my idea living in Florida

My idea , Living in Florida

It is too hot and to wait for the room to cool takes too long and not the cheapest to run AC all the time

i converted the garage to a train room and then added a two car garage

Never leaving the climate control of the house is nice

Ted

( We did upgrade the AC system by a 1 ton to make up for the train room )

My train room was located on

My train room was located on the back patio,  it was only 15 or so feet from the back door.  But in Arizona it does get cold and and I can recall many times just thinking to myself.  Do I want to make that dreaded 15 foot walk when it is in the 40's and windy?  I think I will stay in the main house in shorts and flip flops rather than walking to the train room.

RE, my idea living in Florida

One thing I have thought about in going solar for power as not to add weight to my electric bill.

I have my train room in a detached building

The choice was either to build a 10' x 14' layout with a low ceiling in our basement, or to build it in a refurbished 22' x 15' room in my detached 1800 sq.f. garage.

The drawbacks of having it out there is that I had to increase the security, insulation and heating system. But it is so worth it.

As the accessibility is great and I have it so very close to my workshop, the layout construction is way easier than if I would have used the basement.

Out Buildings

We live in SW MO. Gets pretty toasty here in the Summer. Our last house was around 1100 sq ft so I figured a small barn/ large shed was the way to go. We got one from Cook Portable Warehouses, 12x20 ft out side dimensions. Inside proved to be about 10.5x 18.5 ft. Had a loft on each end and head room down below was just over 6ft? Not sure at this point. I wired it for 110 and insulated the walls and roof, added a 4 circuit box in one corner with a seperate AC breaker. Added Sheetrock. Painted same.

They make a good barn. Down side Studs are spaced a different widths depended on which part of the barn. Studs toward the ends were closer together then the center studs. I got the biggest AC that would fit between the studs, around 21 inches and it was not anywhere close to enough. 6000btu. The there was an issue with our yard. It was fairly flat wit enough sloop toward one side to drain the yard and have it flow out to the street without drowning anyone's house. It turned out that Cook levels their barns when they install them which is a good thing. Turned out that the part of the yard I had them put it in had a lot of good soil in it instead of the useal lots of rocks most people have. We moved for a lot of reasons 2 years after buying the barn and one corner had sunk a lot and the end of the barn was down about 4 inches at least.

To make room for a larger AC would have required a lot of rebuilding of a side wall. Would have totally screwed any warranty I had. I could have specified an AC opening before purchase and got just what I wanted. I wouldn't try it again.

I was pretty happy to buy a basement with a house over it for wife and mother in law.

Hope this helps........Jack

One more consideration

My train room in Georgia was in the basement.  That basement had an occasional spider or scorpion, which caused the wife NOT to want to come downstairs.  Now that my train room is on the one and only ground floor the wife pops in often.

If you have a detached building it might make it less likely for the Mrs. to visit due to the inconvenience.  If I had a detached building I'd make sure that I had an intercom system so the Mrs. could communicate without having to make the trip out to the building.

Now I'm not saying that having the Mrs. less likely to visit the train room is a good thing or bad thing as that's up to the individual......something to consider.

Ohio Weather

@Rick - I'm thinking your wife doesn't read this forum.  

I'm in Ohio, not Florida, but I'm guessing the situation is similar.  Ohio summers get into the upper 90's with lots of humidity.  Winters down to sub-zero.  I built 12x8 insulated room in my 2-1/2 car garage and put a layout in it.  During the summer, I ran a window A/C, which worked pretty well, but it did add some expense.  During the winter I used a kerosene heater.  BAD idea.  I think the fumes did some permanent damage, LOL!!  The large variance in temperature is pretty hard on track (lots of expansion joints) and benchwork (why I use foam).  I worried a lot about the DCC electronics (needlessly, it seems).

I'd look long and hard before using an outside building again, unless I could install central heat and A/C and run it all year long.  I'd prefer a small switching layout in a temperature controlled bedroom.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

Michael A. - you are correct!

