New Enclosure Build With Diy Fiberglass Rock Wall For Reptile Room

[Jason.s]

Was geting sick of how bland my melamine enclosures where geting so here it is.
I'm doing it all in pine and clear coating the outside and i'm doing the inside with Black Japan metho based stain, and then clear coating over that for durability, then adding my fiberglass backing with built in hides,
that i'm building seperate as you will see.
I've used finger jointed timber for the main frame for looks, and i've made the shelves hollow out of a frame of pine with ply so i can run all my wiring though, then i will be filling with expanda foam for extra strenth, through holes in the back.
then i will be framing the front with dressed pine.
these first two i'm building will both have five two foot by one foot tanks in the top for small skinks and geckos.

 

[Jason.s]

Here is a pic of the main frame wich i'm staining first to save cutting in latter down the track as the outside will be clear coated.

 

[Jason.s]

Adding the hollow shelves.

 

[Jason.s]

I have cut a slot in the back for the heatpad that i make out of coreflute that i run a heat cord through, and the slot is there to do the both hide boxes and so i can slide it out from the back wich i will have an access panel for just incase it burnes out in the future, this will be running on a thermostat along with the other hides of the same size.

 

[Jason.s]

This is it so far, starting to look like a bank.

 

[Jason.s]

I didn't bother staining the top as it won't be seen for the tanks.

 

[Jason.s]

This is how the coreflute will slide in and will be inside the hide.

 

[Jason.s]

Here is 2 banks out of 8 i'm making, wich should make for a good looking couple of walls.

 

[Jason.s]

I also have these on weels to make them easy to move around.

 

[Jason.s]

Now the frame for the back wall wich i will be puting the fiberglass on, then i will install them at the end after all the clear coat.

 

[Jason.s]

Added the vent and preping for fiberglass, its alot better to do it like this so you dont have to worry about making a mess in your new inclosure and you can just screw and seal it in when your finished.

 

[Jason.s]

Ground all the sharp edges with a grinder, you won't see it but it will look more natural.

 

[Jason.s]

I've added the matt fixed it with small nails around the edges and stuffed news paper under it for the rock efect, you can just pull it out when it hardens up.
first coat is just to strenthen your ridges and to get the efect you want.

 

[Jason.s]

You just cut the holes and clean the edges up with a grinder when you finish,
now for the second coat to cover the rest.

 

[Jason.s]

The next coat i add pigment that i got from bunnings that is used for tinting cement (oxide powder) dont use to much and mix the resin and hardener first so you know it's mixed, and for this one i used a tan colour, i found out the hard way the chocolate wich looks like desert sand is realy dark lucky i tested first.

 

[Jason.s]

This is the hollow back before i added the colour.

 

[Jason.s]

Another angle.

 

[Lawra]

WOW that looks amazing!!! Definitely puts mine to shame. You're so talented I can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[Jason.s]

I painted the back black just to clean it up.

 

[Jason.s]

Next i will add a couple of clear coats with sand on top to get a natural efect, but i have to get the sand and it was geting to cold so i just cleaned the edges and checked the fit.