Painting Homasote

Mike, you can paint it with any water based latex home paint. Preferably a flat finish.

It's totally up to you if you want to paint it. The Homasote doesn't care, and isn't dusty unless you are cutting it. All it is is old newsprint compressed into a board.

Exposed Homasote in a humid environment will absorb water from the atmosphere, which can cause it to swell. A coat of paint will impede this process. I'd recommend painting it. As Paul said, ordinary latex paint works fine. Be sure to paint the edges. 

I painted mine and had no problems. I recommend flat latex paint. Don't use gloss. 

I also painted my Homosote green.  It has been down over 32 years with no issues.  I use tinplate tubular track that is screwed to the Homosote.  In 32 years of very hard running, not one screw has ever backed out.

Did you guys paint it before or after the cuts, and did you paint one side or both ?  I would think only the top side would be painted since the top side of the plywood was already painted and the underside of Homasote wouldn't need it then. 

 

Mike

Homesite is the best sound barrier for Running our trains Quietly.  Yes, it is a good idea to paint it with a semi- gloss latex paint, green, gray,Your Choice. If you use a Really Fine Tooth Saber Saw Blade, (Jig saw), it's not quite as dusty. Like Marty said, when attaching your track, just screw into the Homesite.  I have 1/2 inch plywood, topped with Homesote, and 1/4 inch cork roadbed and this works Super Fine. Have Fun Building Your Dream Railroad.  (Be sure to level Your Track, Homesote can be uneven).

From my experience, buy LOTS of paint!!!!  It's like painting a sponge.

 

- walt

Indeed.  Mine has been down in place for better than a decade unpainted and I install scenery directly onto the Homasote. I guess if you have a humid room you would wnat to paint it, but then I think fixing the humid (moisture problem?) would be more pressing.

 

Cutting it with a knife blade in the saber saw works but is tedious - band saw works a lot faster and it's minimally messy.

All good info guys.  I love the track plan.  Great job.  What are the dimensions?  My friend Locolawyer is getting ready to do a layout and I know he would like what you have done.  I know I do.

I paint my homesote as I landscape it.  Brown for dirt and then add some dirt. Green for grassy areas, then sprinkle on some grass.  I like the texture of homasote and it ends up being painted all over anyway just with different colors . That way nothing shows through if some places are a little sparse with landscape material. And I always use flat paint.

I painted the homasote on my second layout. I did notice that the boards (4x8) tended to curl so had to add extra screws. On my last layout I still screwed down the homasote but I used grass mats on top. 

Joe

Several years ago there was an article in either OGR or Classic Toy Trains, I'm not sure which, wherein the author recommended painting only the edges of the Homasote with Latex paint in order to seal it and prevent it from absorbing moisture and warping.  I followed the advice while constructing an American Flyer layout and 11 years later it has stood the test of time in a non-climate controlled basement.  I used liquid nails to mate it with my plywood base and then covered the homasote with green indoor outdoor carpet and old American Flyer rubber roadbed.  Talk about silent running.

 

I used sound insulating board rather than Homasote, but the painting procedure should be the same. I primed both sides and the edges before cutting the board, then primed the cut edges after cutting. Then I installed the board on top of the plywood, and then I applied the color coat. Any inexpensive latex primer will do; I think I used Kilz water-base.  

Mike Miller,

I painted my Homosote with a flat Tan/Creamy color before starting to layout the tracks. This gave me a good clean base to landscape. As I went along it was easier to blend all the foilage, grass and so on. I am almost done and I do not see any Tan/Cream anymore.

 

I like the idea of painting just the edges. Maybe a few inches over the top edge too, but leaving the center to breath. If it's so moist it is always "full" of moisture you should address than for more reasons than Homasote alone.

 Now, I have no experience with homosote as a brand purchaser. But one of my Grandfathers had what I think was homasote on it. Over time, old, and abused around the edges, there is a dust that formed, and would be on the floor around the layout. 

 Any how I think a coat of paint would do wonders to keep it from happening and maybe firming the edges up some too.

Litegide24, 

 

My friend Marty Fitzhenry called me about your layout. The dimensions and track plan look great and look similar to something I would like to do. I am looking to do a layout close to 7 x 12 or 7 x 14.  Could you provide me with the layout dimensions and track plan. My email is erolg@optimum.net.

 

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

 

Erol Gurcan 

I paint both sides and all the edges of homasota to seal it from absorbing any moisture.  I also glue it down the plywood and have never had a problem with warping.

My Homosote has been down for a long time.  Glued and screwed.

"Mine has been down in place for better than a decade unpainted and I install scenery directly onto the Homasote. I guess if you have a humid room you would want to paint it, but then I think fixing the humid (moisture problem?) would be more pressing."

