Baseboard Options - Kitchen Worktops?

[cctransuk]

I am slowly working up the motivation to make a start on my garage conversion-based layout. The garage conversion itself will not be cheap - I intend to opt for a fully insulated room that can add to the value of the property, and be marketed in the future as a home office / hobbies room / home gym / small business premises.

 

To this end, the baseboard supports will be off-the-shelf kitchen units, with wall units above for additional storage and mounting the baseboard illumination. To all intents and purposes, the room will be a kitchen without a sink or appliances. The two long sides will have central knee recesses for seated operating areas.

 

My current considerations centre around the form of the baseboards themselves - which will not be portable for exhibiting purposes. Note that I intend to hinge the baseboards to the wall, so that they can be raised to an angle of approximately 60 degrees to aid under-baseboard wiring, etc. installation. Keeping to the kitchen theme, my instinct is to fit bog-standard kitchen worktops, with the track laid on cork sheet. Though worktops offer the benefit of rigidity and resistance to warping, the obvious downside to this seems to be that they are solid (and heavy), and thus any below-baseboard point operating mechanism - mechanical or electrical - will require a longish, and therefore thickish, rigid actuating rod attached to the tiebar. This would seem to constitute a potential for future failure.

 

Thus a fabricated form of baseboard construction seems to be indicated.  A standard kitchen worktop is 40mm. thick, but a somewhat thicker fabricated construction would offer the advantage, for my 6'-0'' stature, of raising the track level to a more comfortable working height. Nominal 2" x 1" planed softwood is actually 44 x 18mm., and using this for a traditional, diagonally braced frame with a surface of 12mm. thick smooth faced hardwood plywood would, I would have thought, produce substantial and rigid baseboards when supported by the kitchen units. The overall baseboard thickness would be 56mm., thus raising the trackbed by a small but helpful 16mm.

 

Point control is currently intended to be mechanical, via wire in tube; operated by slide swiches at the baseboard edge providing the actuation for the wire-in-tube, and frog polarity switching. Track will be Peco bullhead code 75 in the scenic area, and flat-bottomed code 75 elsewhere.

 

I would welcome comments as to whether my thinking is sound and, if not, suggestions for an alternative form of baseboard construction.

 

Many thanks in anticipation,

John Isherwood.

Edited July 5, 2020 by cctransuk

[Wheatley]

I've done something similar to you with the cupboards, but using a double layer of 18mm OSB to form the worktops (it was left over, if I'd had proper worktops I'd have used them). However, I have built traditional softwood and ply boards to go on top. Even though they are fixed and the layout is going nowhere it means I can separate layout and room if necessary, take boards into the house to work on if necessary, cut as many holes in the top as necessary and not have to worry about anything in the cupboards snagging wiring or motors etc. It also means the boards can be individually levelled by packing should the worktops prove not to be. 

[Mick Bonwick]

I think your idea of a baseboard system on top of the worktop will work very well, John. The only thing you will need to access under the baseboard surface is wiring and that will be easy if your hinge system is implemented. You've obviously thought it through, so all I can say is, "Go for it!"

[doilum]

Don't overestimate the rigidity of worktop (unless it's real granite). Unsupported, it can tend to bow, especially if the edges are not sealed. Unless you already have some, it isn't the cheapest option either. Whilst I would always go for some simple carpentry, you might look at the cheap internal doors sold by B&Q or Wickes!

[cctransuk]

3 hours ago, Wheatley said:

I've done something similar to you with the cupboards, but using a double layer of 18mm OSB to form the worktops (it was left over, if I'd had proper worktops I'd have used them). However, I have built traditional softwood and ply boards to go on top. Even though they are fixed and the layout is going nowhere it means I can separate layout and room if necessary, take boards into the house to work on if necessary, cut as many holes in the top as necessary and not have to worry about anything in the cupboards snagging wiring or motors etc. It also means the boards can be individually levelled by packing should the worktops prove not to be. 

 

Thanks for your input - much appreciated.

