Glass doors v sliding

[GAIJINIJI]

Hi all,

Ive noticed that the standard seems to be sliding doors for a vivarium. Is there any particular reason people dont use glass doors that open out?

I've just finished designing a new viv and am thinking that opening doors would make access much easier.

Thanks for any input!

G

 

[Bwalter]

I have sliding glass doors and its not working to good for me. I need to find a way to make them work better. It was a fast fix it for now, until I can get back to work and have the money to redo it better. I am thinking glass doors with hinges will work better.

 

[GAIJINIJI]

Well I shall take it that noone knows of any major issues with this. The only problem I can see is that my beardie is still quite young and is still settling down (going crazy when I pick him up) so I need to prevent him escaping when the door is open. A temporary strip of glass running the length of the viv, inside the doors, should solve this until he chills out a little.

The cabinet is finished so time to go ahead and order the doors...

 

[Gail]

I like my sliding doors really well. I can open them a little or a lot which is nice if you have a insane dragon who likes to run. I can take them out for easy cleaning and when I need to work in the cage. If the were cabinet type doors, they would be in the way when steaming the cage/decor and knowing my family, someone would run into the open doors and break them.
The only mistake I made was using plexiglass and now its pretty scratched up. I'd like to replace that with glass someday so it looks nicer.

 

[GAIJINIJI]

I prefer how the cabinet style doors will sit flush on the unit (I like the minimalist look) and open out completely for easy access. It should also making cleaning easier. Like I said for a temp measure I intend on putting a glass barrier along the inside of the viv so the beast cant do a flying forearm kick on me when I go to pick it up.

Ive sourced some 6mm toughened safety glass from a glazier so lets see what happens!

The build is coming along well and Im pleased with it so far. Pics to follow!

Thanks

G

 

[FoothillBeardie]

Other then the reasons mentioned above COST!!!! Have you looked at what it will cost to have glass cut, drilled and have hinges mounted? It costs far more then just glass cut with finished edges. And if your glass cutter makes the hinges off square by just a little or your cabinet isnt perfectly square they wont line up properly and look like doo-doo. Glass cut to your dims with uncut edges will run $6-7 per sq ft. Add a set of hinges and you could be up in the $40 per peice range. Really want someone running into that? I keep a few peices of polycarbonate around already cut to size if there ever is an accident. Look into it before you commit. Good luck. Mike.

 

[LookinRound]

Other then the reasons mentioned above COST!!!! Have you looked at what it will cost to have glass cut, drilled and have hinges mounted?

You do not need to have glass drilled for hinges. There are many types of hinges for glass panes that do not require a hole to be drilled such as can be found here: http://www.hardwaresource.com/hinge...+Door+Hinges/Large+Inset+Non-Bore+Glass+Hinge. There is also this style: http://www.hardwaresource.com/hinge...nges/Glass+Door+Hinge,+Non-Bore+Inset,+13.5mm

You can also get ones that require just a single hole drilled in the glass. This would mean it can be adjusted to be square. Those are just a couple options and I am sure there are many more.

 

[FoothillBeardie]

The first one only go for a door under 17 3/4" wide. So no 4 ft vivs with those. And the bottom one are the style like on the IKEA desks. The plastic bushings the pins sit in suck and wont hold up to tge daily opening that a viv gets. So then your back at drilling glass. Ive looked at alot of different options and its always ends up coming back to sliding glass.

 

[GAIJINIJI]

Thanks for the input,

I had wanted a drop down front but after a little thought I realised that I would have to reach in almost 4ft to touch the back of the viv. That idea was quickly scrapped!

I looked into the cost and have got a glazier who will cut the 6mm toughened safety glass for me. It should be around £40 (Im in the UK ) with a 5 day lead time. I already have hinges which can take a door up to 60cm wide (so will work out as near-as-makes-no-difference at 4ft) which do not require drilling.

The thing I dislike is that its the only part of the build I am entrusting to someone else. Im a bit of a perfectionist (one corner of my cabinet is 0.5mm out and it annoys me!) but dont have much choice in the matter!

I looked through the viv pics only thread (yes all 120 pages of it!) and notice a fair few people using open out cabinet style doors. Im convinced!

Thanks again. If anyone is interested Im sure I can start a build thread...

G

 

[triumphtt]

I had this issue and came up with an alternative. My doors just sit in place and I can pull them out completely and set them to the side. I thought I could "lock it" in place with a simple piece that slides down from the top to keep in in place, or magnets like the old TV cabinets had. I don't think a lot of people use the hinged doors because you need a lot more space to open them where the sliding doors you don't.

 

[Myjamey]

I looked through the viv pics only thread (yes all 120 pages of it!) and notice a fair few people using open out cabinet style doors. Im convinced!

Where is that thread?

 

[GAIJINIJI]

its here on - viewtopic.php?f=34&t=66704

Space isnt such an issue as there is plenty room in front of the viv to open (once the fish tank has been sold!). Now that the beast is calming down escape is less of an issue... and as it is getting bigger escapes are much easier to foil!