Building my Vivarium - Some tips

[slacker13]

Well after reading many great posts on this board about building your own vivarium I finally purchased all the stuff and got to building this weekend. Here is my experience so far and I hope this helps someone.

First let me say that I am no "Bob the Builder", in fact, I have never built anything before yet for some reason I had many of the tools needed in my garage.

Problems: I decided to go with Oak as Malemine was $38 per sheet and Oak was $49, so I felt it was well worth the extra 10 bucks. The problem was that I had no way of cutting the wood with precision so I asked the Home Depot people to cut it for me. The bad news is that when I went to assemble the back wall it was a 1/2 inch too short along the entire top. I went back to home depot and found out the hard way that you must purchase an entire sheet of Oak (no half sheets). So it cost me another $49 to just make one 46 1/2 x 24 peice. The moral of the story is DO NOT have home depot cut your wood. If I had it to do all over agian I would go to a lumber yard that does precision cutting.

Other than that I was pretty much able to get the vivarium together and strained. Tomorrow I will start the sealing process. Thanks to great post such as viewtopic.php?f=34&t=71756 and http://www.freewebs.com/crossfireenclosures/ a clumsy carpent such as myself was able to get the hardest part done.

When I cut the holes for the back vents I measured 3 inches down and 4 inches across. I did the two outside vents first and then worked in from there. If you use 7 vents as I did it is exactly 6.5 inches from the center of the outer vents. Continue measuring 6.5 inches from center of every vent to get your next vent placement.

I bought all my material at home depot. The 3 inch vents and the side vents can all be found in the roofing department. The 3 inch vents do not have screens though and I will just by some screen and put it in each vent with a little glue.

I followed the post advice from "CROSSFIRE MADE EASY **UPDATED - 3.09.2008*" (link above) and used a countersink to drill my holes. I did not get one single wood split because of this.

Anyway, I will continue to post my progress. Were anxious to get the viv finished so we can start working on the fake rock. Here is a pic of what i got so far just before staining.

 

[babydragondaddy]

Looks like you did a great job for never building anything. Home depot does offer everything you need except the bearded dragon specific items. But my experiance with the dome deopt employees was a good one. I went with plans already drawn out, discussed them with an interested employee, and had my wood cut perfectly. And that is what I would recomend, go in with demensions and remember, if you use plywood, standard sheets measure 4'x8'. You can get 3 2'x4' and 2 2'x2' from one sheet. Depending on how you do your door, (actual door, or sliding tract) you will need an additional piece which they already have cut. I spent $23 for a sheet of plywood, and an extra $10 for a nice piece for the door. It was actually cheaper than I anticipated, the most expensive part was buying the tools I didn't already have. You can see what I created here: http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=112658

 

[slacker13]

Wow, very nice viv you built. Well, in my defense I did have precise measurements when I went to home depot. I discussed with the depot employee about needing precise cuts and he said that home depot will not guarantee nor do they offer precise cutting. he basically said that it depended on when the saw was last calibrated. Looking at the brightside I now have enough wood to build another viv and I really enjoyed putting together what I have so far so I will def build another maybe to sell it or give it away to someone that needs it. It's therapy. Found it relaxing to build this thing. In my hectic world anything to keep my mind off business is a good thing.

 

[babydragondaddy]

True... I guess its hit and miss when dealing with other employees. My "wood cutter" was a reptile fan, so we discussed how and what was the best way to do so, OR, he just wanted to kill an hour BSing... Who knows. Now you must build a differant one Got some of the wood and I am sure once you are finished, you will come up with a better way of doing something.

 

[slacker13]

Well after working on my viv for past 3 weeks in my spare time I have come across a few problems that in hindsight makes me question ever using oak. For starters trying to cover all screw and nails holes with stain is impossible. It is very noticeable and after reading through woodworking forums I learned that it is extremely difficult to do and out of my league. So I decided I am going to paint it now which is a sin I think, painting oak.