Michael A. - you are correct!  She doesn't read this forum; however, we've had this discussion and laugh about it.  I told her that I didn't get rid of the bugs in the basement so she'd stay upstairs!  I'm blessed with a wonderful wife with a great sense of humor!!!

I'm in South Carolina and

I'm in South Carolina and bought a prebuilt 16x24 building So a little less than 400sq ft. It is constructed really well. Metal roof and 2x4 on 16" centers. Unfortunately I bought it right after we moved into our house and it has become a bonafide storage building for all the crap my wife didn't want in the house. The plan is to insulate, sheetrock, wire is already run from house to building, and put in a ductless mini split ac with heater. They can be had for about $1000. After all of that I hope to start on the layout. 

The name of the company was Graceland portable buildings. The cool thing was you could pick out how you wanted it designed. I had the door put to the far left side of one of the long sides and two small windows on the same wall that the door is on so I have 3 sides with no windows or doors. They delivered it and leveled it. They also make some that are a whole lot longer than 24'. 

Detached train building

  I have one here in Cali that's not heated or insulated and it only gets too cold a few days in the winter and too hot a few days in the summer but mostly it's pretty comfortable.We do have a very mild climate so I'd imagine that air conditioning would be a must in Florida or some robust heating equipment  if one lived up north....DaveB

Detached but not too far?

Since the last little one moved out my wife and I spend a lot more time together. My trainroom is in a loft above a former barn attached to the carport in Hawaii. Temperature changes are not extreme at all but the humidity is brutal on anything but sturdy construction. I imagine Florida would have similar problems. 

While the barn is only 75’ from the bouse it is upstairs and away from the house. Mrs. E. never ventures up there so it is a retreat to some degree but a lot of stuff is also stored under the layout but, like Randy, much has migrated quietly to the truck bed and off to the transfer station. 

Upstairs was a challenge to move things and a bit of a maintenece issue as well. In fact the whole detached building thing requires more attention since it can’t look better than the bouse! 

I do like the space but wish it was part of the house.  Making a mess isn’t a problem and the shop is in the former stalls below. Good and bad so I will follow along to see what you decide. 

P.S. We have lived off the grid since 1995. There are initial and ongoing expenses associated with that as well so consider how much it will cost  otherwise ways for the time you will be in the building.  The tax benifits will help for those who owe taxes. Not so good for the retired. 

Detached buildings are a nice

Detached buildings are a nice place for a railroad. Not all are created the same. If climate control is desired one needs to consider that from the beginning. Many sheds, garages etc do not have the same type of construction as a house and adding things like heat and air as well as insulation etc is more difficult than it needs to be.

Handi-house Shed Under Carport, in FL

Over the years I have seen many really nice train layouts that had to be cut-up (and destroyed) in order to remove them from their home place, due to either the owner's having passed away, or his moving to another residence. Very often they are rather a custom fit in their home built environment, and thus aren’t likely candidates for a new special location. I'm even currently in possession of a very nicely detailed waterfront scene that had to be cut out of an estate sale layout, and I am hoping to incorporate it into my new layout, but I see problems on the horizon.

With these experiences in mind I decided that I would purchase a stand alone Handi-House shed, and build my new layout in there. Then if I should change residence again, I can simply load that shed onto a trailer and move the whole layout to a new location. Or if I should pass away my wife could sell the layout and shed as an entity, and the buyer could move it to his new location.

I retired to a trailer home here in St Augustine, and it had an almost full length carport attached to it. I thought why not pull that new shed into the back portion of the carport and take advantage of the extra shade provided by the carport cover over the shed. It was a tight fit, and in fact to get a 12 foot wide shed into my carport I had to move all 5 of its support columns out a distance of 1 foot (had to pour concrete footer for those new column locations). I also had to remove 3 big beams attached to the underside of the shed in order to get enough clearance to fit under the carport's roof (I had initially given considerations to chopping the peak off of the shed), but became convinced I'd rather trim the height by modifying the bottom. I needed only a few inches, but it became a major undertaking. And I did this all by myself at the age of 74 using skid pads I made and a come-along attached to a tree in the back yard.

