the layout space is to go along the left wall from the far edge of the doorway down to the back wall, wrap around to the right wall, and back this direction roughly even with the closer edge of the doorway or about 31'. That will leave me with about a 14' x 15' area from the doorway to the stairs to finish as a lounge/man cave area. This entire half of the basement will be finished from floor to rafters.
As an added bonus, I bought all the power tools in the photos from the owner of the house for $400. I picked up a mini scroll saw/sander with moto tool attachment, a band saw/sander, a floor drill press, and a table saw. I'm anxious to put them all to work on the layout.
Except for one corner here in the train room, the basement is dry. There is a downspout with below ground drain pipe at this corner of the house and I suspect the drain pipe is blocked or broke and this is from water seeping through the foundation from the downspout. Hopefully all it will take to fix is un-blocking the downspout drain or at the most digging the old drain pipe up and replacing it, then cleaning and treating the block from the inside. I don't know if maybe this was caused by an old problem that was fixed already or if it is current, so I'll clean it up first and check the downspout to see if it continues.
I'm wondering if I need to upgrade the electric panel. I would like to add at least two circuits dedicated to the train room, one for lighting and another for outlets, but this panel looks like there is no more room for circuits. I'm not much of an electrician, so maybe extra circuits can be added and all I have to do is get a new facing panel to accommodate more breakers. I may also have it moved to another part of the basement out of the train room.
I can't wait to get started on the prep work, and I plan on starting as soon as I move in. Getting the basement ready for the layout isn't going to be easy and it isn't going to be cheap, but I want to do it right and make it a great space for the layout.
Cheers
Jeff
This is the train room. From where I am standing to take this shot to the far wall is 46'. The distance between the left and right walls is just under 14'. The doorway leads to the other half of the basement. The stairs leading into the basement are to my immediate left.
From the far corner of the doorway to the far wall is just under 28'. The doorway is 36" wide. The plan for the layout space is to go along the left wall from the far edge of the doorway down to the back wall, wrap around to the right wall, and back this direction roughly even with the closer edge of the doorway or about 31'. That will leave me with about a 14' x 15' area from the doorway to the stairs to finish as a lounge/man cave area. This entire half of the basement will be finished from floor to rafters.
As an added bonus, I bought all the power tools in the photos from the owner of the house for $400. I picked up a mini scroll saw/sander with moto tool attachment, a band saw/sander, a floor drill press, and a table saw. I'm anxious to put them all to work on the layout.
Except for one corner here in the train room, the basement is dry. There is a downspout with below ground drain pipe at this corner of the house and I suspect the drain pipe is blocked or broke and this is from water seeping through the foundation from the downspout. Hopefully all it will take to fix is un-blocking the downspout drain or at the most digging the old drain pipe up and replacing it, then cleaning and treating the block from the inside. I don't know if maybe this was caused by an old problem that was fixed already or if it is current, so I'll clean it up first and check the downspout to see if it continues.
I'm wondering if I need to upgrade the electric panel. I would like to add at least two circuits dedicated to the train room, one for lighting and another for outlets, but this panel looks like there is no more room for circuits. I'm not much of an electrician, so maybe extra circuits can be added and all I have to do is get a new facing panel to accommodate more breakers. I may also have it moved to another part of the basement out of the train room.
I can't wait to get started on the prep work, and I plan on starting as soon as I move in. Getting the basement ready for the layout isn't going to be easy and it isn't going to be cheap, but I want to do it right and make it a great space for the layout.
Cheers
Jeff
Good thing there won't be any large repairs. I wish my floor joists ran the way yours do along the long walls. It's nice to see the space.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the paint that you used on your basement walls and on the floor?
ReplyDeleteWalls - UGL Drylock as a first coat on bare brick.
DeleteBehr Masonry, Stucco & Brick Paint Interior/Exterior Flat Latex, 5 Gallon Bucket (3 gallons used)
Sherman-Williams White Flat Latex for the wood parts of the basement, got it CHEAP when Sears Hardware closed up.
Floor - Behr 1 part Epoxy Concrete & Garage Floor Paint Slate Grey, 2 coats (more durable than the enamel version)
Rustoelum EpoxyShield Clear Gloss. I did 2/3rds of the floor with this product and it turned out incredible looking. The other 1/3of the floor I did after moving heavy things to the fished area. For some reason that section of epoxy clear coat did not set up properly and was dull and slightly tacky. Needless to say I have mixed emotions about the product.
Hope that helps.