My wife and I purchased a new home which has a detatched workshop that was perfect for a train room…it also has a home owners’ association…My first project on the building for getting the trains up and running was to remove a garage door and brick up the big hole in the wall where the garage door had been…I took the plan to the home owners’ association for approval and they would not accept it unless I put in a window…a window in a train room?..well needless to say i had to put in a window to get approval for bricking up the building or face them with their liens on the property for disobeying the rules of their little social tea club…well here’s the good part…the window is in with a twist…I framed the window, took a 1/2 sheet of plywood, measured it to fit in the window, mounted drywall to the plywood, painted the plywood black, mounted it in the window, and floated and taped the drywall section in the inside of the building…if you look at the building now and glance thru the window, it just looks like a regular room with the lights off…they’ll never know any different!..Chuck[:D]
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Chuck,
Excellent soloution to a potentially thorny problem. I also had a window in the part of my basement which became the train room. Did much the same thing and it works great. I didn’t have to deal with a homeowner’s assoc. though. The house I owned previously was in an area with one. I don’t miss it.
Have Fun,
Tom Watkins
Ahh, yes. Good old Homeowners associations. I did my time in a townhouse development and even served on the “transitional” board for a few months.
I can tell you (or anyone else): BUYER BEWARE! If you are considering purchasing a home/condo that is under an association, I can’t urge you enough to carefully read over the regulations. While the intent of these associations is to keep order in the neighborhood (usually by keeping a wacko neighbor from doing something outlandish like painting his house neon pink), I can tell you that these boards are often run by people with way too much time on their hands.
The thing (in my opinion) to watch out for is vague regulations that leave specific enforcement interpretation up to the board. This is not a good thing, especially if your board is made up of anal retentive FBI wannabes.
On the other hand, many association boards have to put up with a great deal of nonsense from homeowners. This can include something ridiculous as complaints about the color/style of a neighbor’s barbecue grill.
Chuck - It sounds like you came up with an inventive solution to your dilemma. My advice is to NEVER tell anyone in the neighborhood about what you did. You would be surprised at how many trusted neighbors turn into [censored]
back stabbing stool pigeons…
I would sucede from the homeowners assocation. Paint the house plaid, Set up a flag pole and fly the flag of Chonk Republic (upside down of course) Put a caboose in the front lawn, painted up for Penn Central and drive beat up old cars. Just to **** everyone off.
All humor aside, I don’t see how people can get off telling other people what to do with their property. If people should be free to do what ever they want with their stuff, and if it makes the neighbors property values go down. Tough, its a free country, people do that kind of stuff.
Well thats all I have to say for the topic.
Having had dealings with homeowners associations before, I have learned never to buy into any neighborhood that has one ever again. Your solution is correct, and that is exactly what I have done on my last two basement trainrooms.## Windows, we don’t need no stinkin windows!!![swg]
Chuck,
I did the same thing. I call it my Disneyland window. It has a drawn blind in it with sheet rock behind. I have seen a bunch of these fake windows at the haunted Mansion at Disneyland.
I agree witht the other poster about not mentioning your deception to neighbors. I’m not sure you are doing anything wrong anyway. They said you had to have a window, they didn’t say you had to use it…
Guy
That is just what they need a window. No problem. Excellent Solution. We dont have any thing like that down here in Arkansas. Take care and keep that our secret here on the forums.
(Unless of course one of the board members happend to be a Model Railroader he he)
As stated above, never ever buy a house in a area controlled by the Associations. You do NOT need this extra problem in your life.
Chuck, excellent solution!!!
Gordon
Thanks for the info my wife and I are looking for our first house and I never thought about a home owner association
Some of those homeowner associations have been getting so out of control here in Arizona, particularly in the Phoenix area, that the state legislature is in the process of placing restrictions on them. Some even have the power to seize your property if you don’t keep your house up to their standards.
Southern Pacific-“We don’t need no stinkin’ paint!”
Southern Pacific-“We don’t need no stinkin’ wash racks!”
model railroader-“I don’t need no stinkin’ windows!”
What you’ve done is a standard architectural trick called “Spandrel Glass”; this is precisely how those downtown highrises that look like they are solid glass from the outside actually contain some solid walls as well as interstitial space where all the HVAC ducts go. A “blanked” window which matches the real windows hides all that stuff.
Incidentally, this is an excellent idea for those who want to transform a bedroom or other windowed space into a train room, with a continuous backdrop. The black plywood can just be nailed up to the window casing, and thus be removable when it comes time to sell the house.
There was one near my area when I was in the east coast. Certian foods were not permitted to be cooked at dinner hours to reduce the odors about the area. How is that for draconian rules?
Thank god for 3 acres and a 100 watt sound.
I agree, I would never again buy into a neightborhood with a homeowner’s association. The worst part is the dues I have to pay every year for which I get no benefit.
Enjoy
Paul
Remember those snobby kids in high school who turned up their noses and thought they were better than everyone and gossiped incessently?
Wonder what they are doing today?
They all are board members of the homeowners association.
Dave Vergun
YES!
Hi
Ahh The body corperate under a different name a bunch of [censored][%-)][:o)] with too much time on there hands.
One in a block of units a friend of mine lived in stopped a friend of mine building his railway until he stopped the board chairman getting Esential modifications done to his unit on the same grounds that was too much noise.
Regards John
The BEST way to beat the Home Owners Association is with a LARGE METAL BAR!
Your solution was a very good one, I would have hung a cheap metal blind between the window and your plywood in th closed and lowered position, further masking the plywood backing.
I HATE HOA’s, they’re a bunch of jerks trying to tell me how to life and what I can do in my own house. I wont buy if there is an HOA. Rather move out to the boon-docks then no one can tell me what i can do to my Double-wide Manor house!
I’m just glad we don’t get “organisations” like this in my part of the world - out here, you can do pretty much anything you like so long as it doesn’t adversely affect anyone else, though having said that “Residents Associations” are found in some places - thankfully they’ve not spread out here yet!
Whoever it was made the point about freedom, I agree. These groups have set themselves up as unelected “rulers” effectively - in a democracy! I’m pretty sure I recall a lecture I attended last year (I’m studying International Politics at degree-level) which explained that under democratic systems the populace get to choose their leaders - who chose/voted for these people?!
GC, I tend to agree with you.