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Decking board or Concrete?


DEANO
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Good Afternoon,

                                During planning for my layout I was intending to lay a concrete base, But after watching some videos on YouTube I have seen a number of people using treated decking boards with roofing felt on top.

I have a large amount of roofing felt left over from having a new shed roof fitted and wondering if that was the way forward as it looks easier to secure track to and running a level track.

Just wonderd what was more popular concrete base or wooden?

 

cheers Deano.

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Hi Deano , yes go for treated decking decking and have it raised above ground level, Mark from New Zealand is using 18 mm treated ply for his decking on frame work very solid indeed, with concrete you would have mix a special mix so you can nail in track nails, has being done on the forum.

Tony from down under

 

 

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Having used many decking boards for their original purpose, I'd point out they do bend, split and warp. 

That being said I don't like ground level layouts too much chance of vegetation and wildlife. Too much bending down for my knackered knees and back. I prefer Mick's aerated concrete block method .

 

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Thanks for the reply, That looks fantastic and lots of hard work but well worth it.

I understand what you mean about the risks of using Wood but it does seem quite common from online videos I have watched.

I found this picture on line this would be great for me no bending down lol

CF7481EA-8868-4787-8654-70434419E196.jpeg

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Hi Deano, I agree with Thomas, like the pic if you want to go that way, I went low because of the cost and not an issue with warping and splitting deck boards, my layout is a module set up and all the modules are well built and stored in the garden shed, I plan to have a raised deck where I can set up trains for the days running.

To take pics I plan to buy  a selfie stick for the iPhone to take low pics and same with the video camera.

Have you being on Micks page he does have a new layout and up and running now.

Tony from cloudy down under keeping on moving a head

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I plan on going ahead with Decking boards idea, And plan to cover the boards in roofing felt. 

My garden railway will be on decking boards that are raised with bricks to keep decking boards of the ground.

I agree with comments about bending down to run trains at ground level will be difficult especially with my health but my wife and daughter will help.

I love the picture of railway around the shed but sadly I have measured up outside but sadly don’t have the space needed.

 

Deano

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On ‎04‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 01:43, ThomasI said:

I can recommend Wood-Plastic-Composite.

It looks like Decking board and you can handle it like wood, but it doesn't rott and you don't need the roofing felt.

Beware - Check for linear expansion rates!

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On 6.4.2018 at 07:29, ba14eagle said:

Beware - Check for linear expansion rates!

You should always be aware that the expansion rates of any material outside are not only theoretical....

Also other things that you do not know from the layout inside are real outside, like, that foundations are lowered or a bridge is washed down by the rain ..

The wood on my patio expands more and shrinks again than the WPC.

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  • 2 years later...
On 29/03/2018 at 13:58, DEANO said:

Good Afternoon,

                                During planning for my layout I was intending to lay a concrete base, But after watching some videos on YouTube I have seen a number of people using treated decking boards with roofing felt on top.

I have a large amount of roofing felt left over from having a new shed roof fitted and wondering if that was the way forward as it looks easier to secure track to and running a level track.

Just wonderd what was more popular concrete base or wooden?

 

cheers Deano.

use decking as it will be easier to nail dorn the track. you can kill two birds with one stone by using the nails to keep the track and felt dovn

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1 hour ago, EVaNS42 said:

use decking as it will be easier to nail dorn the track. you can kill two birds with one stone by using the nails to keep the track and felt dovn

No. The felt needs securing properly. Track pins will not stop it from moving with extremes of temperature, or even lifting in a wind and ripping the track out with it.

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Yes, I'd recommend ensuring that roofing felt is well stuck down too. It's not always easy to get it perfectly flat but well worth the effort trying to do so as it has a tendency to ripple where it hasn't fully adhered to the base. Even on the areas where I've used small strips of felt just slightly wider than the sleepers there are places where the edges of the felt have started to curl upwards and it does start to lift the track if not dealt with.

It's often a messy job but someone's got to do it!

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