plywood or melamine

[wyz]

I'm gonna be building some enclosure pretty soon.

Plans are made, shopping for prices in done..

I wanted to build them using plywood that I would treat with a special enamel to waterproof it.

I could also use melamine... if I take really nice melamine it comes to about the same price but easier since I don,t have to varnish it.

Can any body tell me what would be the downsides of using melamine.. I would silicone all the joints so that water doesn't go through...

Do you think it's as reliable as protected plywood ?

It would be for JCP so it will be misted with water and I might also use a heat pad. Can melamine crack/melt if heated.

thanks.

WYZ

[BoidKeeper]

I just built a 5' boa cage using plywood and I'll never do that again. I found it hard to work with because sometimes it split when putting in the screws. I also hated all the finishing work that went into it. I had a tone of sanding to do to make the outside look and feel smooth. The there where all the coats of paint to make sure it was going to be sealed. Now I still have to seal it with silicone.
If I have gone with melamine I would have been done in half the time. Although it's heavier, more expensive and does not last as long as properly painted plywood, my next cage will be made out of melamine.
Cheers,
Trevor
PS
There's pics in my gallery of what it looked like before painting it.

[ChokeOnSmoke]

I have a melamine cage that I keep my crestie in and its been fine with the misting so far. It is only about 2 months old though. Biggest downside I can think of is that its very heavy. My cage is 3x2x2 and it takes 2 people to move.

[Siretsap]

Well even if you seal the joints, the mealmine will absorb the water and it will bubble up. Like someone once told me some formica (countertop material) is what will resist best to the water and is as maniputable as wood.

Get a giant rubbermaid ;-)

[JonD]

Formica, and wilsonart are laminates applied to particle board. They are great at withstanding moisture as long as it is properly sealed. Kinda like melanine, just more durable!!!!11

[Linds]

Melamine sucks. I have several melamine pieces and they only plus side to using the stuff is the immediate convenience. They do not last that long and are not durable. Forget adding any kind of rocks or branches either, and especially stay away from anything that has nails - the coating will get ripped up in no time, and particle board is just compressed sawdust... anbd you know what happens when sawdust gets wet :rolleyes: No matter how you cut it and seal it, it chips, bubbles, and is extremely heavy. I have both the professional (high-quality) grade, and the kind you get at Home Depot, and it all sucks. Get an exterior grade plywood and seal it with an epoxy and you are good to go ;) You will have a waterproof (instead of water-resistant) cage that can withstand a lot of abuse and cleaning.

[Lisa]

When i did BJ's cages out of oak last summer I spent about 5X the amount of time on them then I would have basic melamine enclosures. Sanding, painting, varnishing and doing it all over for multiple coats.

How ever they do look way better if you keep the outside finish. If i was going to do it again I wouldn't bother doing anything to the inside and get plastic inserts to seal the insides.

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Well, well, well,
In my opinion, they both suck. However, You gotta pick one right?

Melamine: Ive used this several times and will list positives and negatives.

-quite heavy
-particle board is just sawdust and glue compressed together to form what my father(engineer) and i(aspiring engineer) call crap.
-structurally weak
-convinient
-water proof on melamine coated sides
-1 drop of water makes it to the sawdust crap, your screwed!
-takes 2+ people to move a decent sized enclosure(i guess 2x2ft)
-chips/cracks easily

Plywood: I have several cages built using mostly plywood. I like it myself ofcourse i like both if you build them right.

-relatively light
-actuall pieces of wood not glue and dust
-very easy to move(i brought a 4x2x2 cage from my garage outside to my basement 2 floors down alone and im 13)
-relatively solid
-seals well if done right however takes quite some time
-does not hold humidity if you make a mistake
-chips huge chips
-splits occasionnally
-pain in the @$$ if you mess up on the painting and sealing

I know that one cage my father and i built used a combination of several types of wood. Being: -Melamine -Plywood -OSB

If you seal the wood properly(we do it in two coats) then you get great results. We first applied a water sealant, then some sort of covering combination primer, then the paint. It works great and ive been using it without a problem for 9 months. It is however a VERY heavy cage and took my father and i 30 mins to get upstairs to my room. It is 5ft long, 2 feet front to back, and 3 feet high. There is a feeding comparment in the top foot of the cage with the same floor dimensions. One thing that did go wrong though(luckly it was in the feeding comparment), we dropped the cage(only 2 inches though) and it tore the seal open in one small place. If it were to happen in the cage area, we would have had to redo the whole thing. With melamine, it is heavy, however if you seal it properly, and brace it right, its VERY easy to do. Im not going to go into detail on it. So there you go, you have some pluses and negatives on both.

Good luck on your build!

Chris

[zerandise]

Anyone tried 2 parts epoxy resin for potable water paint?

its nontoxic and is what they use to seal water towers.

Supose to seal like a dream in 2 coats....

[Derrick]

Coatings for Construction: Internal tank coatings for food or potable water contact
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/ppc/reference/d4e.shtml

here's a good govenment list of epoxies. You can google most of the companies and they have websites with the full low down on all thier products.

[Invictus]

I build all of my cages out of melamine, including ones that hold extremely high humidity, and have never once experienced any of the negative effects that people love to harp on melamine for. Properly sealed, it's almost indestructible. I have 2 melamine cages that came from a breeder in Calgary. They used to house blood pythons, which were kept at 100% humidity at all times for a couple of years. His chondros and BRBs are also in melamine cages, and they are all structurally sound, no bubbling, and no scratches. Mine so far are faring the same way, but they are in their infancy. Nonetheless, the second hand cages I got get misted heavily when the boas inside them are in shed, and I have yet to experience any negative results with it. If you don't want melamine to bubble, seal it properly. If you get a scratch, touch it up with melamine paint. It's that easy.

[wyz]

Thanks all, all the info given was great !! Now I really don't know what to choose :)

But time is a factor here, so I'll probably go with melamine (for now) . I need to build 3 double cages in 2 weeks..

And it's damn cold here in Montreal, so if I need to varnish plywood I'll need to do it inside (not a good idea :s ).

WYZ

[sapphire_moon]

I was wondering if you do the ply wood thing, and coat the outside in varathane and put like a linolyom (I spell it different everytime, lol) on the inside and seal it with aquarium grade silicone if that would work as well?

[crazyboy]

could you coat the inside of a plywood cage with that garage floor coating..

[Linds]

I use Epoxal 3:1, it is available from Niagara Protective coatings. It is easy to work with, is touch dry in hours, can hold water after 72 hours, and is fully cured in 5 days :D Costs a couple dollars more than urethane ($64/gallon), but you only need one coat for most jobs, and it goes on quite thin. I only used 3/4 of the gallon for 6 cages, inside and out (4x2x1 (4), 3x2x1, 4x2x18").

[mykee]

I use melamine, I like melamine, and I will continue to use melamine. JMO.