empty basement to fill with trains

Hi prr guy how are you, I used to be a contractor and I can't tell you

how many times I told people to get the water and dampness out of

the basement and then finish it. Many people didn't listen to me and

had to do it twice not to mention twice the money. You must get the

area sealed the right way.Have a french drain installed around the perimiter of the

basement  which should lead to a sump pump then you can level the floor with self leveling concrete. Then I would seal the foundation. The right way to seal the

foundation is from the outside but very very expensive. So the next best way is

have it done from the inside I would use a pro and check there background.

THANKS, ALEX

Ditto. Get lots of quotes. Amazing variances in price. Personally, I wouldn't worry about leveling the floor. Use a level when you build the bench work to keep it level as you go. 

Water in the trainroom is very bad

We had excess humidity, no water, and turnouts and rail started to rust in a matter of days.

Bought a dehumidifier, brought it down to 45%, and the problem has not returned.

A professional who deals in sealing basements is your best be before going further.

At least yours CAN be sealed....

Mine is Rocks stacked up nearly 200 years ago. No seal in the world will work without digging it all up and starting over.

So my layout does not touch the walls. In heavy rains lasting over a day, the water will run down the inside of the walls.

It hits the mostly dirt floor and soaks in. Benchwork is on pateo blocks for stability and water avoidance. The floor drops 6" across the 23.5' length of the room, then steps down to the addition behind it. It's got a walkout on the back so the water just keeps going down the hill.

It's worked for several years now.

Excellent advice, do nothing until you solve the water problem.  It may be just the gutters and downspouts are dumping too much water right next to the foundation.  Check it out!! A lot of newer homes have dry wells that the down spouts go into, get rid of this system.  Make sure the landscaping, dirt allows water to drain away from the house.  Hope you can fix the problem without too much expense, then get onto train building.  

I know from friends back east in upstate New York, you may need a dehumidifier in your basement to fix the damp problem and make it useable as living space. We lived near Rochester in the 1960's and my dad finished off the basement; we had trains and rec room down there, it needed a dehumidifier to eliminate excessive dampness. A finished basement ceiling is also a good idea.

Your house should also have gutters and downspouts that pipe runoff away from the house. Also make sure that you have good surface drainage away from the house. Then enjoy your new basement layout room!

The contractor who said French drains has it right.  A royal PITA to be sure and expensive unless you do it yourself.  I've done 2 in my life and am beyond that kind of work physically now.  But the end result is so worthwhile.  And so very DRY.

If you are going to stay in the house long term and have a layout you'll like, this is the way to go.

I too live in a very old house (built 1890) and it has a stone rock foundation and walls.   We had a contractor put in a French drain around the outside of the house.   Then from the outside sealed the walls down to 3 feet below ground level.   Then was sealed from the inside from floor to ceiling. After the walls were done I studded and put up drywall made for basements.

I also run 2 de-humidifers that have their own water pump/feed to the outside so that I never have to worry about emptying them. 

I didn't worry about the floor and floor leveling.   I just bought in bulk the rubber interlocking floor tiles and tiled the entire basement floor.   I'm building the layout right on top of the tiles.   Figure between a rubber floor and the homosote I should have a pretty good sound barrier.

I've only been in the house for 3 years so I'm hopeful everything was done correctly and I don't have a rusty layout in a couple of years.

Royal PITA but if you don't take care of the water problem it's kinda useless to make a nice Layout. Get estimates from different contractors and get references for the contractor you choose .

David

I agree, take care of the water first. putting French drains in  will help eliminate the water, as well as a good deal of your cash. But it is worth it. It is sometimes tempting to starta a RR in an unfinished area, but in the long run it pays to finish it properly. Once you are satisifed that all is dry, finish the basement with DRY wall, drop ceiling and high hat or insert lamps to illuminate everything, and something softer than concrete to stand on. I wanted a large (18x48) layout in the basement, but the cost of all the work would have been prohibitive. So we had the area above the garages finished. Less costly, smaller by 20' in length, drier, but still big enough for a 17x29 with 096 curves.

Can't be stressed enough.  Dry the basement first.  I was fortunate that the previous owners installed a French drain. I did the block sealant myself with the Dri-loc product. After a year of watching and making sure ther was no sepage I still covered the block with plastic sheeting and then homesote before putting the studs up.  I run a dehumidifier and just installed the carpet with padding. What a difference!  Even before dry wall and ceiling it feels like a regular room in the house.

This is what I used in my basement, it is 100% water free never leaks even during Hurricance Irene.  French drians can actually let water in from under the slab and they create mositure in air.   I had water seeping in the mortar joints. 

http://www.sanitred.com/BasementWaterproofing.htm

The tile blocks are bad for water and if there are termites in the area are very tough to get them out of those blocks because the holes are horizontal rather than verticle. I would be inclined to trade houses or redo all of the walls with poured concrete.

Hi "PRRguy", please listen to the advice Alex posted above. I know it's a big invest -ment and on top of that your are chomping at the bit to get your layout going.

But, and this is a big but as Alex stated above the cost of ripping everything out to fix it later is not only a waste of money, but heart breaking to tear down all your hard work.

What I did was build a small layout just big enough to run my scale stuff , say seven by ten feet. Construct it so it can come apart and go into storage when you are ready to spend the bucks to do the basement right. Get the work done by professionals and then build your layout however you like.

Oh yea, do a radon test before you start work on the basement. People fail to think about this and it can be critical to your families health.

Also, as stated above get three or four estimates from reputable builders and check the Better Business Association and Angies list.

A good solution is likely to excavate around the foundation, install waterproofing membrane on the foundation walls, and a foundation drain around the house.  The foundation drain should be lower than your basement floor.  Roof leaders should be piped separately away from the hous, and the yard sloped to drain away from the house.  If you ask for prices from 3 contractors, they'll give you 4 differenent approaches to the problem.  I'd suggest calling a local civil engineer.  They will determine the cause of the problem, and provide a solution for the contractors to bid on.  In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a licensed civil engineer.

I was going to mention the radon test also.  Getting a radon system installed before finishing the room is fairly easy, and not something you want to do after you've built out your walls.

If this is the case you should also think about installing a sump pump in your basement.