 

My thinking is that the worktops are not really needed at this stage - when, (on my passing), the baseboards are removed, the house purchaser can fit worktops of their choice - they may choose to add a sink if the intended usage requires one.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, doilum said:

 Whilst I would always go for some simple carpentry, you might look at the cheap internal doors sold by B&Q or Wickes!

 

I will be employing a builder / carpenter to convert the garage and fit the kitchen units; I have discussed fabricating the baseboards with him and he is happy to do this.

 

With care, it should be possible to ensure level baseboards and inte-baseboard joints by using thin packing shims - or even some adjustable bearing bolts?

 

Whilst there will be several baseboards, no two will be the same size! This is designed to ensure that there are no baseboard joints beneath points and crossings.

 

I will also emply an electrician to install the mains wiring / lighting arrangements; trying to anticipate where mains outlets will be required is fun! Perhaps the baseboard edge can incorporate a dado trunking - you can get trunking that is longitudinally divided for mains and low voltage wiring.

 

More comments very welcome.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[steve W]

Would most strongly urge you to keep all mains electricity well away from the layout.

 

A further complication would be the hinged basebopard (great idea) as you will need a flexible connection to the hinged part.

I have used kitchen cupboards similar to your proposal and did not fit any work top to them, but rested the baseboards on the carcases. This allowed limited but satisfactory access from the 'cupboard' below for minor access to much of the layout and saved moving all the tools or stock  off the top.

[cctransuk]

30 minutes ago, steve W said:

Would most strongly urge you to keep all mains electricity well away from the layout.

 

A very valid point!

 

Perhaps, then, the mains outlets can be located at ground level within the plinth below the kitchen unit doors - or perhaps underneath the wall units above the layout? The latter would be particularly convenient for plugging-in soldering irons, etc.

 

John Isherwood.

[chris p bacon]

1 hour ago, cctransuk said:

Perhaps, then, the mains outlets can be located at ground level within the plinth below the kitchen unit doors

 

Electrical outlets have to be a minimum of 450mm from the floor and a maximum of 1200mm high, mounted above the 'worktop' and below the wall units shouldn't be an issue.

 

Using kitchen carcasses is a good idea but kitchen worktop isn't suitable for a baseboard. It's very expensive, heavy and too thick for our purposes. It will also bow if not supported.  

I would think about fitting the base units then running some 2"x 2" batten across the top at front and rear to carry the baseboards, as the rear of the base units won't have any support material and the front is only a thin strip of chipboard as a fascia.  On top of that I would ount some traditional ply built baseboards and leave a gap at each end to the wall, they can then be easily split (moving the others aside) and flipped up to work on. I would devise a prop or stay that can clamp to the wall units to hold them while you wire etc.

[LBRJ]

I may be wrong here, but was the original London Road built on kitchen worktops?

[Nearholmer]

I've done much as Wheatley, kitchen cabinets and worktops, then separate baseboards above, largely to give flexibility in future use of the "utility room". If ever we move, off comes the layout and a rather impressive set of working areas emerge, usable for any hobby.

 

I can't say that my baseboards are a work of genius, and if I was to start again I would probably set them about 300-450mm above the worktop, on a sub-frame, to give a better "standing or bar-stool" layout height, to allow easier access to the undersides, and to increase effective storage space.

 

Personally, I wouldn't dream of building a layout on kitchen worktop material. Its lead-heavy, needlessly thick, and once the "melamine" is punctured it isn't good with water.

[polybear]

10 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

 

Electrical outlets have to be a minimum of 450mm from the floor and a maximum of 1200mm high, mounted above the 'worktop' and below the wall units shouldn't be an issue.

 

Using kitchen carcasses is a good idea but kitchen worktop isn't suitable for a baseboard. It's very expensive, heavy and too thick for our purposes. It will also bow if not supported.  

 

 

.....But only if the work needs to be signed off....

 

As for using kitchen worktop, I agree with Crispy on this one.  I've used Ikea kitchen units - I'll post some piccies later.

[TheQ]

You are planning to sell the property later, build the kitchen units with the work top on or you'll need to add one before you sell..

But don't use them as the base board, use them as the support for the work top. Then have removable  / hinged baseboards sitting on top.

