Homasote

Why take them out? I used flathead wood screws, left them in place, and just painted over them. If you must take them out, I suppose any brand of wood filler would do.

I fill holes in the homosote on my layout with dry wall mud. I rough sand it and paint over it with my base color.  It does a good job, especially if additional landscaping (turf, grass, etc) is going over it.

EDIT: I agree with Vern. I left all my screws in the homosote. My comment was directed to holes in general.  I know others feel strongly about removing the screws, but I’ve never done so.

I left the screws.  My layout running is fairly quiet, I think I obsessed about it way too much at the front end.   The homostote does wonders.   Just paint over the heads, or take out the screw and fill them with anything plaster-like, it won't matter enough for any ears to hear.   The ground cover hides everything, back then I had no clue how much ground cover "stuff" ends up on top and screw heads and tiny holes are never to be seen again.  

@360RPM posted:

I have just finished gluing and then screwing the homosote to the plywood. When I remove the screws after the glue has dried,what do I fill the holes from the screws with?

The Homasote on my layout s only under the track as road bed. I backed the screw out and never worried about the holes since track and ballast were going over them.

Why back them out?  Get under your layout and scrape your head/back with a few protruding screw tips and you'll know why. 

@mwb posted:

The Homasote on my layout s only under the track as road bed. I backed the screw out and never worried about the holes since track and ballast were going over them.

Why back them out?  Get under your layout and scrape your head/back with a few protruding screw tips and you'll know why.

Then the screws you used were too long.

@Yellowstone Special posted:

Then the screws you used were too long.

Thanks......never could have figured that w/o your help.

I screwed the Homasote down with 3/4" screws that were recessed flush, then used flooring fill to cover all the heads.  They didn't protrude out of the bottom, and I didn't glue or remove them.

Yes, the added screws also got filled.

A little dab of latex caulk works fine also. I like to remove the screws so they do not transfer sound into the plywood, so they do not stick through the underside of the table, and, I like to reuse them instead of buying more screws for the next section.

Yes, I am kind of cheap.

John: Nice, but where’s the scenery after all this time?

And mwb: Measure twice, screw once.

Is it possible to lay the homasote directly on the benchwork with the plywood underneath?

@Phoebe Snow Route posted:

Is it possible to lay the homasote directly on the benchwork with the plywood underneath?

That's exactly what I did.

New Train Room Finally Getting A Layout!

@Phoebe Snow Route posted:

Is it possible to lay the homasote directly on the benchwork with the plywood underneath?

Well, if you don't lay the Homosote on something like plywood, it will sag between all the supports. Homosote is NOT very strong.

@Phoebe Snow Route posted:

Is it possible to lay the homasote directly on the benchwork with the plywood underneath?

Not being sarcastic but how else would you do it?

At over $40 a sheet, and with me needing 9 sheets to cover the sandiply, I bailed on the idea of covering the whole layout.  I'm just going to use it where the track will go.  Not ideal, but I've got to watch the balance sheet.

@Frank Mulligan posted:

At over $40 a sheet, and with me needing 9 sheets to cover the sandiply, I bailed on the idea of covering the whole layout.  I'm just going to use it where the track will go.  Not ideal, but I've got to watch the balance sheet.

It boggles my mind where prices have gone, in 2019 I bought Homasote at Home Depot for $14 for a 4x8 sheet!  My Baltic Birch 1/2" 11-ply was $23 for a 5 x 5 sheet.  Nowadays, those prices have tripled!

In the 1970s / 1980s I built a big(ish) layout in my attic which was poorly heated and insulated and not cooled.  I used 2x4 frame and homasote top.  At this time, I read about homasote in “Model Railroad magazine or something (there were no forums), but I did not know about the recommendation to mount the Homasote on plywood.  So I screwed the Homasote directly to the frame of the bench (I don’t think I glued it.) The frame was robust and there were a lot of cross pieces.    It was perfect for decades.  Subject to extreme of heat and humidity.  Never warped and looked like new until the layout was taken down.

