The New Build

[Sammy Grigio]

I'm about 85% done with Jimmy's new house. I have taken careful measures to make sure this thing is waterproof. I can say with certainty now that I am very happy with how it's going to come out.

I'm thinking 2-3 days for off gasing from all the silicone and Fuze It adhesive. Then decor and the christening by introducing Jimmy into it.

I used acrylic sheets, clear vinyl backing, 1/4 hardware clothe, silicone, Fuze-It adhesive and of course wood.

What do you guys think so far?

 

[Pi11ow]

What size boards are you using? 2x2s?

 

[Redman]

You may have said all this in another thread, but I read so many I don't recall...

What Cham type is this for? What are the dimensions? What did you use to waterproof the wood?

As far as how it looks, it looks very solid. Good job on the construction!

 

[Sammy Grigio]

Yes, that is correct.

 

[Sammy Grigio]

None of the wood will actually be in contact with water as the bottom third is acrylic sheets and the upper 2/3 is clear vinyl. I used silicone on the seams and to seal the acrylic. Fuze it adhesive to put the acrylic together. I also used silicone tape to seal the seams after the silicone gel dried.

It's 3x2x3-1/2 and it's for my male panther.

 

[Redman]

Can't wait to see how you fill it out. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sammy Grigio]

I rushed the first one and neglected the detail work and as a result paid a steep price in the form of a bad leak that almost ruined my subfloor. That's why I'm so adamant about emphasizing the waterproof component.

It's amazing what you can do when you resolve to do it right. I'm very happy with the 2.0 version.

 

[skoram]

I rushed the first one and neglected the detail work and as a result paid a steep price in the form of a bad leak that almost ruined my subfloor. That's why I'm so adamant about emphasizing the waterproof component.

It's amazing what you can do when you resolve to do it right. I'm very happy with the 2.0 version.

Been there and done that a few times already ... so much so that I stopped doing my own builds altogether. I did a wood build and had issues with wood rot, another wood build had a leak, an all acrylic build had major warping issues. Now I just put out the cash for large Exo Terras.

With that said wood build obviously can work fine with great success as long as you put the time in to make sure it's sealed well, etc. Yours looks great so far. These DIY build threads are some of my favorites on these forums. Look forward to seeing it all come together.

 

[Sammy Grigio]

Been there and done that a few times already ... so much so that I stopped doing my own builds altogether. I did a wood build and had issues with wood rot, another wood build had a leak, an all acrylic build had major warping issues. Now I just put out the cash for large Exo Terras.

With that said wood build obviously can work fine with great success as long as you put the time in to make sure it's sealed well, etc. Yours looks great so far. These DIY build threads are some of my favorites on these forums. Look forward to seeing it all come together.

Can you expound a little on the acrylic warping please? I've never worked with acrylic before so I'm not familiar with it's structural properties - especially how they change over time.

The way I designed this thing should prevent water from coming into contact with any of the wood structure with the exception of the trim backing securing the vinyl sheathing. This thing should stand the test of time and essentially be "bomb proof" if I did it right, which I have tediously made sure to do this time.

 

[Sammy Grigio]

I'm just about done with the construction phase. if you guys don't mind, please take a close look at the details and let me know if there is anything I'm overlooking?