# Its so much cheaper building your own viv!



## JAM3S (Jan 17, 2007)

Just built my second viv today. I thought about it this morning and thought i would just nip out and get the wood to make a start but as i type this the viv is completed in front of me with just the sealant to dry overnight.

Wood (pre cut to size) £15
Glass £16 (6mm smoothed edges)
runners & fixings etc £8

Total = £39 for a 36" x 18" x 18" viv

I also have enough glass runner and fixings to make another the same size so that would cost about another £35. The cheapest i have seen 3ft vivs in the shops is £80. Its crazy really that for a couple of hours easy work (im not that good at DIY stuff) you can build two 3ft vivs cheaper than you could buy one in the shops!

I wanted to do a kind of walkthrough to show how easy it is but no camera at the moment.


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## marston87 (May 14, 2009)

where u get ur stuff from?


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## snickers (Aug 15, 2007)

I was also surprised how easy it was, and every new one gets better than the first.


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## farnell182 (Jan 26, 2009)

marston87 said:


> where u get ur stuff from?


slight seconds conti board from builders yards keep the costs down of building your own and most of the time is hardly noticeable. most viv builders use 18mm contiboard thats slight seconds :2thumb:


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## JAM3S (Jan 17, 2007)

All the stuff was bought from my local handy centre and local glaziers (sp?) 
It does get easy after the first one. I would definately recommend using the little 90 degree contiboard joiners and another tip would be to put a dab of superglue on them to stick them in place before screwing down then when you come to screw the pieces together they dont move about.


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## chris25 (Mar 24, 2009)

when i made mine i got a template made from thin gauge metal with pre-drilled holes in, all i do is lay it on each board and pilot drill each hole then countersink the outer faces...then offer them up drill screws in .....can knock one up in less than hour this way (just the carcass build) and the template ensures every hole lines up and is neat and tidy with out the need to mark out every hole....and the pilot hole stops the wood splitting.

i wouldnt buy another viv now unless i needed a particular finish


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## JAM3S (Jan 17, 2007)

thats a great idea for the template, i'd not thought of that :2thumb:


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## chris25 (Mar 24, 2009)

JAM3S said:


> thats a great idea for the template, i'd not thought of that :2thumb:


really simple.....means you can just wizz the holes in every where and not be juggling around trying to hold it all together while marking the holes.


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## lizard wizard (Jun 9, 2009)

is it i ll wait to see that,ill let you know when im finished


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## chris25 (Mar 24, 2009)

lizard wizard said:


> is it i ll wait to see that,ill let you know when im finished


how did you get on?

ive knocked another 6 x 2 x 2 on tuesday,put partition in to make a pair of 3 x 2 x 2's will post pics when glazed and electrics all done

cost grand total of about £90 for the pair


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## zon3k (Jun 7, 2009)

chris25 said:


> when i made mine i got a template made from thin gauge metal with pre-drilled holes in, all i do is lay it on each board and pilot drill each hole then countersink the outer faces...then offer them up drill screws in .....can knock one up in less than hour this way (just the carcass build) and the template ensures every hole lines up and is neat and tidy with out the need to mark out every hole....and the pilot hole stops the wood splitting.
> 
> i wouldnt buy another viv now unless i needed a particular finish


{ Vale Veneers } - iron-on veneer


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## ChrisNE (Jul 13, 2008)

Lol so nearly attempted it. Went to b and q and it would have cost me nearly £100 just for the oak effect wood and they looked at me dumbly when I asked if they had plasic glass runners...or any glass runners. Too much money too lose. So i've asked exotic reptile housing to build me 1 instead. :whistling2:


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## JAM3S (Jan 17, 2007)

Theres a bit of trial and error involved. What i didnt say is that the glaziers some how managed to get both pieces of glass wrong. they were both the correct 18" at one side but tapered down 2-3 mm at the other! this meant at 11pm with snake already transfered into the viv i realised the glass didnt actually even sit in the runners at both ends. i also had decided not to put a piece of wood across the bottom on this one and soon realised what its for, to keep the substrate out of the runners, dammit! a quick trip to buy an length of 1" x 3mm hardwood sorted both issues though.


