We will soon be building a train table and have decided to use Homasote over plywood for the train table. Homasote is not available locally from Home Depot or Lowes, but a local lumberyard will sell it for $28.00 per sheet (ouch!). But since we only need 3 sheets, the financial pain will not be too bad.
Our question is about what to put on top of the Homasote. We have seen and like what others have done with indoor/outdoor carpeting, either green or brown (earth tone). But we can not find such carpeting anywhere and have been told by several carpeting stores that there no longer is such a thing. So the question is: What have others used for indoor/outdoor carpeting? Brand names, colors, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Also the places that might carry it.
why pass on the the plywood. You can get a sheet of 1/4" for under $10 at Lowes/Home Depot. The cost of one sheet of homasote could cover three sheets of the plywood. Just a thought.
My experience with using Homosote in large sheets has been less than desirable. Itis very unstable in large sheets and will expand and contract in 360 degrees.
Are you going to be hand laying track? Homosote is good for handlaying because it holds the spikes and isn’t as hard to penetrate as plywood.
If you’re not going to handlay track, then why use homosote? Using foam board instead might be cheaper. It depends on the thickness of the foam board. The thicker the foam, the higher the cost.
I lay cork roadbed directly on plywood subroadbed before laying track. Any foamboard I would be using will be for building up the scenery.