Unfinished basememts?

fastlane

New Member
I have a new house with poured concrete basement walls. Tarred? outside.Painted with white sealer inside. Painted floor. Allmost 1year old. NO leaks. My plan - Build 32"wide shelf mounted to walls and 3 or 4 penisulas. Has anyone drilled holes and lag bolted or used nailgun to attacth stringers to walls? (I"ll use rolled styrofoam between wall and wood). I Don't want to stud out walls or partition room off from rest of basement. Any ideas how to mount shelf or control humidity? Thankyou for any help. Don
 

Vic

Active Member
Fast, See if you can find a copy of "Building Model Railroad Benchwork" by Linn Wescott...Kalmbach Publishing. Its out of print but it shouldn't be hard to find. He discussed this very thing in depth in a portion of that book.

If humidity is a big problem in your basement maybe perhaps you should consider a vapor barrier and insulation and stud out the walls and finish it off with sheetrock. Otherwise a stand alone dehumidifier should handle the problem OK.

Sometimes a "down and dirty" fix to mild basement humidity is to install an air return to your AC system in the basement. Of course this depends on weather or not your ductwork is in the basement.
 

fastlane

New Member
Thanks for reply Vic. I'll try bookstores. The trains will run about 95' along walls.less than 1/2 of total. Allot of angles and kickouts,should work well. Only 3 windows are on MY end of basement. I can't closeoff the families pool +pingpong table end. took over a year to find a house and basement that my wife and I liked. I have to make her happy! The heat and air run the whole basement.
 

cobra

Member
Hello Don , I had a similar situation with a new house and let it go 3 years to feel that I was safe from leaks , concrete floor cracks etc. I built a stud wall and drywalled it - you might call it sheetrock - for looks and also sound deadening. Alot of extra work but I was thinking long term .My layout is around the walls but not attached , could easily be lag bolted to the studs if I chose . I guess I'd advise to think out all your options before you do anything . Obviously it is much easier to finish a basement before building the layout . Think long term . NEIL
 

jon-monon

Active Member
In my basement (old home) I use plastic incerts for the screws, and also staple a sheet of plastic up before the drywall. I also use the water resistant drywall.
 

alkcnw

Member
Fastlane, Check with a building supply store like Menards or Lowes. They have a new Teflon coated screw for concrete, just drill a hole and screw it in, they work great ,I use them all the time!!!!
 
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