Lighting for Layout?

[Russ Bellinis]

Gary, I think my contractor quoted me $100.00 per solar tube to install it including the cost of the tubes, but we were on a budget and passed on the solar tubes to economise a bit. I'm not sure how well they light up at night with the bulbs. The first time I heard of them was when I visited a friend's recently remodeled home and they had installed a solar tube in the master bath. During the day the light was like daylight in there! I kept wanting to shut off the light because it looked like someone left the lights on in the bathroom!

Another thing to look into is low energy florescent lighting. Check with you power company. They can give you the model numbers for the low power florescents. The church I belong to recently converted to the low power florescents. The tubes are 4 feet long as before, but about 1/2 the diameter as the previous tubes and I would estimate that they put out about 1/3 more light. These are instant on lighting and the ballasts are smaller than the old lighting. If I remember correctly, the price was under 30.00 ($23.00 is the number that comes to mind) per fixture. You might be able to get a deal or rebate from your electric power company for installing them.

About your windows or lack thereof, check local building codes. Most building codes require a certain square footage of windows for any construction, but they don't specify where the windows need to be. You could put windows that are only 1 foot high around the wall at the top to get the required square footage without restricting your backdrop. Also skylights are usually considered to qualify as part of the square footage requirement for windows. The last thing that comes to mind is an emergency exit. The local building code may require you to have a second exit from your building in case of fire so that no one gets trapped inside. A window that is big enough to allow someone to get out may be ok, but if you don't want a window to disrupt your back drop, you may prefer a second door. The layout section in front of the door could be made to be easily removed, with the door knob just below benchwork level. If there was a fire and you needed to get out, removing the section of layout and opening the door should be easily accomplished. You could paint your back drop on the inside of the door, so that the door would not even be obvious.

[Gary S]

Russ:

$100 each for installation of the solartubes doesn't sound so bad. Also, they don't look like they are that difficult to install as a DYI project. I couldn't really find a price online for them though. The companies wanted to "hook me up" with a contractor to do the install.

I live in an unincorporated area and there are no municipal inspections or codes that I will have to go by. The state does have an electrical licensing law, but again, the inspections are left up to the municipalities, and since I am "in the county" as they say, no inspection for that either. Not to worry on that one though, I spent the first 18 years of my working life as an electrician, so it will be done right.

As for windows and another door, again, no codes or inspections. Besides, this is just a backyard storage shed! If I only have one door, I guess it will be no more dangerous than a basement with only one set of stairs and no windows. Hmmm.... maybe this is an aboveground basement? On a serious note, it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of small fire extinguishers in strategic locations just in case.

I had originally intended to use the "glider" windows in the 15" by 24" size. But with the layout height of 54" and with the eave overhang/drop-down requiring the windows to be at least 14" below the ceiling, I would only have a 13" backdrop under the windows. I guess that isn't too bad if it is only in a few places. So on that note, I still may put in a few windows.

Most new fixtures these days are going to be the T8 lamps instead of the T12 lamps. I have read that the T8s use less energy but produce more light than the T12s because of advances in the phosphorous coatings.

Thanks for all your comments. I appreciate them and welcome any constructive criticism if anyone sees anything else I need to think about. I can't guarantee I will take the advice, but at least I will have been aware of the issues when making my decisions.

Thanks again,
Gary

[Gary S]

Wayne:

Re: Coved Corners - Great idea on how to do that. I understand your explanation completely and it sounds very simple. I can definitely do that. The pictures were worth a thousand words too.

Like I mentioned, the only issue would be the two corners where my existing shelves will go. GERN is nestled into a square corner, so I would have to make some modifications of the structures. Alternatively, I could slide the shelf down the wall a bit to leave some room for the cove, and then add on to the GERN structures to fill in. The other shelf I will be using has an industrial spur reaching into the square corner, with no structure as of yet. I could easily trim the spur back and make the cove, then design the structure to fit into the curved corner.

I am planning on putting the sheetrock in vertically as you mentioned. That is typically what they do in commercial buildings around here. Not sure why they usually go horizontal in residential construction. By placing the sheets on the vertical, the taping and floating is done on the edges which have the taper so you end up with a nice joint that doesn't bend out from the wall. But with the horizontal, you have to contend with the non-tapered ends every 8 feet (depending on size of sheetrock). Most of the commercial buildings I ever worked on had a smooth finish for the paint, whereas residential typically has a heavier texture which hides the imperfections better. Of course, I'll be going with the smooth finish on the walls. Ceiling will be textured.