I painted both sides.  Perhaps I limited the amount of moisture the Homasote could absorb, therby reducing warping.  I don’t know why it worked so well.  I wonder if “thou shalt use plywood” is true or is an “old model railroader tale”, passed down over decades.  I’m about to build a layout so wondering what to do.

I am concerned also about the cost of the whole layout.  I am a senior not keen on moving 4 x 8 sheets of anything.  Homasote is easily dented and broken in handling.  If I have a store deliver, I’m concerned that it will arrive all banged up.

I have built several layouts (latest is 5x10) over the years using Homasote without plywood underneath. My framework is 1x4's with cross pieces 16" on center. Never had an issue of warping or sinking between the supports But, of course,  none of the Homasote on my layout overhangs the framework which could lead to droop if there wasn't a stiff underlayment. And, of course, I don't crawl up on the layout!

Speaking of painting Homasote, it is necessary to paint both sides ?  Mine will be installed over 1/2” plywood and after one year in this new basement my humidity seems to stay between 30-55%.

TY

Rich

I've seen Homasote on a couple of layouts with sagging, so I know it can happen.  I didn't paint the bottom of the Homasote as it was on the plywood, and it's a climate controlled area.

Initially, my first time using Homasote, I had trouble with warping as can be seen in the first 3 photos. Our Club is in a large building with no A/C, no humidity controls. I had only painted one-side.  To correct, I did paint the other side and edges and glued down and put weights on top while glue dried (did not use screws or nails), and haven't had a problem since. The last 2 photos show the installed Homasote. Hope this might be helpful. Mike

PS: I almost had a heart attack when I came in after painting and saw the warping, as getting the panels to the Club, and placing on the table and painting by myself was a chore.   Fortunately the end result worked. Should also note our trains are not true scale, but rather focused on operating and playing.

One of the finest home layouts I've seen used Homasote cut to follow the tubular style Standard Gauge tracks with some margin extending beyond the crossties, with the sides tapered to 45 degrees, and then painted dark grey (like ballast). Quiet with a semi-realistic profile. The owner hired a professional carpenter to build it in his full-height "attic" above a three-stall garage, so there was plenty of space up there for his impressive empire.  Although minimally scenicked, the trackwork and trains "stole the show."

Mike Mottler    LCCA 12394

@Mike West posted:

PS: I almost had a heart attack when I came in after painting and saw the warping, as getting the panels to the Club, and placing on the table and painting by myself was a chore.   Fortunately the end result worked. Should also note our trains are not true scale, but rather focused on operating and playing.

FWIW, I screwed it down with a ton of screws BEFORE I painted it, and I had none of the curling.  It will indeed curl if you paint it unsupported.

Gunrunnerjohn. Lesson learned. Also, thanks for the help and guidance you have provided over the years, and I always have loved your quote, "Nothing is as easy as the job you imagine someone else doing!". Best. Mike

Mike, I always liked this quote.

Good judgment comes from experience, and most experience comes from bad judgment!

I used homostoe on the layout I built in 1995 and it was screwed and painted and when I took that layout apart and moved in 2017 I used the same homasote on my current layout and screwed and painted it again and I have had no issues and several pieces of the homasote on my current layout have seen the second use and are 20 years old and still no issues. Like GRJ stated screwing it down is key to prevent warping.

i don't think I ever lived in a town where Homosote was sold.  Even today, I asked around and the common answer was "What?".  But, is unfaced cellulite sheeting the same thing, used for sound deadening in walls and floors?  It is over $40 a sheet too.  I have used a brand of plastic faced foam insulation that has give to it, not hard like foam board, stiffer than foam rubber, but still can be compressed between your fingers.  I bought a couple sheets a few years ago, and nobody has stocked it since.  I did use ceiling tiles years ago, the 2X4 foot kind, 1/2 inch think, some kind of fibrous brown material.  you put the color side down and it worked pretty good for HO.  You could also get the broken ones in the store at a discount or free if you ask the right person.

Gunrunnerjohn. I like that quote also. Thanks for sharing. Mike