My layout is currently being built in one corner of my garage. We leave the garage door open all day and close it at night (bosses orders). When the wind blows I end up with a ton of dust on my layout and then have to spend an hour or so vacuumming it up. As I get more things added it is going to be a lot harder to keep it clean. I was wondering if any other garage dewellers have the same problem and how did they solve it?
Hi Craig, Welcome to the garage model railroaders club. The only real solution is to seal off the space, but I cut down on the dust and debri issue by adding a drop ceiling over the layout with a faschia and vallance. It does not stop everything but I now only vacuum once every few months. I probaly should do it more often, but my rolling stock and locos end up in boxes for shows. I also built small partitions on each end to define my space and seprate the layout from other garage items. I have been considering adding a curtain rod and curtains for more protection but I don't feel the need.
Hi Craig: My layout is in a garage as well and I had the doors open frequently for most of the benchwork phase. This helped with lumber handling, debris removal, etc. I was building the framing and cutting the plywood and fascia in the garage alongside the layout as I have no other suitable room for this. However as soon as the scenery started to go in I began leaving the doors closed nearly all the time. They can still be opened for access if necessary. The garage is insulated and finished with plywood on the walls and ceiling. All walls and the ceiling have been painted as well as has the concrete floor. I believe this painting has kept the dust down and I have had nearly no problems with dust or dirty track. The layout was designed for operations so this was a big concern of mine. I have posted videos of the layout at the Youtube page at the link below which include overview videos explaining the layout design and mechanical construction. If you have any questions the videos don't answer happy to address them of course. thx md
I will second painting the floor and walls and keeping the doors closed as much as possible. I also covered my windows in the garage door, as much to keep it cool and stave off any potential security issues. My track oxidizes before it gets dusty, and I think my upper valence has a lot to do with that. It is strong enough for a storage shelf and there is a lot of dust up there that doesn't fall on the layout. I would be tempted to add visqueen or drapes hanging from the valence to the top of benchwork, too, though. I notice my tunnelled track never gets quite as dirty as the visible track, but that happened indoors, too.
Before I moved to Colorado and acquired a basement to go over my house, my layout sat in my garage in Texas. I feel your pain about the dust. I was lucky in that my garage was attached to the house and thus had painted walls and ceiling. Somewhere in history the owner sealed the floor also. I lucked out in those respects! If your garage is unfinished I think you have no choice but to finish it and seal the floor. As far as keeping dust off the layout is concerned, I wonder if there's a way to attach a series of curtain rods to the ceiling and then, using shower curtains to "close off" the layout when not in use? Relatively simple and cheap, but there would probably be challenges in supporting the rods from above (or cantilevering them from the walls) and then getting the whole shebang out of your way when you want to run trains. Just because no one else has done it does not mean it cannot be done. At least that's how I convince myself something crazy will work!
I have a small table layout underway. It`s not in a garage, but it is in an outbuilding outside which is not weatherproofed. It`s already survived one winter in it`s current state without anything shifting or coming loose. I myself have not really had a problem with dust so far, and it is probably just as prone to dust as any garage if not more so, but I am also able to keeps the doors closed.
My garage is finished, and I have a bi-level house so the garage is part of the house. The main door is rarely opened (someone told me once that they actually kept cars in their garage - a crazy idea). When it's hot during the summer, I hang a box fan in the door to the house and blow in air conditioned air (I haven't put register vents in yet). If it's not too hot, I open the back screen door, and I hang a box fan blowing out - this seems to help keep dust down. I started running a dehumidifier, since only being a couple miles from Lake Michigan the humidity gets high and causes the track to oxidize rapidly. The litter box for the cats is in the garage, and some brands of litter tend to be really dusty - so the box fan blowing out helps with that dust when changing litter.
Boy do I remember those days of my first layout in the garage of my condo. You are experiencing exactly what I did sans the litter box. I started out using a vinyl pool table cover propped up with 5 dowel rods (One at each corner and one in the middle) on my old 4' x 8' layout. Then after 3 years I took the proverbial bull by the horns and built a room on one side of the 2 car garage. I built the room out of silver backed foam thermal wall insulation sheets framed with 2"x 2" wood. If I remember correctly the whole room including a cheap hollow door cost me less than $300.00. It virtually eliminated any dust and as a bonus because of the insulation sheets, was easily heated with a small electric radiant heater. Visitors who did not know I had the train layout thought I had a walk-in cooler in my garage.