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## beardies_r_us (Aug 8, 2009)

JAM3S said:


> Theres a bit of trial and error involved. What i didnt say is that the glaziers some how managed to get both pieces of glass wrong...i also had decided not to put a piece of wood across the bottom on this one and soon realised what its for, to keep the substrate out of the runners, dammit! a quick trip to buy an length of 1" x 3mm hardwood sorted both issues though.



We bought a double vivarium last week which they had made themselves. It could've been in better condition, but i had to seperate my two males, so it had to be done. Firstly, the glass is two thin. We were'nt told that there were two different sizes of glass, one vivarium is slightly smaller than the other (literally by mm) so when the boyfriend slid one glass sheet into the runner.... SMASH! that was one bit gone. so all we had then were the two bigger bits of glass and one smaller bit. put them in the top viv and we couldnt use on of the glass doors as it was too tight. LESSON LEARNED.

Then when we were sliding the glass into the runners on the top viv, we noticed that it was very tight in the middle. the roof was drooping, he must have had something heavy sat on the viv. again, LESSON LEARNED. 

So yesterday, we bought two sheets of glass to go in the bottom viv, measured it up correctly. Brought them home, tried to fit them, they wouldnt go in. they were too big. So we swapped the top glass with the bottom glass, and it seems a bit better. Also, we noticed the glass hadnt been cut straight, both ends weren't even sat in the runners! Another LESSON LEARNED.

Now for the runners, they arent very deep at all (probably the cheapest he could find) and they are 4mm, with 2mm glass in them (too flimsy, im not keen on using it to be honest). I have a viv which i bought else where and the runners dont just sit on the wood, they are made to go around the wood, if that makes sense. the wood slots into it? well i cant find any like these anywhere?? any tips?

Basically, a few lessons have been learned, but mistakes are made to be learnt by, so dont fell disheartened by them... just learn by them 

I have, and my future motto is.... TO MAKE MY OWN! :lol2:


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## JAM3S (Jan 17, 2007)

Not sure i'd like the idea of 2mm glass! I use 6mm but dont get it toughened although you might need to with some of the big boids. Thats a shame that the one you bought is sagging in the middle, im not sure what you could do about that really except try and make a straight edge and replace the glass. I think i would be inclined to dismantle it and replace the top piece of wood.

So the runners on the other one dont sit on the wood? thats strange i cant picture how its done.


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## Aquilus (Feb 22, 2007)

I learned a lesson when I got back from B&Q - the saw blade they use to cut the wood is actually about 4mm wide! I didn't factor this into my measurements, so I have a couple of pieces that are a few mm off. Will fix that by trimming the bits that are now too long, and live with a viv that's 2ft 11 and 7/8" long


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## JAM3S (Jan 17, 2007)

Aquilus said:


> I learned a lesson when I got back from B&Q - the saw blade they use to cut the wood is actually about 4mm wide! I didn't factor this into my measurements, so I have a couple of pieces that are a few mm off. Will fix that by trimming the bits that are now too long, and live with a viv that's 2ft 11 and 7/8" long


Yep i did exactly the same thing with the first one :lol2: I now ask for the individual pieces of wood if that make sense? if it takes slightly more than the 8ft x 2ft sheet then they usually have offcuts they can use.


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## beardies_r_us (Aug 8, 2009)

JAM3S said:


> Not sure i'd like the idea of 2mm glass! I use 6mm but dont get it toughened although you might need to with some of the big boids. Thats a shame that the one you bought is sagging in the middle, im not sure what you could do about that really except try and make a straight edge and replace the glass. I think i would be inclined to dismantle it and replace the top piece of wood.
> 
> So the runners on the other one dont sit on the wood? thats strange i cant picture how its done.


