My train room is in the basement. We had some water damage and as a result we’re having the vinyl flooring replaced. The trains share the room with a den area, and are separated from it by a room divider. The contractor has removed the flooring in the den area but I told them to hold off on the train area until I figure out how to do it. My thought was to cut around each 2 X 4 leg as the flooring is installed, and slide the new planking under the leg. I think the new floor will be some sort of vinyl planking - the kind that snaps together. The existing flooring looks to be vinyl sheet. I might have screwed the benchwork to the wall in a couple places but that could be removed. Someone suggested suspending the layout from the ceiling but that seems like it would move around too much. My fear is moving the bench work too much that it cracks or kinks the track work . Scenery I can always repair. Any ideas on how to go about this? The layout is not huge or heavy. Photos attached.
snap flooring would be hard to do under a leg, as you need to fit it together at an angle and then down to snap. What about making a cross brace, upside down U, so you can brace the table, unscrew a leg, do the flooring, replace the leg and move the brace and so on? If you wanted to suspend from the ceiling you'd just need to add more attachments to the wall. With good hangers that don't stretch, there won't be any movement. Good luck?
Seems like you need to get the layout fully supported from the walls even temporarily while the floor is being done. I purchased some steel 12 x 18 brackets from a local hardware chain for my layout. The brackets need to be attached to the wall studs and then a board placed on the top with a length equal to the depth of the layout at that point to support the layout. You may find this is sturdy enough to keep it this way after the floor is done. Advantages are easier access and cleaning under the layout.
There’s some good ideas here. Thank you. I’ll have to ponder it some more. Thankfully the train area wasn’t damaged from the water, so there’s no rush repairing it.
The ship-lock flooring (snap as you called it) would be the easiest way to re do the floors, if you want to stay with the same look. Removal of the existing vynal (?) could be easily done, especially by a contractor if he is worth his salt. Laying the new ship-lock flooring wouldn't mean you had to do anything with the layout, the flooring can be put in place around the legs of the bench work without a problem, it just means the contractor has to cut the "planks" to fit which is no big deal. If the "gaps" that might exist between the ship-lock and the legs is an issue, they can be covered with some 1/4 or 1/2 quad trim to clean it up and something you could do at your own leisure.