I've changed my mind about trying to allow for the future usage of the building. I mean, this is MY trainroom! Like you mention, a future owner can just make whatever changes they deem necessary without me having tried to guess what they wanted. I still may put in a couple of small windows up high in case I ever need to have some ventilation, for instance if I am painting or such and need some airflow.

As for wood, it is definitely getting harder and harder to find straight lumber. Seems they rush the stuff to market without proper drying as you mention. For the studs, I have been getting premium grade whitewood, and have been being choosy when I am getting the boards. I look at every one individually and only take the straight ones. The whitewood tends to stay straighter than the southern pine which is plentiful down here. Now, for the 2x6s, pretty much all they have is pine, but again, I took my time and picked through them to get only the straight ones (well, the straight ENOUGH ones). I am sure the employees don't appreciate me picking through the boards, but oh well. Plus, I am getting the boards from three different HDs so I am not wearing out my welcome! I do try to keep their piles neat and orderly instead of making a wreck out of them.

So far, in 5 trips with the short wheelbase pickup, I have gathered up:

50 - 2x6x14 for the rafters
30 - 2x6x10 for the joists (need more)
110 - 2x4 studs (may need a few more)
10 - 2x4x12 treated for the bottom plates
10 - 2x4x12 for the top plates

The 14 footers stuck out pretty far in the short bed! I put the tailgate down, so the overall length is about eith feet, leaving 6 feet hanging out the back. I tied them down good, and didn't have any problems. Yes, I could have had HD deliver the entire lumber order, but then I wouldn't get the chance to pick through them for the straight ones.

Hopefully they won't warp too bad over the next few weeks as they sit in my garage. I will "crown" the boards, which is taking a string from one end to the other to detect if the board is curved along the 4" or 6" side, then any crown will be placed up so that the weight will help pull it back straight.

I already have 6 - 2x12x16 that I will be using for the ridgeline and other structural purposes, plus a bunch of 2x4x16s that will be used for the second layer on the top plate and other misc bracing.

If it isn't raining tomorrow, I may do some layout on the bottom plates and drill them to fit over the anchor bolts.

Thanks again for all the advice. Keep it coming if you can think of anything else as I go along. Also, loved the photos of your layout construction!

Gary

[Russ Bellinis]

Gary, I don't know how tight you will be for space, but one solution for your "Gern corner" would be to move the benchwork out from the wall slightly and put a curve section in the corner behind the buildings to allow for the cove behind the Gern complex. You could then taper the back of the benchwork back to the wall gradually on both ends of the Gern industry and have room to put in your cove.

[doctorwayne]

As long as the actual curve of the coved section is above layout height, simply extend the layout framing beyond the structures that are already in place, and slip the "new" end of the benchwork under the cove. As an alternative, you could fasten a square of benchwork into the corner, then butt the already-finished sections up against that. With part of it under the cove, you'd need to add only a little scenery to tie it in with the rest, and, of course, the track.

Here's a rough sketch illustrating the idea, with the layout surfaces representing already-built sections - simply add a new piece (or an extension from either section) to fill-in the corner. This corner piece would fit below the bottom edge of the cove:


Wayne

[Gary S]

Here is a photo and a rough drawing of the Gern facility. The entire existing shelf which extends both directions from the corner will have to be retained and fitted in the new corner. What I am thinking is that I could shift the shelf "down" (in the drawing) from the wall. Then I could cove the corner as shown by the curving dashed line. I would have to trim structure 1 to fit the curve, which would be no big deal because essentially it is only a roof back there. Now, on structure 2, I would have to add to it to extend it back to the wall. Or, maybe I would add another structure behind it to fill the space.

As Wayne mentioned previously, the corner only needs to be coved from the layout up. Below the layout shelf can just be left as a normal square corner.

Any thoughts?

[doctorwayne]

Doh! I had forgotten that your GERN plant was a corner itself. However, I think that your plan would work well: you'd need to alter the roof as shown, then either add to the sides and roofs of the structures on the other end, or, as you say, simply add a taller annex behind those two. With the layout at the height which you're planning, it should look as if it were custom-built to fit the cove.

Wayne

[nachoman]

I've been meaning to post this photo for awhile to illustrate my simple (and cheap) solution. Granted, I have a 4x8 bedroom layout, but the existing light fixture in the ceiling wasn't sufficient. I settled on two el-cheapo shop light fixtures. I replaced the ceiling fixture with a duplex, and simply plugged the fixtures in. They hang on chains suspended from hooks in the ceiling. My only complaint is the ballast hums on these cheap fixtures. But the lighting is fine.

[Gary S]

Hey, there's an ingenious solution! I like it!