 

   Painting it for cosmetic reasons is about the only reason I can think of. I find small cut offs of homasote in my yard occasionally that have been out there for 20 years or more without and water damage. I've heard folks say their homasote swelled up but further examination found out they didn't have real homasote they had some other soft board material.  Latex or other common paint is not waterproof anyway so any benefits of painting would be only psychological. The only way to waterproof a wood or paper product is use a waterproof coating such as epoxy which would be overkill for a layout. As you say a room wet enough to hurt the layout would ruin the trains too so fix the moisture problem first. .....DaveB 

Folks,

   Homasote does move some with humidity changes.  A little more than plywood but not as much as dimensional lumber across the grain.  Painting it with latex will slow moisture transfer but not stop it.  If your layout is in a place that has extreme humidity swings (20% - 90% for example) using something like shellac that will actually seal it would be a better choice than paint.  Painting certainly does not harm it but is not really necessary unless you have the humidity extremes.  Painting or sealing the edges for dust control is a good idea.  I have found that not a lot of dust comes from the face of the material but the edges are rough and will shed dust easily.  As DaveB wrote, Homasote outside will stand up well.  It used to be used for exterior sheeting and is a surprisingly durable material in the weather given its' composition.  Many times Homasote gets blamed for problems with layouts when I think the bench work construction is the more likely culprit.

 

Steve Cox

Cascade Rail Supply

cascaderailsupply.com

Homosote glued and screwed does not move.  Installed over good benchwork it will go the distance.  My benchwork has glued and screwed Homosote and has been in place for over 32 years and is perfect.  No issues.  My basement was designed to be free of humidity and on the coldest day in the winter and the hottest day of summer, the temp is the same.  I have seen basements that have water on the floor year round.  I would not choose that area to build a layout in.

Marty,

  Everything moves.  Whether it moves enough to be noticeable or not is a different issue.  In your case, if your humidity changes are minimal then so will be the movement of your benchwork. Homasote glued and mechanically fastened will be constrained in its' movement but it will then move with its' substrate which I presume in this case is plywood.  You are absolutely correct in that the layout's location will be the single biggest factor in the stability of the bench work.  Not everyone has a temperature and humidity controlled basement.  I have customers with layouts in garages, attics, and garden sheds.  Personally, I would not choose to build my layout in some of those locations but it is what it is.  Going back to the original posters question, is it beneficial to paint Homasote?  For stability purposes it depends on a number of factors but the primary one is humidity. If your layout is in a place with large humidity changes then it will be helpful.  If not, then it really does not matter.

 

Steve Cox

Cascade Rail Supply

cascaderailsupply.com

I built my own home and did everything needed to create a perfect atmosphere.  It worked.  

I always used utility knives for straight cuts in Homasote (or homosote, homesite, homesote, homasota, etc.!) and lately to cut QuietBrace as well, and the knife cuts result in no dust whatsoever.

 

For curved and angle cuts, I use these knife-edge blades, Bosch T113A3, which can also be used for straight cuts. I bought three, T113A3 3-blade packs thinking that the blades would get dull quickly, but have only used two blades for my entire layout. They are easy to sharpen.

 

I used Homasote for over 30 years, some of which I painted, and never had any problems with the painted or with the unpainted boards. Ditto with the much cheaper QuietBrace.

 

Good luck!

 

Alex

Thanks guys for the good info as I'm in the process of laying homasote over the plywood on my layout now. Any recommendations for what to use to fill the gaps between the pieces or homasote and around the edges? I fear spackel may crack over time and not sure if the gaps are wide enough to caulk.

I cover the cracks with regular masking tape. Then, I paint over everything with flat brown latex paint. After drying, I paint it again and apply my first layer of scenery over the wet paint. Subsequent scenery layers are applied next using the standard white glue and water preceded by "wet water". This has worked extremely well and I've never had any issues with the tape coming loose in over 30 years.

I use caulk to fill the gaps between panels. 

 

This current layout I tried something different that I am going to incorporate on my next layout:

 

Seeing as I am modeling an urban-type industrial setting (think: brick buildings and train yards), I painted the homasote a flat off-black color. My reasoning was that most of my ground cover is going to be a cinder-based look, so if some of the ground cover gets scuffed, the paint underneath would help mute the scuff.

 

I was very pleasantly surprised at how good the homasote looked after I painted it, and that just spiking down track made it almost look "finished" and so much better than the gray color of the plain homasote.

 

I'm now a firm believer in painting the homasote before the track goes down.  After all, it's typically years before the scenery gets started!

I have used homasote for over 35 years on a 900 sq. ft. layout in a 1938 vintage basement, I do try to control the humidity and the heating unit for the house is located in the basement. I do not paint the homasote unless it is used in the scenery development, I have not had any problems with warping. I do not glue the homasote to the plywood base, I use 3/4 " wire brads to attach the homasote. This lets the homasote act as a true sound layer resulting in very little track and wheel noise and Gargraves track is attached with 1/2", #2 round head wood screws, the track screws do not will not come into contact with the plywood base.