I'd recommend foam base boards which would be light to move and sit nicely on a kitchen work top.

As for wiring, bring it out to the front, put it in a cable duct or box the wire in, in ply.  I'd do the same with the point motors/ servos, use wire in tube to reach the points, no messing around under the baseboard..

Edited July 6, 2020 by TheQ

[Gilbert]

If the boards were fitted rather than fixed you could stand them on their sides which in my experience would make work on wiring etc during both the build and any subsequent trouble shooting a lot easier...

[Ron Ron Ron]

For hinged boards, there could be a problem with snagging of the boards themselves and the contents on top, such as scenic structures, landscape etc, against the back wall and any wall mounted cupboards above.

 

Consider having a fixed section, or spacing panel at the rear, with the hinges mounted to that, rather than a narrow batten on the back wall.

This would have the benefit of bringing the boards forward and providing an improved amount of overhang in front of the base unit cupboards and would allow the boards to hinge up without snagging on the wall cupboards (or light pelmet) above.

 

If the framing for the boards is 100mm or so in height, then the layout wiring could run along the front edge, neatly tucked in a void, created by extending the side frames forward from the front frame and having a removable cover or hinged flap as the front facia of the board.

Running most of the wiring along the front should reduce the amount of wiring that runs under the board.

 

.

 

[steve W]

Going back to the mains electrical sockets, getting them at 450mm or above would not be a problem if mounted on the side wall of a kitchen base unit, just leave the door off that one. But with the prospect of selling the property you should be guided by youur electrician and in a compliant location. The stupid thing on socket positioning is that you can drape a flexible extension socket block anywhere it's convenient, though preferably not where you will trip over it. 

On layout wiring, as I've now got to an age where high mounted sockets are a godsend, putting point motors, relays and the other layout wiring where they are accessible from the front is well worthwhile if practically possible.

[polybear]

Here's some photos of my "Railway Room" (spare upstairs bedroom) which is somewhat devoid of a railway at the moment

Units are IKEA (as is the workbench), with tops from 18mm MDF & sealed; edges are pine strip.  Leccy sockets at convenient points in the plinths; assorted cr@p courtesy of yours truly....

 

 

 

The kitchen units form a U-shape (the base of the U being something like 12 ft long), and will be used to support "Brilliant Baseboards" (RIP ) units.  I find that the height of a layout at "kitchen worktop" level would be too low - I'd rather look at a layout, rather than down on it.  The BB's will enable me to do this, with suitable supports underneath.

Now then, all I need to do is build....

 

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by polybear

[Enterprisingwestern]

On 05/07/2020 at 17:44, cctransuk said:

 

Thanks for your input - much appreciated.

 

My thinking is that the worktops are not really needed at this stage - when, (on my passing), the baseboards are removed, the house purchaser can fit worktops of their choice - they may choose to add a sink if the intended usage requires one.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

Proper baseboards all day long for me.

As you get older and weaker (fact of life!) kitchen worktops will only get heavier, and they weigh enough to begin with unless you cut them into short lengths. I also echo the experts (Mr Chippy Bacon) views on the instability of 40mm thick worktops.

Treat the kitchen units as very up market trestles and build the layout structure as you would normally.

 

Mike.

[DCB]

The thought of drilling dropper holes in worktops or gouging out  point motor holes with or with out a router would probably put me off railway modelling for good Nice 2X1 topped with sundela supported by the worktops would be more appealing.

I did wonder about routering a 25mm wide 6 mm deep track trough in my work tops and making it good with filler to represent quayside lines but my wife says it would be difficult to prepare meals on.

[1466]

Just to endorse the use of kitchen units.

I used Wickes basic range as a foundation for the baseboards. I followed Barry Norman's advice for the baseboards themselves i.e. plywood beams separated by  softwood The units below are great storage and hold stock etc.

The units are in a  10 by 8 shed and are on the sides of teh shed. I completed the "oval" with longer beams at each end; the long beam at the shed  door is articulated to lift for access..although I still crawl under.

I made the beams 4 inches  deep to allow for wiring and Tortoise motors. 

No regrets.