Wow, five units, I thought I was going big with two! 
I did notice that there were connections for two more units on the outside box. I guess if I get a wild idea of another space with individual heat, I could add another connection. The outside unit I have is good for 36,000 BTU of cooling, that's shared between the units.
What they did was put a junction box in the basement that will take five units. Then they run one line set from the box to the 42,000 BTU unit outside. After 40 years of hanging window units in and out it was time.
They are awesome units. We've had our Mitsubishi units for two years now and love them, extremely quiet and efficient. We have four head units, two on each floor and they work great. The tech had to run a vacuum pump for six hours to reach the proper amount of vacuum. It was a good and much needed break for him because it took them a day and a half to drill the holes through the red brick on the exterior of the house. Then they had to deal with the tops of the sill plates above the windows. And of all things it was 90 degrees that week. Burned up 2 masonry whole saws in the process!
Looking forward to seeing your progress on the layout!
Had a similar plan to add one of those units to my basement when we bought our house in 2016. It’s a walkout finished basement containing my woodworking shop, theatre room and an area for the train layout. It has no a/c and the only heat is a wood burning stove.
Decided to wait a year for my bank account to recover after buying the house. In the meantime, started to track how many days I would need a/c and heat with a digital thermometer that records history. Figured that info would help in buying an appropriate size unit.
Now going on three years and have had no days that I needed a/c. The heat is only justifiable during an average of 14 weeks. So far, on occasional fire in the wood burning stove or an electric space heater is all that is needed to make it comfortable. The highest recorded temp was 74 and the lowest was 59. Current temp is 68. Hard to justify the expense for a nice split unit so far. Besides, the wife likes the excuse to have an occasional fire while watching a movie on the projector.
We did buy a dehumidifier that I run occasionally during the humid Virginia summers. Highest recorded humidity so far has been 64 percent. Prior owners did a nice job of sealing the basement and adding a good layer of spray foam insulation in the walls.
My friend, the question is... when am i going to see track being installed LOL !
Also i have something for you.
Alex
Alex, track is next. My daughter threw a monkey wrench into my layout construction, she showed up with a couple of kids! We're making room for them, so in addition to doing the heat and A/C, we're also finishing the 3rd floor loft. Life occasionally intervenes when you're making other plans. 
jstraw124 posted:Now going on three years and have had no days that I needed a/c. The heat is only justifiable during an average of 14 weeks. So far, on occasional fire in the wood burning stove or an electric space heater is all that is needed to make it comfortable. The highest recorded temp was 74 and the lowest was 59. Current temp is 68.
My situation is a bit different. Since we were installing the loft climate control, the add-on to do the basement was less than if I were buying the whole system just for that area. Also, closing off the basement vents will allow the main system to better distribute even heat to the upstairs. I suspect that sometime in my future I'll be replacing the sliding door with something that holds the heat in better, that's in the future... 
gunrunnerjohn posted:Alex, track is next. My daughter threw a monkey wrench into my layout construction, she showed up with a couple of kids! We're making room for them, so in addition to doing the heat and A/C, we're also finishing the 3rd floor loft. Life occasionally intervenes when you're making other plans.
jstraw124 posted:Now going on three years and have had no days that I needed a/c. The heat is only justifiable during an average of 14 weeks. So far, on occasional fire in the wood burning stove or an electric space heater is all that is needed to make it comfortable. The highest recorded temp was 74 and the lowest was 59. Current temp is 68.My situation is a bit different. Since we were installing the loft climate control, the add-on to do the basement was less than if I were buying the whole system just for that area. Also, closing off the basement vents will allow the main system to better distribute even heat to the upstairs. I suspect that sometime in my future I'll be replacing the sliding door with something that holds the heat in better, that's in the future...
John I hear ya LOL , I’m just Breaking your Chops lol. I’ve been trying for the last two years, and I get get to first base.
Alex
Alex, my goal is to have track before you do, you had a space for the layout before me. 
John, Yes now I see life gets in the way of even your layout!! Well, I was working part-time for the last 7 months, but told the boss I was over my head with responsibilities and was leaving. He said, "Take care of your family first"!! Maybe he was thinking, "Why did we hire this old guy anyway"??
Us "old guys" are more reliable, that's why they want to hire us.
gunrunnerjohn posted:Us "old guys" are more reliable, that's why they want to hire us.
You can't beat experience, plain and simple. Most managers forget things like that. I myself often get the "are you sure about that" question from my boss. I can do stuff blindfolded while he and some others can get what it is when I show them.
Monkey wrenches always happen John, Alex & Mark. Maybe we should toss darts at the dart board and play those numbers in the lottery, lol.
Did the installation guys inquire the reason why you had a massive table in the basement?
Best of luck with bringing your daughter and grandkids under your wing. Perhaps there will be some train running time with gramps once things settle down.
gunrunnerjohn posted:Alex, track is next. My daughter threw a monkey wrench into my layout construction, she showed up with a couple of kids! We're making room for them, so in addition to doing the heat and A/C, we're also finishing the 3rd floor loft. Life occasionally intervenes when you're making other plans.
jstraw124 posted:Now going on three years and have had no days that I needed a/c. The heat is only justifiable during an average of 14 weeks. So far, on occasional fire in the wood burning stove or an electric space heater is all that is needed to make it comfortable. The highest recorded temp was 74 and the lowest was 59. Current temp is 68.My situation is a bit different. Since we were installing the loft climate control, the add-on to do the basement was less than if I were buying the whole system just for that area. Also, closing off the basement vents will allow the main system to better distribute even heat to the upstairs. I suspect that sometime in my future I'll be replacing the sliding door with something that holds the heat in better, that's in the future...
