Building the "Perfect" Layout Room

[Hyperion]

So the railroad is moving me back to Texas again and I think we're going to end up doing a New Build for the house.  So I get to build the layout room however I want -- within reason. 

The room is still going to be a legal bedroom, so that come selling time, it can be 'turned into' a 'regular' room again.  That means both a window and a closet are a given, though the closet dimensions and entry (door/folding/sliding) can be changed.  And it's not a 100% custom home, I have some restrictions like where the entry door will be (in the 'southeast' corner).  But I can make it smaller/larger and I do get to do whatever I want as far as the overall finish of the room of course.

So if you had a blank slate room, what would you do?  We'll assume that the dimensions are stuck at 13x14 but you've got nothing but studs up, what would you do to make your 'dream' layout room?

I've already got 2 ideas:

1>  A dryer exhaust attachment at the baseboard for the spray booth exhaust, perhaps even inside the closet to maximize room space and my work desk will go inside the closet.  I figure this can be patched over fairly easy come move time, or if its in the closet it can just stay there and be an oddity for all future occupants

2>  No trim around the window (but finish the edge so it looks decent).  I'll have them cut the trim, just stick it in the attic so it can be attached come time to move.  This will allow me to easily mount shelving flush with the wall.

Any ideas on framing, maybe more or less studs?  Number of outlets or outlet locations?

[Zox]

One thought would be to make sure they use wood studs instead of metal to frame the room, so you can secure shelf brackets and such more easily.

[eric220]

Guessing that earthquakes aren't as big a deal in Texas as in California, but one of the real boons to my railroad has been the fact that one of the long walls in the room is a shear wall.  That means that the drywall is completely backed by plywood.  The point is the same as the cardboard panels that go on the back of cheap desks and bookcases.  If the structure encounters a shearing force, it prevents the structure from parallelogramming and collapsing.  As for the railroad, it means that I can drive a screw in anywhere I want.

The location of pipes actually lead to a fortuitous situation in my train room.  The plumber ran pipes in front of the studs in one wall, and initially, the contractor just ran a few horizontal 2x4's flat against the studs above and below the pipes to support the drywall.  I talked to him about my needs, and he added 2x4's to all of the studs forming a T cross-section.  The result is that all of the studs in that area are 3.5 inches wide.  It's like having L-girders in the wall!

To address your electrical question, I had a total of nine outlets installed (the room is roughly 12x36) on two 20-amp circuits.  The two layout boosters will be on separate circuits.  I also made sure that the distribution of outlets connected to each circuit made sense given the design of the layout.  I know that there's little to no chance of building up 40 amps on an N Scale layout, but it means that I can run the layout, my computer, and a few tools without having to worry.  The lights in the room are also on a dedicated circuit.

I like the idea of the dryer vent for a spray booth!  That is actually something that I wish I had done.  I've been contemplating how I can go back and retro-fit it one in.

Whatever you decide to do, I would highly recommend getting in there, taking measurements, and photographing the crap out of the space just before the drywall goes up.  That way, you'll know exactly where the pipes, wires, ducts, etc are.

[John]

make the closet big enough for a helix

[sirenwerks]

Pocket doors, rather than hinged entrance and accordion closet doors.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Make the window one of those polerized glass things that you can dial in the opacity.
Then you won't have to worry about shutter / blinds / curtains.

Put in the hardwood floors, but then cover them with the 2' square carpet tiles Tony Koester uses for his layout.  Easy on the feet, and if something spills you can put the one tile out to dry or, worse come to worse, replace only the one or two tiles instead of the whole carpet.

Plan on having a spur from your layout come into the closet right above your workbench for testing / programming / extra staging.

Make sure the door is a wide one (36" at least) to easily move benchwork / module pieces / heavy operators in & out.

The spray vent is a great idea.  But if it's in the closet, won't it go into the next bedroom?
THAT would be funny...

[ncbqguy]

As all my train stuff is packed up in anticipation of putting the house on the market I've been giving this subject much thought over the past year......

I had a full basement that I was starting to build an around-the-walls with a peninsula TT&TO operations layout with a capacity of upwards of 1500 cars.   We're planning on moving to Tennessee, where basements are rare so I'll probably end up with a "bonus room" over the garage for the railroad.

While I am a  proponent of shelf-style railroads as they maximize the running track/layout raito, I'm currently thinking of doing it on a free-standing layout on divider screens to free up the walls.   This eliminates problems with duckunders, window interference, and frees up the walls for bookshelfs, display cases, workbench, and room entry issues.

It may not be practical in a bedroom situation where the floor area pushes you to use the walls, but that is my thinking for my situation.

Charlie Vlk

[havingfuntoo]

If you are using a dryer vent keep in mind that if you intend to spray solvent paints the solvents will destroy the plastic vents, you will need to invest in metal ducting and fittings.

[inkaneer]

For those who are in the process of moving and/or selling a house, especially in this market, I send my condolences.  I just went through the process and I am in the final two weeks before the closing on our old house after which I will be free of it.  This house has been an albatross hanging from our necks for the three months since we moved out of it.  Our new digs are great.  Everything my wife and I need is on one floor.  We have an upstairs for my daughter's family when they visit as well as a large "extra" room for the grandkids to play in.  Got a basement too [50 x 31 feet] with a space of 30 X 20 feet for a layout.  However, the layout will be smaller as I want an island type with adequate walkways around it.  Also, the bigger the layout more maintenance is required.  I will have very broad curves, a minimum of 36", the bigger, the better.

