Gluing Homasote to Plywood

We just used the beads of glue, screwed it down, the removed screws.once glue was dry. We do NOT have any issues with sound

Funny, I almost didn't want to open this thread thinking "here we go again, another thread explaining the right way to do something I just finished doing." lol. I am just now laying homasote on top of plywood so don't know about added sound deadening benefits. But I too used a roller more to ensure even glue distribution and theoretically, perfect flatness. Wouldn't want a lump right under the spot where I put a turnout, I was thinking.

I glued every square inch with a notched trowl. I wonder if I needed to attach it at all.

If I was to do it all over I would use a couple of screws through the homasote to keep it in place and that would be it. Screws through track and into the plywood underneath would cause vibration. Screws through the homosote alone still keep the track isolated from the plywood.

Thanks for the inputs. It's a lot of extra time and work and just wanted to see what folks were doing. I definitely screw it down to the plywood and then remove the screws when it's dried.

 

PBJ. I had to laugh reading your post. I understand.

 

Terry

I just stapled my Homasote to the plywood then nails for the Gargraves track.

I screwed my Homasote to the plywood with no issues. You don't need a ton of screws. I didn't notice any additional transmission of noise.

I always screw the homasote through the plywood and into the framing.  Why are you gluing it?  Are you thinking screwing it down makes it noisier?  I'm not sure that is the case.  I certainly never thought that.  Hmm...

I screwed the homosote to the plywood in each corner - added a few screws around the rest of the perimeter and on the cross braces.  Never glued homosote to plywood in any of my layouts.  

I used a carpet adhesive, I belive Henry's 547 from Home Depot, spread it with a notched trowel over the engire plywood surface.  Then screwed the homasote to the ply until it dried, then removed screws.  Works great.  I then use a spray adhesive (3M) for the cork roadbed and use pins to hold in place till dry.  From there I use small screws to screw the Atlas track into the roadbed and homasote.  The only sound I typicall get is the clickety clack from wheels of the cars.

 

I used deck screws, no glue works fine.

Screwing the Homasote to the plywood is fine. You just don't want to screw the track through the Homasote and into the plywood. That would create a noise transmission issue.

That's how I've always done it. An old credit card is a good tool for spreading your carpenter's glue.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the comments, details and pictures. It's great to learn from others and it's much appreciated by me! Thanks again, Terry

After you glue and screw the homasote board what do  you fill the holes after removing the screws from the homasote board?

 

Jo

Jo - I've never glued the homosote to the plywood base.  All I do is use sheet rock screws to hold it down - I never understood why some choose to glue it down.  I cannot tell a difference in sound/noise between glued and screwed homosote.  

 

Regards,

Paul

Don't glue!  I've read about more glue happy people on here!  Why would you glue it down?  If you need to make adjustments in the future, you've just made it very hard on your self.  Use small one inch screws!  Easy, fast, clean, easy to change!

I just used several beads of yellow carpenters wood glue between the plywood and homasote.    It has worked fine.  

 

Joe

I spread wood glue woth an old credit card, screw the Homasote down with drywall screws, allow it to dry and then remove the screws. There are no screws ever screwed down from the top of the layout. All screws are reachable from under the layout. You don't want to have hidden screws anywhere on bechwork: that's asking for problems down the road.

 

Bruce

 

We glued it down because we remove the screw after the glue has dried. Why would you need to move the homasote later? You don't move the plywood. You don't have to worry about running into the screw heads later when trying to attach something else to the layout.

 

There's no right or wrong way.....but many people do glue it down.   

 

John C is right.  Just screw it down.  When you redo the layout or move it is much easier to handle just the homosote without the added weight of the plywood.  45 years of experience has taught me a few things

The one advantage I've found by just screwing the homesote to the plywood is when adding structures with added details surrounding it. You can build a structure at the workbench on a plywood base. The homesote can be easily carved out with a utility knife to match the base and it can be dropped in place and sceniced to hide the edges. If you have a better idea or want to upgrade your structure it can easily be removed.

I've never used anything on top of the plywood. I really don't mind the noise. actually like the nsound of the trains running.

Thank you everyone for your input.  I have learned so much from this forum and have a lot more to learn.

 

Jo

 

 

3/4 IN POPLAR PLYWOOD-CORK BED-TRACK...Quiet enough.