My $30 DIY drainage stand

tdotcham

New Member
I originally started with what now turns out to be a prototype seeing as I made it for a single cage, and recently bought a 2nd. So while hes growing in his baby cage I decided to start a new project over the winter.

The basic materials list I used are:

- 1 4x8 sheet of plywood from Home Depot ($6)
- 2 2x4 (scraps but can be purchased from Home Depot
- Industrial vinyl I had from a friend who works at sign business
- wood screws
- cabinet doors I took from an old bathroom
- scrap MDF to make the "trim"
- sink drain from Walmart

The stand measures 49" wide by 25" deep and 30" tall. To give a quick low-down on how I built the frame: I started off with cutting the 2x4's width wise for the top and bottom of the frame. After this, I screwed the plywood sides after I cut them to size to make a basic rectangle. After this I cut the plywood into strips so that the front would not be open where the cabinet doors wouldn't cover. So basically I had a rectangle with closed sides, open front with small strips. The back is completely open, along with the bottom and top.

After this, I screwed on a small plank from front to back to support the drain and took a circle bit to give me something to screw the drain down to. I applied the vinyl over the top, and made small slits in it so I could install the drain and lock it tight. After the drain was installed, I stretched the vinyl tight and stapled it down which made a nice slope for water collection. After, I ripped MDF for "trim" as well as to finish off the piece. I overlapped the top trim about 1" above the top of the stand in order to support the cages and not allow them to fall off. The top trim I ripped 3" and the bottom 4" for a little fancy style.

Right now I just finished painting the doors, along with the trim a nice white. Im still deciding on the base colour, and will probably match the middle of the cabinets with that colour as well. Im also thinking of compounding the plywood and sanding it smooth for a nice finish.

I've seen so many threads asking for drainage solutions, honestly this is something I can put in my apartment that looks nice, is functional, and is also able to store all my extras. Underneath the drainage I use a large bucket for collection of drainage water. Here's some photos to help people with their own DIY

Front View
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Side View
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Top View (you can see how it supports the cage in the stand)
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Slope of vinyl (the drain isn't secured down in this one but you can see the nice grade it has so all the water goes to the drain)
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Inside the stand (how I secured the sides)
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For the drain
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Kitty wanted to help :)
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Test fitting a cage that I'm also building for the baby to move into and what it should look like
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thanks so much for sharing, seeing how this forum has a lot of creative people i find its helpful to share our projects with everyone to help inspire each other.
 
yeah, its coming together pretty well for what I've spent. I plan to finish it this weekend, but well see. My main obstacle is finding PVC for the bottom. Gotta find something strong enough....then pick a day where the great move can happen. Going to have to relocate furniture thats in it's future spot, do full cage cleans and hook up the misting systems. Plus I want to repaint the cages
 
That's awesome!!! It's exactly what I need to do. I should have bought stock in Bounty for the amount of towels I go through lol!
 
haha, yeah it takes care of alot of work. I never worry about water... have a dripper run for the majority of the day
 
put wall mud on the sides/front tonight. going to let it cure, then tomorrow move it ouside for a nice flush sanding and paint prep.
 
only one more exam left, so starting to get to finishing this now that I have free time. decided I'm going to go with a classy grey, really pops that white out and will make the piece look real nice in a room I think. tomorrow will be 2nd coat of mud for touchups, then paint.

teaser shot of the cabinets:
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peanut likes when I work on the stand...nice air mattress for her
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haha, yeah the orange chair I found someone throwing out when i was living downtown toronto.... crazy! its so retro and awesome. it will be awesome for the future man cave

going to be painting now, ill take some finished pics once it's done
 
Wow this is really going to look nice!!! I love the grey panel inside of the white!!!
(Good looking long haired Calico I must say too)
 
well my car got damaged by drunk retards throwing beer bottles, so it set me back with time dealing with that issue with the police.

I finally painted it and just need to install the doors completely and then run the PVC piping to rest my cage/plants on. Im going without the floor bottom to ease cleaning and avoid stagnant water all together

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iphone pictures dont do it justice, it looks real nice and classy in person. white trim really pops. cant wait to put the cages on it
 
Looks great man. I need to fill all the holes from the nail gun and paint mine still. Maybe I will start on it next week. Yours looks really good!
 
One thing I found was a good idea for that application is taking the bottom square off the cage and putting some petscreen in. The bottom of the aluminum cages still has the spline groove but just no screen. Petscreen can take anything including sharp sticks that will tear through aluminum screen like paper. Super easy to clean too. I use an old tooth brush to scrub off dried poop and rinse the entire bottom using my pump sprayer and a watered down bleach solution. That stand really turned out nice! Good job.
 
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