The whole Homasote soaks up water like a sponge thing in my O/P is model railroading urban legend.
It’s a simple fact that the thing that absorbs moisture the easiest also dissipates it the fastest. I have purposely left pieces of Homasote out in the rain, brought them in and left them on the kitchen counter and a few hours later they are perfectly dry. One thing people do not realize is that you actually do not want to paint it or seal it. As per the owner of California Roadbed co. aka Homabed unless you plan on spilling stuff all over it or put it down and don’t plan on doing your track work for quite some time you don’t want to seal it. When you seal it it makes it harder and hence transfers sound better taking away one of the great benefits of using Homabed or Homasote in general.
If it were so prone to absorbing water and hence falling apart then what happens when we ballast track or add ground cover etc. with white glue and water mix or matt medium etc.
The myth will live on forever there is no doubt in my mind.
I actually stopped by Home Depot the other day, and I had the entire lumber crew scratching their heads when I asked about Homasote. Is there a better source for it than HD? Lowe’s, perhaps?
Now there’s a surprise - Home Depot lumber crew scratching their heads. My experience with both Home Depot and Lowe’s in several states and multiple towns is that like any big box retailer, the chances of finding somebody who actually knows their stuff is pretty small. They pay low wages, import cheap stuff from China, and then claim to have the lowest prices around. Just my rant - ignore it your experience is different. I worked hardware in Fred Meyer’s in Alaska for a 2nd job for a while - I know what I’m talking about when it comes to business models of big box retailing. Rant over.
About Homasote. Home Depot does carry 10ft long 1/2" thick by 3.5" wide Homasote strips in most stores in the concrete area - to use as concrete forms and in expansion joints.
Otherwise, best bet is to go to http://www.homasote.com/WhereToBuy/ to find addresses and phone numbers of dealers near you. I would call first because many of those listed only stock Homasote if ordered by a customer, or not at all. If the business doesn’t know what Homasote is when you call, it’s probably not worth going there. Here in Colorado Springs, I had to go 40 miles up to the south end of Denver to get real Homasote.
My experiences are 1) trying to get a special order at Lowe’s or Home Depot is a waste of time, even if they are a listed dealer. 2) If you call lumberyards not on the Homasote list, and they know what they are doing, they will try to sell you a substitute like Upson board or Celotex - without telling you. While the substitutes work, depending on the application, they aren’t as good as real Homasote for model railroad roadbed. Upson board is OK as a roadbed, Homasote is significantl
That is odd as Home Depot is the ONLY place around here that we can get Homasote and they make it right here in New Jersey go figure. You may have to call or contact Home Depot corporate and ask them which stores carry it. I know a lot of guys in the home centers try to sell celotex in place of homasote but they aren’t train guys, they actually think your going to use it on a house…lol bunch a rubes!
Here in the midwest, the Menard’s chain carries Homasote in both 2’ by 4’ and 4’ by 8’ sheets, price is reasonable, look for it in the plywood section of the indoor lumberyard.
As for use, my grandfather used it in a layout he built about 20 years ago, layout still looks good today. House has central A/C, but is only used on the hottest days.