Another argument for not using oak is the staining and sealing process required. I put on 4 coats of stain and 6 coats of sealer. This is very time consuming and for a part time project takes weeks to complete because of required drying times.

Another issue I had is the track for the sliding glass is sticking out 1/8 inch and I cannot attach the trim pieces. I am now heading to home depot to purchase a belt sander to notch out the space needed.

Also had a problem finding a fluorescent light fixture to hold a reptisun 10.0. Finally found one on LightingDirect.com. (Model: 2UC 30 120 SWR) Neither Home Depot nor Lowes sells these anymore. In fact it seems as thought T12 bulb/fixtures are being phased out and T8 bulbs are now the newest thing. I am guessing that it is a "green energy" thing. Even Repti Sun 10.0's are no longer being made for a T12 and are now going to be T8's.

I will post updated pics soon.

 

[snowdragon]

If you want to fill nail or screw holes you need to use a wood filler. Make sure to use a nail sink. Its a little harder to fill screw holes. Hope this helps

 

[slacker13]

If you want to fill nail or screw holes you need to use a wood filler. Make sure to use a nail sink. Its a little harder to fill screw holes. Hope this helps

I know. I used a sink and wood filler. Problem is that stain will not work on wood filler. Even experts say its nearly impossible unless you really know what your doing. I actually found a great paint at Home Depot. tested it on some leftover oak and it looks great. The bad thing is that I could have just used a nice grade of plywood to begin with instead of wasting oak. Live and learn.

I bought so many tools to do this that i am gonna make another viv and also gonna make a cricket farm and start raising them myself.

 

[apbgv]

They do make little plugs that go over sunk screws, do not ask me what they are called. My dad built me a deacons bench out of oak and he covered the screws with them.

 

[slacker13]

Finally, I am almost finished. Do to this being a part time project and my inability as a carpenter this took much longer than it should have. The thing that really set me back was that I had stained the entire viv and then realized I just didnt like the nail and screw holes being so visible. The wood filler is horrible and just cannot be stained to match so I stripped the entire outside of the viv which took me a week to do even with a electric sander.

I used a Behr paint instead that has primer already added. Paint was great.

Only thing left is to finish the flooring and pop the glass doors in, sand & stain the trim then we start the fake rock.

Next viv is going to be Malemine. I basically wasted the oak and could have used plywood since I painted it.

Here are some updated photos. You can read about the floor on this post http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=114411&hilit=

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Looking good!!

 

[norbertbd]

In case you would want to try to make another out of oak, I used a 1" corner bead on the top outer edges. It covered up the seam in the wood as well as the nails, etc. It came out very finished looking. I put the corner beads on, then used that to set the dimensions of the front face frame. So the top and sides are a little "proud", but they are flush at the corners where it meets the corner beads. It gave it a little extra finished look.

 

[slacker13]

In case you would want to try to make another out of oak, I used a 1" corner bead on the top outer edges. It covered up the seam in the wood as well as the nails, etc. It came out very finished looking. I put the corner beads on, then used that to set the dimensions of the front face frame. So the top and sides are a little "proud", but they are flush at the corners where it meets the corner beads. It gave it a little extra finished look.

Do you have any pics of that? I am curious to see. That sounds like a very good idea.

 

[slacker13]

Here is a near final pic without the glass doors in. The last pic will be when it is moved into the house, it weighs a ton and I am also building the fake rock now so I am waiting till thats done before moving it into the house.

 

[norbertbd]

Here's a picture from the side and the front. I've never made a cabinet before, but have been taking up woodworking as a hobby. I learn at least one new lesson on each project. But I don't forget them either.

 

[slacker13]

Here's a picture from the side and the front. I've never made a cabinet before, but have been taking up woodworking as a hobby. I learn at least one new lesson on each project. But I don't forget them either.

Oh wow. That looks really nice. I wish I would have thought of that. next time I will use your idea for sure. Very nice.