Which wood????

phoenixsg

New Member
Hey y'all, I posted a while back about an enclsure i intend to build - I would like to know which type of wood is best to use? I was thinking melamine but I now undertand moisture would be a prob, so I was thinking about plywood, its for outdoors so I guess it can take moisture? also how to seal/stain? which products are friendly?

thanks in advance

Scott
 
Plywood painted with a few layers of 'Solventless Odorless Latex Paint'. I suggest white, or a lightly toned green to reflect the light down into the lower parts of the cage.
 
Cool

Cool I will look into that. So plywood painted with the latex paint (solvent and odour free) will be able to take the humidity woith no probs????
 
Think of latex paint as a rubbery plastic sheet covering the inside of the cage. Use three coats of paint, and then urethane caulking in the corners, and you have essentially, a plastic cage.
 
Ok

Yeah that makes sense. lol.
does the outside need to be latex or can it be (non-toxic) stained? forgive me for my questions but this will be my first reptile build.

thanks Scott
 
you can do what i did but it takes longer. just stain the wood with minwax stain let it dry overnite and put at least 3 coats of polyurethane and let it dry over 12 hours between each coat. then let it dry in a well ventialted area for a week or so for all fumes to evap. then its ready for screen.
 
?

ok, but forgive me for asking- is polyurethene a stain or what?

also your mention of mesh reminds me that i still have to devise a way to attach it tidily. lol i was thinking of nailing/stapling mesh to the inside and then putting a wooden strip around it like a frame.

this is gonna be soooo hard. lol
 
ya that sounds good for the mesh, just cover the staples. thats one misatke i made and i will ahve to redo my cage this summer. polyurethane isnt a stain, its waht you put on to protect the wood after the stain. everyone ahs their own way to protect the wood. there are 2 main choices, poly or latex paint. i love the look of stained and poly'd wood so tahts what i did. if you r main cocern is taht it will come off, get a varnish or a very tough and durable type of poly.
 
ya not shellac, get a varnish THAT IS MADE FOR OUTDOORS like what they put on doors, it lasts very well. i jst used cheap poly cuz i want to make a dif cage this summer and use his current one for his outdoor cage.
 
if you cant find latex paints u got some problems. all indoors and most outdoors paint is latex based, the only kind that is normally not is deck paint which is made for heavy traffic. go to lowes or home depot and go to the paint dept. and then ask for latex paints. mostly the smalles size is a quart and then you can have it custom colored, get like a semi-gloss or gloss taht way it will be easier to clean.
 
I tried

yeah i asked in all my local hardware stores etc but they say "we dont do latex paint... try the specialist paint section. Oh but we do bitumin roof paint"
in Englad it is so hard to get anything out of anyone. lol.
i have found some cuprinol woodstain with ronseal poly' varnish. considered it but then i discovered Organic paint!!!!!!! its odurless, solventless and seems perfect for me (ill prolly use the woodstain)
what you think? easier than trying to pull the latex paint out the british store stone. lol
 
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