Ballasting Over Unsealed Homasote

I have ballasted quite a bit on unsealed Homasote and have never had an issue of any type. 

I did not seal mine. Didn't think of it at the time, with over 3 scale miles of track down and ballasted no problems.

clem 

No problems, but then I also did not attempt to create my own private trout stream during the process.  With discretion, I see no reason why you might have any problems.

I ballasted over 750 feet of track laid on  unsealed Homa-bed (Homasote) roadbed over 20 years ago and have had no problems. Live up here in the wet Northeast and layout is in the basement.

jackson

Same story for me....ballasted plenty of bare homesote using the wet water/matt medium method for fixing the ballast in place without any detriment. I know some like to seal it, and that probably adds a little insurance but seems overkill.

No problems here except one time transitioning from unsealed Homasote to an old piece of Tru-Scale wood roadbed (the only one on the layout!).  The Homasote swelled vertically by about 1/16" and caused a slight vertical bump which was easily fixed by loosening the end of the wood roadbed and shimming.

Thanks to all for sharing your experience.

Jim, do you know what caused the Homasote to swell by a sixteenth of an inch?

Thanks again,

Ed

I sealed most of mine because I had a ton of paint to get rid of.... but not all of it and I haven't had any issues at all.

Chris

Hey, Ed....good to speak with you on the phone.

Homasote has a very interesting relationship with water. Because of the paraffin that is incorporated into the raw mix the product tends to be on the hydrophobic end, which means that it will tend to push any incidental water back out.

In fact, when submersed for 24 hours the product only absorbs 7% of its volume.

Regarding vertical swelling, we know that the boards will expand by .25% with high humidity...which translates to 1/4" over 8 feet, so we like to see them installed with a gap between the boards.

Regards for the Homasote Tech desk.

Hello Homatech

Just wanted to let you know I appreciate all the information you post here

Thank you

Clem K

We painted all the homasote a light dirt color (tan) so that any bare areas showing through look like dirt and not grey roadbed.