We have raised the roof so it gives the glass some freedom to slide. we wont bother any more with this viv, we've drawn up the plans to make our own, but this one will have 6 vivs 

its hard to explain, they do sit on the wood, they need to be glued down. but they do JUST sit on it, where as the runners on the other viv have 2 lip-like bits that sit over the wood?? imagine ^ as a rectangular shape. thats the sort of runners i am looking for, instead of just _ shape. 
this is hard :lol2:


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## benzila (Jan 17, 2008)

my 36"x24"x12" viv only costabout £10 to build:whistling2:


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## reenie3579 (Jan 9, 2009)

I really want to build my own viv, well I really want my Dad to build me a viv lol, but I worked out how much the wood would cost from B&Q and it didn't work out much cheaper! Does anyone know somewhere cheaper to get the wood from?


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## JAM3S (Jan 17, 2007)

I find the glass the most expensive part. i'd try a different retailer, the wood for this one was £15


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## Craigbaines (May 28, 2009)

i built one 2ft by 1ft x 2ft, i spent £24 on wood, i went for the stuff with a finish on like desks are ect...

i wanted it to look the part too, which it does. But now im wanted to build a stacked viv even bigger it gets pricey.

If you look at the thread i just made though iv come up with a way to cut down cost big time  also abit of help is needed! 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/habitat/358365-vivarium-conversion.html


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## alan1 (Nov 11, 2008)

here's a 10 viv stack i built a while ago...

all viv's are 24w x 17d x 14h... top 4 and bottom 6 separate...


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## beardies_r_us (Aug 8, 2009)

JAM3S said:


> I find the glass the most expensive part. i'd try a different retailer, the wood for this one was £15


I went to a shop other than B&Q out of curiosity, and asked about perspex. It was going to cost £40 for 2x2foot pieces!! but then i asked about glass, and it was going to cost £7/sheet. You can guess which one i chose! : victory:

I'm not sure if they'd have one where you are, it may just be here, but they're called 'WG POWELL Ltd'. I'm going to buy everything from them to make the new viv


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

Do you find that when you make your own vivs that they are sturdy enough to stack others on top?
I'd make my own, I am confident enough in my DIY skills just don't know if I'd trust to stack any others on top.


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## beardies_r_us (Aug 8, 2009)

angela__k__84 said:


> Do you find that when you make your own vivs that they are sturdy enough to stack others on top?
> I'd make my own, I am confident enough in my DIY skills just don't know if I'd trust to stack any others on top.


I'm making a stack viv, will be 4 vivs high but bottom 2 vivs will be seperated to make 2 out of one, so 6 vivs in total. if that makes sense? :lol2:


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## JAM3S (Jan 17, 2007)

angela__k__84 said:


> Do you find that when you make your own vivs that they are sturdy enough to stack others on top?
> I'd make my own, I am confident enough in my DIY skills just don't know if I'd trust to stack any others on top.


It does worry me. I have both of my home made vivs stacked and the first night i was a bit sleepless wondering if the joiners were strong enough or had i missed a gap, was the glass in the runners properly but im a bit of a worrier anyway. The way i put them together is with the side pieces on top of the bottom piece and under the top piece if that makes sense? so the tranfser of weight should be pretty strong. I think i would only stack 3 high at the most though.


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

JAM3S said:


> It does worry me. I have both of my home made vivs stacked and the first night i was a bit sleepless wondering if the joiners were strong enough or had i missed a gap, was the glass in the runners properly but im a bit of a worrier anyway. The way i put them together is with the side pieces on top of the bottom piece and under the top piece if that makes sense? so the tranfser of weight should be pretty strong. I think i would only stack 3 high at the most though.


I have my flat packs stacked three high and do it like a brick wall, with the one on top between two on the bottom - if that makes sense. I am happy with them, they are really sturdy so I know in my head that something handmade SHOULD be sturdier than something generically flat packed that can be thrown together in 25 mins at home.
I still worry though.


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## paulb1912 (Aug 2, 2009)

I would love to know someone in Glasgow who could make me one, I am rubbish at this sort of thing.


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