Went to the local lumber yard Fri looking for a damaged hollow core door. Learned a couple of things. First, what seems to be the best door for mr purposes is a luan blank hollow core door. It does not come with a frame (blank) making it less expensive. The luan (plywood) type is a flat surface, some hollow core doors have designs built into them, thus not a smooth surface. Second thing was to double check on something I had heard, you can shorten them without damaging the structural integrity of the door. To do so, cut the door to length you want, remove the insert from the cut off end and glue it back into the door. Makes it so that you do not have to use only a full door for a layout. You could even make your own inserts and use both pieces, if you were doing modules or an L shape. If you can find a damaged one, as I did, it was half price ($20 for a 3’-0" x 6’-8"). Since I will be using a layer of 2" foam on top, it will cover the damage. Mine was not a blank, has the lock set hole on the side, as well as the hinge cutouts (which all have), but the facia will cover those features.
Unfortunately, the other thing I found out was that the lumber yard is closing after being in town for something around 80 years. The economy takes another victim. I didn’t use them much, but it was handy to have them close when I did need something. There is another one about 10 miles away, not bad, but much bigger, but not a box store, less personal. (Sounds like some of our hobby shops, wish I had a good mrr hobby shop that close.)
Hope someone finds some of this information useful.
I always seem to be able to garbage pick what I need. Lots of remodeling in my neighborhood. Often I run into a whole housefull of hollow core doors at the curb.
What I am using now for a layout is 1 1/2 bifold doors - or a tri-fold door you might call it. Each door is 15 inches wide and higed together, so my total width is 45 inches. Its a great solution for not having much space to work with. I use Bachmann EZ track and build scenic “plots” that can be removed easily when the layout comes down, usually around April. The doors fold up and get placed out in the garage.
You could also check with any remodeling contractors in your area… Flush doors (as these are called) have fallen out of fashion, and many people are replacing their blank doors with the new 6-panel doors. This leaves the old doors often as landfill fodder.
I was able to scrounge a couple of slabs from a job my company was working on a few years ago.
Even big box stores can have deals, we picked up a hollow core, luan, 36" X 78" door for 5 dollars. It was a special order that the customer no longer wanted. Also, my wife and I just went to the Habitat for Humanity Restore Store in Omaha and they had numerous doors like this for 5 dollars. Not sure if you ahve a store like that near you but you never know.
When my wife and I decided to do a remodel of the house about 15 years ago there were three objectives 1.) I got to enclose an unused portion of the attic for a train room and work space–has worked out great; 2.) she got an enlarged and remodeled kitchen-- worked out as good or better than the train room; and 3.) all of the late 1970’s luan hollow core interior doors would be upgraded to–what ever you call those fancier types.
Well, lo and behold, guess who discovered that the now surplus doors made a quite functional surface for the layout. As a bonus, loving wife thought it was cool not to spend additional money on the ‘train room.’ I have been remis in keeping her updated on other expenditures over the intervening years.