Dust control in the garage I'll second the ideas others have voiced regarding sealing the concrete floor. Even if the garage has been up for many years, the concrete still flakes and produces dust from normal use. A simple attic fan exhausting the garage might help, too. The fan will also make the space more "livable" when the temperatures go to extremes. As far as curtains go, the shower curtain idea is pretty good. For curtain rod(s) you could certainly use PVC pipe and make a track to go around the layout. That should allow you to cover the front of the layout when not in use while giving easy access for operating or working on the trains. :mbiggrin:
Have a 4x12 plan in a single car garage, share space w/misc storage shelves, tools, etc. ... I use bed sheets to cover all when absent any time ... otherwise, shop vac around the traks w/occasional alcolhol wipe does me fine ... trak is NO-OX treated ... live in temperate Seattle area; have no real issues with moisture ... garage has wallboard, maybe insulation ... unfinished on concrete floor w/few carpet pieces ... work it year round w/o problems ... do it in a garage and do it better ... welcome aboard!
This is all good information. My garage is finished, walls ceiling and floor. I even have a bit of indoor/outdoor carpet on the floor. I live on a ranch and we have dogs who I have to share the garage with. This is the reason why the main door is left open so they can come and go. I guess I could try talking the boss into letting me shut it but I might try a sheet or two covering it up. It is nice to know I am not alone in this adventure.
Hi neighbor. My layout is in the 3rd bay of our garage. I put up a wall with a door and put carpet down and that stopped about 95% of the dust. Because of the extreme temperature changes in our area, we don't open up the big doors when its above 85 degrees outside as the sudden increase in temps will cause some rather unpleasant rail situations... Actually I lay most of my track when its real hot out so that the expansion is kind of built into the layout We don't use our garage for cars anymore, which helps. Maybe you coud look into a doggie door to be put in the side door to your garage so that the door doesn't have to be left open? Most people aren't aware how much soot is in our SD air. Brian
I am also a garage layout builder. My garage is finished with drywall on the walls and ceiling. The first thing I did was seal the floor (used water-based floor finish I got at Home Depot - Zep brand I think). I also have a lighting valance that extends over half of the layout. From the valance, I hang bed sheets. I leave the garage door open all day and these things keep the dust down quite a bit. You can see the sheets hanging in place in some of my blog pictures.
Or you could go all the way, enclose half of the garage, insulate, heat and air condition it so it's a seperate room. It's a California basement sort of thing. Works well for me. Of course this presumes permanent residence and an understanding CEO. Glad you have a space to call your own. Take Care, Ernie C
We are going to do the same thing, but we are going to use the entire garage, 20 x 20, it is going to be a monumetal task as there is running electrical, insulating, drywalling, carpet, benchwork, lighting, we are still in the planning stages. Triple mainlines should be around 130 foot plus, 15 foot yard, diesel facility, our plan is huge, just need to take one step at a time. Building the Roster of Locs and cars was first, we have that pretty much done. Next step, empty the garage into a new storage shed, alot of work, my son and I are up for it. fatalxsunrider43
I know carpet sounds great but it actually compounds the dust problems and gives it staying power. I do have remnants of carpet in my garage and I do vacuum it after construction or long periods of non operation, but I always wonder about the results if I were to seal the floor and pull the carpet out (three wall are finished and the ceiling is a mess of rafters for storage). The problem with carpet is that it will hold dust and debri carried in by whoever and then get kicked up by the next person. I know this is nit picky and I will draw a line to but wanted to mention it. I can only imagine a layout in a cleanroom with little to no dust or atmospheric issues, but then nobody would want to come over and run trains in an airtight clean suite.:tb-err::tb-wacky:frown:
Another garage builder here. I have an 11x11 layout in a single car garage. It is mostly used for storage and laundry needs otherwise, so the garage door is never opened. The walls and ceiling are drywalled and painted to match the rest of the house. The house itself is a rental, so I can't seal floor without the owner's approval. Instead, I just laid out some inexpensive carpet on the floor. The feet love it. I vacuum after every wood cutting project to keep it clean. So far no issues with it. Adding carpet really helps give the room a finished room kinda look too. I also added some insulation to the garage door itself just to help with the temperature changes, and 2nd garage door rubber seal on the ground to keep the bugs/debris out and have fluorescent lighting around the room mounted on the wall.
