Painting and sealing, need advice-

[DeesBalls]

Hey all, I got some cages offline a while back for a really good price, however i am painting everything black, (ocd, everything needs to match in apartment)) any ways, i am just using cheap spray paint, from walmart. and they are turning out looking great, but few questions....

1. how long do i need to wait for all the fumes and everything to be completely gone, they are outside

2. should i seal them? if so with what?
a. 1 will be for a ball python
b. the other two will be for a guinea pig and or hedgehog

3. the cage for the ball python i need ideas for doors, had a swinging up door, but its not fit really well, and it doesnt open, so i like sliding doors, or something just looking for idea

and thats it, ill post pics once i get them all around on my phone any tips would be great..

thanks all!!

[DeesBalls]

a day, or two... a week? how long before its safe to put in animal?

[lady_bug87]

if you're sealing them the paint doesn't matter. You'll need something like marine grade sealant which I believe is fiberglass based? It has to cure for a week I think.

I'm not 100% sure

[pet_snake_78]

If it's bare wood you definitely have to seal it. The product I have personal experience with is Polycrillic and you need 4-5 coats with a light sanding between coats. I'm not joking either, you won't have a smooth finish before 4-5 coats unless you're Bob Villa or something. I would wait about 3 days for it to air out after that as long as you don't have it closed up with glass and all in place. You can also do polyurethane, likely an oil based product so I'd wait a couple of weeks on that just to be safe. Then there's expoxies, I've not used them yet but I've seen cages made with bar top finish epoxy and they look really great and would seem the easiest to clean and such. It's expensive so it's usually only used on the bottom and first few inches of the inside walls, with the rest being polyurethane. Another product is drylok, I know it's been used with cages but I've not seen any first hand. You don't need to do any panting unless you want to. If the paint doesn't stick then the polycrylic put on top won't stick either, so if you paint first you have to make sure it's sticking and cured first. You can't put an oil base on top of a latex paint either. I'd skip the painting or save it for the outside unless you really want a specific look.

[DeesBalls]

If it's bare wood you definitely have to seal it. The product I have personal experience with is Polycrillic and you need 4-5 coats with a light sanding between coats. I'm not joking either, you won't have a smooth finish before 4-5 coats unless you're Bob Villa or something. I would wait about 3 days for it to air out after that as long as you don't have it closed up with glass and all in place. You can also do polyurethane, likely an oil based product so I'd wait a couple of weeks on that just to be safe. Then there's expoxies, I've not used them yet but I've seen cages made with bar top finish epoxy and they look really great and would seem the easiest to clean and such. It's expensive so it's usually only used on the bottom and first few inches of the inside walls, with the rest being polyurethane. Another product is drylok, I know it's been used with cages but I've not seen any first hand. You don't need to do any panting unless you want to. If the paint doesn't stick then the polycrylic put on top won't stick either, so if you paint first you have to make sure it's sticking and cured first. You can't put an oil base on top of a latex paint either. I'd skip the painting or save it for the outside unless you really want a specific look.

Thanks this was helpfull! but it was also too much for me to take in lol. They are already painted black, so I will be sealing it, just not sure what kind to use.


if you're sealing them the paint doesn't matter. You'll need something like marine grade sealant which I believe is fiberglass based? It has to cure for a week I think.

I'm not 100% sure
thank you as well, i will look at some marine base sealents which will be easy living by the lake lol!

[lady_bug87]

No problem. I would look way back at when Wayne was building his enclosures. I think that's what he used.

[pet_snake_78]

The problem with paint is if you don't have it sticking properly or if it's not fully cured, then nothing you put on top of it is going to work because it's only sticking to the paint. The reason I know this is I've painted cabinets for friends. They were in a hurry and despite my concerns we ended up putting the sealer over the top of the paint that wasn't sticking very well. It worked out fine but it was pretty easy to chip the paint off if you were trying. Having said that I saw the cabinets 2 years later and it wasn't much of an issue as they didn't have any kids. Nonetheless the take home message is whatever you put on first is important as everything else binds to that. Even when painting drywall I use the best quality primer I can get and then do at least two coats of paint on top of that.
Quick Answer:
So if youe paint has done a good job and cured, then pollycrillic should be fine to use as a sealer as it's water based and can go on top of a latex paint. Put on a coat, wait a couple of hours, give it a light sanding, then put on another coat, repeat until you have a smooth finish in about 4-5 coats. This will make a surface that can be wiped down and cleaned easier.

[DeesBalls]

Thank you all for the help and advice, i have since moved to a new house since i painted these and have a small area (6x6) for some cages, im just going to save up and get animal plastics or boaphiles, and just build racks. Im saving up till i can get a nice cage for a baby burm :)