building a rep room in my basement..

[DeesBalls]

well i am doing it, i will be building a reptile room in my basement. it will be around 7x7 foot, or 8x7... i really prefer 8x8 foot since i will have 4 foot long, and 3 foot long cages, that would leave me with a foot in between for handles/wires...

it will only be like 6 foot tall at the most! witch sucks.. but gotta do what i gotta do..

basic plans:

some sort of cinder block sub floor... with ply wood flooring with insulation in between..somehow.. lol.

the walls will be framed with 2x4's and dry wall... really simple... of course with instillation.... i will be having an extra breaker put in all for the electicity (depending on price) i hope i will have rooom for my 2 big tanks on bottom, then stack everything else on top... thats one wall... the other wall, will have a rack with hopfully babies in it at some point..

i only have 9 months to get this done....;)

[marvelfreak]

Can't wait to see pictures.

[DeesBalls]

Yea, I know. My dad and father in law is going to help me. And my wife said; " since they are in the basement, I don't care what you get, or do!". Lol so excited!!!

[alessia55]

Sounds awesome. Can't wait to see pics. good luck!! :D

[DeesBalls]

Thanks. I will start tomorrow after school... getting measurement, pricing out materials.. and thinking of how i want the room to be laid out.

[DeesBalls]

http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy336/DGilliland22/IMAG0164.jpg

the 1st pic.... this will eventually become a nice reptile room with heating, and all the fixins...

It is going to be alot of work, and alot of money, but we will be living in this house for at least 6 years.. maybe 10, until we can build a house and all that...

basic plans:
lay down about 2'' of concrete rows... (usuing rows to allow water to flow underneath to sump pump..

then on top of the concrete, i will lay flooring, probably just some ply wood...

walls will be framed with 2x4's, and i will put insulation in between posts to keep heat in, and cold out...

celing will be just some more ply wood.

nothing fansy, but after everything is done i am hoping it will be around 9 foot long by about 7 foot deep, about 6 foot high, i may not put a ceiling on to help with the height issues.. still not decided.

[DeesBalls]

back wall... the 9 foot section
http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy336/DGilliland22/IMAG0165.jpg

the 7 foot wall....
http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy336/DGilliland22/IMAG0166.jpg


also, the 2 wooden boards will be removed, the white is used for my cages, and the other just seems to sit there... lol

[Norm66]

Cool! I wish I could do something similar in my basement but it's too low. And wet.

[DeesBalls]

mine is low too, only like lil over 6 foot tall... it gets wet as well, but only like a little small puddles...

that is why im doing the concrete so the water can run

[DeesBalls]

okay, this thread needs to be resurected..

i need to get this built by August, or even sooner!!!

i just need some advice..



i want to lay a small foundation, if you will, of concrete just like an inch or so because some water does get on the floor, but ONLY ABOUT 1/16 of an iinch, just like a small covering if you will...

so my thing is, how do you attach wood/plywood to the concrete? also, the room will be sealed, but it will be right by my furnace... just want to see if that will be safe, the room will be sealed, except 1 small "window" by the fuse box...

also do i NEED to insulate the walls? i will be having a heater in the room to keep the room around 80-83 degrees. in the winter it gets COLD down there... i mean COLD! so i feel insulation would be a good idea, but if just plywood walls would work that would be great.



also, how much, if any one would know, would/does it cost to install another fuse box... i would love all electrical for the snake room to be ran on a seperate fuse box... also how much is wiring to run?

thanks for any help you can provide.

[Freebody]

If your room gets cold in the winter, you will need to use insolation, more stuff to do now, but you will enjoy the much smalled electrical bills come time to keep your room hot when the outside temps are really cold as you said. so your room leaks? as in you will have a 1/16 constant layer of water on your floor?

[DeesBalls]

If your room gets cold in the winter, you will need to use insolation, more stuff to do now, but you will enjoy the much smalled electrical bills come time to keep your room hot when the outside temps are really cold as you said. so your room leaks? as in you will have a 1/16 constant layer of water on your floor?

this is hard for me to explain...it isnt always laying with water... just when it storms hard for a while it will get a little water laying on the floor...

when i say water laying on the floor, it is literally only like .... a wet floor, no water really puddles, or accumulates..

i will use insulation though, it will just be better..:)

[Freebody]

ah yes i know what your saying now. im a jack of all trades but a master of none, and house constuction is my least practiced one of them all, so i would need to teach myself before i could lend you any good tip on insolation and sealing it all up nice lol i do know you need to make sure your inslation stays dry, so im sure you will need to caulk and poly your room before you start insolating to make sure its stays dry, i would look into this a bit further as i could be wrong. :P

[DeesBalls]

ah yes i know what your saying now. im a jack of all trades but a master of none, and house constuction is my least practiced one of them all, so i would need to teach myself before i could lend you any good tip on insolation and sealing it all up nice lol i do know you need to make sure your inslation stays dry, so im sure you will need to caulk and poly your room before you start insolating to make sure its stays dry, i would look into this a bit further as i could be wrong. :P

thanks for the help.. my brother use to be a contractor, he will be helping with it too.

but any way, thanks again Freebody, appriciate all help i can get!