Is there a rule for this?

[jarich]

Im sure its solid when you first build it, lets see how that holds up over the years. Plywood is simply glued wood dust and compressed fibre with a thin veneer over it. It has nothing to hold the screws/nails in place if you ever move it or it swells or any other thing that might happen over time (especially when you add moisture and such). Its why your IKEA furniture falls apart after you move the first time. Simply adding a bit of solid wood framing means you dont have to worry about all that. It also allows you to square things much easier without the holes like you see in that example above.

[Tiny Boidae]

Jim Smith-

Wow thank you so much for that! I think I'm going to go ahead with the wood frame just to be on the safe side, and space the 2x4's at a two foot interval. Does that sound about right?



That's what I have planned for the 8' back wall so far. The same will be repeated on the sides although I'm not sure if the front needs as much bracing due to the door being there?

The tunnel is meant to run parallel to the walls, I just am a bad artist. But you're right about everything else. I wanted to mimic an animal burrow that they'd hide in, so I'll probably have several more entrances and exits in there as well as a hay bedding for it to dig in (the rest of the cage will be a top soil/sand mixture). I was thinking of having little hinged door openings on the outside actually, as this is going to be resting right along the wall (it's actually going to be drilled into it). I also was going to make the rock wall into sections that I can drill into place (in case there's some unforeseeable incident where I'd need to take it apart), and the tunnel would serve a second purpose as a basking ledge/possible support of the wall (it's going to have to protrude outwards because of the tunnel, the wall is). I understand that it's generally a good idea not to get it this complex, but I have a really nice design in my head and spelling it out, I'm realizing a lot of flaws that I wouldn't have come across until I got to that bridge.

So measure twice, cut once? I'm not assembling it until around December if there aren't any bumps in the road, but I'm starting to buy the supplies now so that I can stretch out my spendings. It'd be a bad idea for me to do this all at once on minimum wage, seeing as my girls are pretty costly, but I'm getting there slowly. But when I do finally come around to assembling it, you'll definitely hear about it. Thanks so much.


Jarich-

Yup, I decided to build the frame. I didn't know that about plywood though, it wasn't really something I thought about. Thanks for your help, as that's something that I'll definitely be wary of. I'll go ahead and buy the framing before I get the lumber, see if I can get at least a model to work with within a reasonable amount of time.

[eminart]

Originally Posted by jarich

Im sure its solid when you first build it, lets see how that holds up over the years. Plywood is simply glued wood dust and compressed fibre with a thin veneer over it. It has nothing to hold the screws/nails in place if you ever move it or it swells or any other thing that might happen over time (especially when you add moisture and such). Its why your IKEA furniture falls apart after you move the first time. Simply adding a bit of solid wood framing means you dont have to worry about all that. It also allows you to square things much easier without the holes like you see in that example above.

Done correctly, plywood can be very sturdy without a frame. It all depends on the design. And the furniture from ikea is particle board, not plywood. Plywood is not wood dust glued together. It is solid, 8'x4' sheets, shaved off of logs, that are stacked to the desired thickness, and glued with the grain being perpendicular. And it is very strong.

[jarich]

Eminart, you are correct that most IKEA stuff is particle board, sorry for the exaggeration there. However, if youve built enclosures for years, youll quickly discover that no matter how you do it, plywood does not really hold up over the years on its own, without a frame of some sort. The veneers will separate, your screws/nails will come loose, and youll end up wishing you just took the bit of extra time to frame it out. Im not looking to start an argument or anything, its just honestly a much more sturdy build, especially over time.

[RAD House]

Jarich I am curious how many plywood enclosures you have built? And how many you had issues with? Properly constructed and sealed a plywood enclosure should hold up for quite a long time. There are even boats with plywood hulls.

[LarryS]

I'd have to say you're both correct. Many plywood types will delam when exposed to moisture. The key, as already mentioned is to properly adhere the joinery and seal the insides.

A plywood box, done correctly is a very strong structure on its own, no frame needed. Usually a face frame is used at the front to add strength for the door opening.