TOMA Phase Two: Infrastructure

 

Floor paint, second coat

In trying to avoid making the same mistake over and over, I transitioned to some "infrastructure" work since the last couple of posts. Painting the basement floor has been another in a long line of gumption traps for me. Despite having made some additional progress on the trackwork on the new module, I took it down from the temporary workbench and forced myself to tackle painting the floor. 

Starting with the area under the future location of "Phase Two" and along the Ingleton shelf seemed like a logical location. With the area emptied of stuff, I swept, shop vacced, and washed this segment of the floor. According to online pundits, painted concrete floors don't like hot water or acidic  cleaners, so rather than my wife's initial suggestion of vinegar and hot water, I used warm water and a few drops of dishwashing soap. Again, according to the pundits, I used a damp sponge mop instead of really soaking the floor with a wet mop. I don't know if it was following the online experts, but all the paint appears to be maintaining adhesion.

Painting the floor in front of the Ingleton shelf doesn't quite complete the so-called infrastructure work there. (I think I picked up the use of the term infrastructure for work supporting the model railroad from Mike Hauk.) The little stud wall here is sheathed with homasote, and past water damage had warped the bottom. Before painting the floor, I cut out the worst of the deformed bottom on the one side. I cut a piece of clapboard salvaged from the "bar" and will use it as a baseboard. I also need to figure out the valance to hide the LED light and better frame the scene in this mini-layout. 

Behind Ingleton's stud wall, a set of built in shelves will support the railroad with storage. The framing supporting these shelves also has some water damage on one side. I plan to sister in some support, and cut two 2X4s to do just that. The floor in the same area has a spot that is always wet. It can be seen in this photo. I plan to experiment with a hydraulic concrete patch here. That will need to be patched and to dry before I can continue painting the floor here behind the stud wall. 

I definitely want to continue with the work around the Ingleton shelf before moving back to the track and electrical work on the new module. After painting the floor, with just a couple of steps on the location for the new module, its new home will be ready, and I can transition back from a focus on infrastructure back to model rainlorading.