I have several plastic buildings, Pico, some Aristo, that have no floor, and sit directly on the gravel, or, in some cases, dirt. This is less than satisfactory, as you can imagine.
What do you use to provide a base for your buildings?
I know this has been discussed before, but I couldn’t find it.
indoors i make bases from whatever is at hand. plywood, cardboard, foam or plastic sheets.
but i suppose, this post won’t help you much for outdoors…
I find the PVC board works pretty good, though if it’s out in the sun it does have a tendency to warp a bit. I’ve used 1/2" aluminum angle to help stabilize it. 
For depot platforms I used the wood grain stuff.
I’ve used Atex Plastic wood to make concrete foundations for my factories… I glue it, then screw it together, then paint it a concrete grayish color… I don’t use it to cover the full building, only the outside edges…
I use cement pavers. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
After my 20+ years in garden railroading new ideas are still making my experience better and better every year. This year I discovered that crushed stone is the secret to having cleaner buildings! Simply arrange your building lot with several inches of 1/2in stone about one foot circumference of your building . Next you can add smaller or different colored stone above to depict road and paths and finally add plantings to complete the scene.
We started putting all of the buildings on our layout on cement paver blocks.
I buy the 15" square ones and paint them with the stone textured spray paint available at Lowes / Home Depot.
This way nothing grows up into them and they are nice and easy to keep level.
You can see the store and the freight depot in this picture are on the paver blocks.
Patio blocks work for me. In some spots I have used Hardibacker board which is used for bathroom tiles. It is similar to cement board but easier to cut. It is water resistant not proof but if you need a large section to put a couple of buildings on they come in 3’x5’ pieces for about $15. I have found with one side in direct contact with dirt, I used some scrap pieces to make a retaining wall on the backside of the RR and after being damp and going through a few winters they got brittle and failed. Sitting on gravel and painted the hardibacker board last years longer. I use it for roof pieces on my buildings.
I have also used plywood for bases, painted and propped up on bricks or gravel. The secret to a longer life for most any product is to paint it and keep it out of the dampness.
I typically use cement “pavers” but sometimes I just don’t get the fit I want, or want something different (e.g., curves). In these cases I’ll make a form at the site and fill it with cement or mason’s mix.
If I want to make a curve, I’ll use a piece of plastic bender board screwed between portions of the wood frame.
Here are few better pictures, we also paint the pavers different colors depending where we are putting them.
Wow, guys, lots of different ideas to try. Thanks. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
I second the “Concrete” paver method. After over twenty years of garden railroading, I have found that if it isn’t masonry or iron, then don’t use it. Why do you think a very large percentage of the structures in the Old World are still around ? The only plastic items that have stood the test of time are my lola buildings and the ties on my LGB track.
I’ve had great success using blue or pink foam insulation board. It is extremely easy to cut to the perfect size for each building. You can even cut it into odd shapes. I always paint it to look like concrete (usually with UGL masonry water proofing paint). You can also scribe the sides to look like a brick/block foundation.
-Kevin.
How thick are those concrete pavers? Seems most stuff is 2" thick and heavy. I have pieces of the hardi back board that have been out for years with no problems.
I Had Hardiboad under my saw mill, and it cracked apart within a few years. Maybe if I had provided drainage, so that it didn’t get too wet, it might have survived. The soil here has a high clay content, so water doesn’t soak into it very well. A.K.A. poor drainage. I also had a blue foam arched bridge, and in 5 years or so it was really compromised. It seams that the ants around here just love to tunnel through it.
I poured a cement base, reinforced with hardware cloth, for my barn and trestle. Those cement pads are holding up really well. Longer then the Hadriboard or blue foam. They are inch and half to 2 inches thick, and the top surface of the one for the barn is nearly flush with the landscape. The one for the trestle was buried under broken shale for years, and is now buried under a layer of crushed limestone.
Jerry Barnes said:
How thick are those concrete pavers? Seems most stuff is 2" thick and heavy. I have pieces of the hardi back board that have been out for years with no problems.
Don’t you live in an area that doesn’t get much rain, Jerry ? I tried Hardi-backer here in southeastern Pennsylvania, and it failed after a couple of years.
Get a fair amount of rain here, board is sitting on gravel mostly, not sure why it is holding up, but glad it is.
I don’t have many buildings out, but of those I do I am trying three methods. 1st try was a 12" paver block. Of course, it’s holding up fine after 5 years on the ground. Next I tried 10MM Coroplast (corrugated plastic board) that I got as scraps from work. Painted with grey primer to simulate concrete or black to blend in with mulch. You need to disguise the sides with the open corrugations. These have been out about 18 Mos with no issues. Most recently I placed Wall Station directly on ballast stone. The building itself has a 3/4" thick Foamed PVC Board floor and foundation. It has not seen a winter yet and being a very small building partially made of wood it may winter indoors.
I like the look of #3 best, but I get lots of splash when it rains. #2 is the best overall so far.