Be sure to check out the various methods of insulating that slider before deciding to replace. There are a lot of options.
Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:Us "old guys" are more reliable, that's why they want to hire us.
You can't beat experience, plain and simple. Most managers forget things like that. I myself often get the "are you sure about that" question from my boss. I can do stuff blindfolded while he and some others can get what it is when I show them.
Monkey wrenches always happen John, Alex & Mark. Maybe we should toss darts at the dart board and play those numbers in the lottery, lol.
John and Dave, That is exactly why they hired me. The trouble was the pace for tech support was too taxing for me. My blood pressure went up every day. If I hadn't already been on anti-anxiety medication, I probably wouldn't have lasted as long as I did. 
At least I can better appreciate what the person on the other end of the phone has to deal with when I call for tech support or customer service, now!
Mark Boyce posted:Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:Us "old guys" are more reliable, that's why they want to hire us.
You can't beat experience, plain and simple. Most managers forget things like that. I myself often get the "are you sure about that" question from my boss. I can do stuff blindfolded while he and some others can get what it is when I show them.
Monkey wrenches always happen John, Alex & Mark. Maybe we should toss darts at the dart board and play those numbers in the lottery, lol.
John and Dave, That is exactly why they hired me. The trouble was the pace for tech support was too taxing for me. My blood pressure went up every day. If I hadn't already been on anti-anxiety medication, I probably wouldn't have lasted as long as I did.
One of the guys who worked with me was in our CS. A nice short old guy who would have his ear to the phone and be understanding, concerned for the customer's needs, willing to do whatever was humanly possible, and communicate to the highest degree. They don't make guys like him anymore(or they're really hard to find nowadays). He was a lesson in excellence of job knowledge and implementation. That's why whenever I call up a place, I think of him on the other end and I am calm and rational.
JD2035RR posted:Did the installation guys inquire the reason why you had a massive table in the basement?
Best of luck with bringing your daughter and grandkids under your wing. Perhaps there will be some train running time with gramps once things settle down.
One of the installers was an avid train guy, so he knew right away what was up.
Richie C. posted:Be sure to check out the various methods of insulating that slider before deciding to replace. There are a lot of options.
Yep, I'll probably be considering perhaps French Doors, that would give me maximum access to the basement. That's all in the future, got to get things laying flat for the time being.
To add to the contractor/ train guy stories.
About 20 + years ago I was doing a big renovation of a large house on the north shore of Long Island. I met the GC there to go over the project. The house was nothing remarkable except for the NYC skyline views from the pool deck. As we got down to the basement I came across a closed door. I asked what was behind it and the contractor wasn't sure. We opened it and turned on the lights and a huge O gauge layout with all the bells and whistles was sitting there. My jaw hit the floor and before the job was done I had trains running on the layout and helped the non-train savvy new owner understand how it all worked. The layout could run 4 trains simultaneously with automatic block control. I wish I had taken some photos but we weren't carrying cameras around with us yet.
John- best of luck settling in your daughter and grand kids.
John, I too wish you well getting your daughter and grandchildren settled in!!!
John, In a total remodel 3 years ago i replaced an early `60's slider with French Doors. Went whole hog with internal adjustable blinds and external retractable screens. Now all of the drafts are gone and they look great. Just do it as soon as the checkbook allows.
John, any progress on the layout? Track? It's been a while since you posted.
Yep, been a while since I've been able to work on it. Lots of other things seem to be getting in the way.
Time marches on Gramps!
Don't I know it.
By way of the forum, I talked to Tom this week. I saw that he built model railroad benchwork, so started a conversation about benchwork. He liked the product I had chosen and I mentioned what a fantastic job GRJ had done with Mianne. LOL, if you are following this thread.
Well, it is in my house Keith. Tom was clearly the architect of great look to the benchwork. My contribution was putting the base together and being an eager assistant, learned a lot of new woodworking skills during this build.
Tom has shown some of his work and ideas here on the Forum of layouts he built from scratch. I think he really went far beyond on your’s, John, by showing how to make an existing rectangular base table better. I’m sure it was a great experience watching, assisting, and learning from Tom!
It was very illuminating Mark, Tom's a real artist with wood.
It's been quite a while since I had an update, finally started working on the track. Working on the table level track, finding out that the plan on paper doesn't always work exactly the same way when you have physical track.
Attachments
@gunrunnerjohn posted:...finding out that the plan on paper doesn't always work exactly the same way when you have physical track.
What? Say it ain't so haha what issues did you run into?
I've relied heavily on software. I hope I don't run into TOO many problems.
John, Now you know why there are 2 S turns in my layout to get the dang thing to fit without major surgery.
I’m glad you are getting some time at it, John!!
@gunrunnerjohn posted:finding out that the plan on paper doesn't always work exactly the same way when you have physical track.
Me too. 
Good to see you are finally getting started on laying track. Did you have to put the double slip switch right on the edge of the lift bridge? Seems like asking for trouble/more work. Or is that the part of the plan that didn’t quite work out?
@gunrunnerjohn posted:
Looks like a giant guitar.
Great use of the double slip switches John. They will provide immediate access of your yard to which ever right a way you choose. Without them, the service they perform would take quite a few additional turnouts, push back into the grade and require a much longer piece of real estate. Very efficient design, looking great!
Well this should be fun to vicariously enjoy if your epic table build is any indication. Your table is the lamborghini of train tables, so the actual layout should be something special.
How did I miss 23 pages of this thread? Great looking start. Will enjoy watching this one progress.
I like your precise carpentry John. Patient and thoughtful planning pays off for you.
Really looking terrific John, you are going to have a blast running trains on it.
