I wish I had a basement. Basements here tend to end up as swimming pools. Too much clay in the soil. Anyhow, my layout is in my bonus room which I've kinda taken over as the "man cave". TV, bar, workbench, Dartboard, air hockey, and most of all trains. Currently my layout is about 11 x 12, but I'm thinking of a small extension, at least on one side. I like having the layout close by in a climate controlled room. I have zero problems with my track, and it really is nice when I have a couple of spare minutes to just go up there, turn on the TV or the stereo, and kick back with the trains. Sometimes, like today, all I had time to do was paint one small section of a structure I'm working on, but it just helps me to relax.