I have now just finished insulating the entire shed and installing a ceiling fan and a small air conditioner. My interior dimensions with the insulation all in is now 11 inches short of the overall dimensions of the 12x16 shed, ie; 11' 1” by 15' 1”

I want to build a dbl-deck, around-the-wall, with a peninsula layout. At first I was wondering if the peninsula might project out from one of the 'long walls' of the shed, but I am now convinced that the peninsula needs to project out from the 'back narrow wall' of this shed that sits at the opposite end from the opening door at the other end.

I intend to have a helix (likely single tracked) to move the trains between the 2 decks. And since the helix’s take up so much room, I intend to make the helix structure in its own 'box' external to the interior of the shed. This will be like a 'winged box' structure hung off a rear corner of the shed, about 5-6 foot in size to house the 26-30 inch radius helix. There will be two small holes in the shed's metal siding to allow the train to enter and exit the helix. At the moment I am imagining the train will enter the helix at an opening just off center of the shed's wall at the rear of the peninsula, and proceed its upward climb to the top deck, where it will reenter the shed over near the a perimeter (side) wall.

I'm in St Augustine if you want visit. I've learned a few things to include, and some thing to avoid....ha...ha

Craigslist Shed

BTW, I purchased my shed by putting a 'watch' function on craigslist, and found a like-new one for half price.

And locating it under the carport cover was indeed one good idea. i think if I were to locate in out in an open field I would find some way to put a 'sun cover' over it.

Brian

Brian, I will send you a PM

Rent-to -Own

RTO may or may not be a good thing. Check carefully the total cost at the end of the RTO period. Some contracts end up costing 2-3 times the original retail price.

Hey Brian - how is the layout

Hey Brian - how is the layout coming along?  Have you started the bench work yet?

Bench Work next after Helix

I'll be starting benchwork soon, after I finishing the helix structure I am working on now. ...hopefully about a week.

Have a unique way I am going to support the shelves off the walls,...unusual bracket method.

Now I'm not saying that

Now I'm not saying that having the Mrs. less likely to visit the train room is a good thing or bad thing as that's up to the individual......something to consider.

Women tend to stay away from evil-smelling places where foul language is regularly used...

Jose.

detached train bldg

I went that way, first a 20 x 30 used building I moved to my place and put on a concrete pad, worked ok, but hot in the summer, and cold in the winter, I live in north eastern washington. then the bldg got to small for what I wanted to do. so I went to a new bldg, and 30 x 40 pole bldg, concrete floor, insulated the walls and celing with 6 in firberglass insulation, then drywalled all. one door, one window. with one electric heater on in winter, bldg stays above 40 deg, and in the summer, 20 to 30 deg cooler than outside. so it is working well, working on the layout at this time which is 30 x 30 basic size.

@ luravencraft

How much did that pole barn cost?

private message?

Did you try that, or did I miss it?

cost

about 15,000.00

Pole Building

RedP - I also built my barn using old utility poles. They were spaced at 12’ centers so that the entire building ended up 48’ x 24’. Permanufactured trusses were used over the caproprt section so there are four poles along each side and two additional to hold up the loft and roof beam over that area. The last two are about 20’ tall. 

The poles were $1 per foot used. The trusses (at the time) were about $100 each at 4’ centers with 2x4 nailers and corrugated metal roofing. Only the end truss, loft end wall, and the loft walls (4’ High) were sheathed with plywood siding. 2x10 floor framing with 3/4” T&G ply floor and used carpet. 1/2” drywall in the loft. All else was left open for the cars and horse. I have since closed in potions for a shop below now that the horses have a new home. 

The original cost of materials was less than $5K plus my labor and roofing, being the single most costly portion at (again in 1996) $3 per square foot or almost another $5K.