[Bsklarski]

I agree with Sirenwerks. Pocket doors are the way to go if you can swing them pardon the pun. You might loose a few inches of length on the total of the room, but you gain all that space that you would have otherwise have to have kept clear for them to swing open.

Brian

[Hyperion]

I appreciate all the great ideas, guys.

Pocket doors  are nice, but while I gain a few inches away from the closet where the doors would open, I would think I'd lose some inches due to the need for the closet to be wider to hold the door... or make the opening smaller.  Or, the easier solution -- just take the accordion doors off the closet.  I won't have any reason to seal it off and I can just throw them back up come time to move.

Carpet-square covered hardwood would be nice, but the hardwood that is likely going in the rest of the house is $$$$$$.  I think I will consider just using carpet squares in there though.  The room is going to be entirely seperate from the rest of the house, so if the carpet differs slightly from that used in the other bedrooms, there'll be no noticing it at all.  I could just put the padded carpet squares right on the concrete (it's Texas, no wood subfloor).   Come time to move just carpet it 'correctly' or leave as is, as some people might prefer the squares.

A wider door would be nice, but the plan limits the width without significant plan alterations (door is framed by an exterior wall and a bathroom wall)  I will remember to tell them to use the widest door they can possibly fit though.

The spray vent will vent outside -- 3 of the 4 walls are exterior -- so no worries about spraying another room with fumes.   I will remember to note using all-metal on that fixture.

And a helix in the closet would be awesome.  But I think increasing the closet to the 40" or so it would require to fit a decent helix would significantly detract from the floor space of the room itself and hurt the future resaleability of the house.  It would also have the benefit of increasing the workspace in the closet by making it larger but, conversely, would also greatly limit that space by occupying much of it.  I would probably end up just putting stuff outside the closet that would otherwise fit inside it, occupying the same amount of space regardless.

For those who are in the process of moving and/or selling a house, especially in this market, I send my condolences.

The railroad takes very, very good care of us when we're asked to move.  Selling -- the hard part thesedays -- is a total non-issue.  And while buying a house is all on us (qualifying, deciding what we want to pay, etc), they cover all the costs associated with doing so, and while I was originally worried about getting a loan after all the stories I've heard, I'm finding absolutely no issue with banks once again qualifying me for WAY more money than I could possibly afford to pay with little-to-nothing as a down payment.

[DKS]

While the room is a layout room, you can close off the closet with a simple cloth curtain. Zero room space required to open it; zero floor space lost to any conventional door. When you're ready to move, you can pop in any old folding/bypass doors to suit. Would recommend against pocket doors; they're more complex/costly to build, not as space-economical as one might think, and they're a real bear to paint/finish.

[Denver Road Doug]

Some good suggestions!  Only things I can think of would be somewhat more specific than I think you might want to do, but here goes...
1.  Keep in mind the idea of an adjacent room staging yard.  This would simply be a matter of poking a hole through the drywall but that goes to making sure you know what is where before the drywall goes up.
2.  Think about recepticle placement in the ceiling with regards to doing track lighting, or otherwise how lighting is gonna be done.
3.  Consider mounting electrical outlets higher up on the wall.   You could always leave enough "service loop" to pull the outlets down if necessary later on during the remodel prior to sale. (not sure if that's permitted.   We do that with Cat5E in our building but electrical might be a diff story?)
4.  I would reiterate the "split circuits out" suggestion.  Lighting, Layout, and "Other" at a minimium.
5. Consider A/C vent/return placement.   So it's not blowing right down on top of a layout section and or interfering with lighting, if possible.
6. Carpet tiles seem like a great idea.  Consider staining the concrete underneath...pretty popular for resale and you could get by with less carpet tiles...only where traffic is, not layout.

I like the cloth curtain door idea and the dryer vent paint ventilation ideas the best.   

[inkaneer]

The railroad takes very, very good care of us when we're asked to move.  Selling -- the hard part thesedays -- is a total non-issue.  And while buying a house is all on us (qualifying, deciding what we want to pay, etc), they cover all the costs associated with doing so, and while I was originally worried about getting a loan after all the stories I've heard, I'm finding absolutely no issue with banks once again qualifying me for WAY more money than I could possibly afford to pay with little-to-nothing as a down payment.

Well, it seems we don't learn from our mistakes.  Banks lending more money [thanks to Fannie Mae and Freddic Mac] than what people could afford to pay is what got us into the current debacle with foreclosures and "underwater" mortgages.   

[nscalemike]

I agree that pocket doors are very beneficial in the right application.  They are time consuming to install, but if done right work just as well as a traditional door.  However, I would argue against them in a train room where you may be mounting shelf brackets to the wall.  There is little support to attach anything too, and if you forget you will put a screw through your nice new door.  Stick with Davids idea and hang a curtain or take the door of your choice off until you sell, keep the option of mounting benchwork right up to the opening.

Mike