# really useful box rack help



## captaincaveman (Nov 6, 2006)

Hi guys, looking at building a rack with really useful 50litre boxes and stuck on what material to build it out of, i was going to use contiboard but i can only find a maximum depth of 600mm'ish and the really useful are 700mm'ish

Has anyone built a rack with these boxes, if so any pics or does anyone know of material i can get around that size

Cheers


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Where are you looking for your contiboard? I'm SURE I've seen 36-inch-wide conti (about 900 mm) at B&Q or any decent boards supplier .... or you could try getting sheets of plywood instead.

And if you get right down to it, having the equivalent of 5 inches of cage hanging over the edge (if you're using the lids) isn't so bad - it's only bad if you aren't using the lids.


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## captaincaveman (Nov 6, 2006)

Thanks for that, i'll have a look down b&q tomorrow, cant find it on their website:no1:


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

The B&Q website is so very, very crap.

I wish they'd list the bloody stuff on there too, but they don't.


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## melanie (Jan 18, 2007)

pmsl lol you are so right B &Q website is so crap:-x and hard to find anything, someone posted a thread on wanting black conti board ( lol i had black in the 80's so fasionable didn't think anyone wanted it now)and some of the sizes and prices and said they got it off the B & Q site well how they found that god knows i spent ages trawling through pages and found nothing !!!!!put conti board, contiboard, melamine, malamine, lol everything into that bloody search and nout..... also been looking for picket fencing asked a friend where she got it from and she said B & Q got if off the site. so i thought i'll have a nose for that then......arhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i got fence panels and everything else they sell in bloody B&Q but no picket fence either.
I am going over on saturday to one in cov and if the layout of the shop is as difficult as the layout of the website, i'll run round naked shouting you're all bloody loonies what can be so difficult !!!!!with all my 5 kids in tow and my hairy scary hubby lol...(not really but hey it sounded like a good idea when i wrote it)...but i'll still take the 5 kids and the scarey hubby just keep my clothes on!!!!!!!!!!:lol2: oooh bar humbug


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## mark67123 (Jun 11, 2006)

I think they do bare chipboard in wider sheets but never seen actual melamine/contiboard in anything wider than 24".

You could use one 18" section and one 12" section for the shelves - put the 12" section at the back and fix it about 5mm lower than the front shelf so you'll have a recess for either the heat cable or a heat mat/strip with some polystyrene underneath to direct the heat upwards.


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## weelad (Jul 25, 2006)

my local b&q dont even have a cutting service :-x


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## PendleHog (Dec 21, 2005)

Ours does but they expect you to trawl the store looking for a staff member actually allowed to cut it, then they cut it wrong anyway :bash: :lol2:


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## melanie (Jan 18, 2007)

GREAT NEWS PENDLEHOG i am so inspired now can't wait to trawl around B &Q looking for ages only to find a man who can and then to find no he actually can't when he cuts all i require too small and instead of wood for a hatchling rack i come home with wood cut for kitchen cabinet!..:lol2:


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## captaincaveman (Nov 6, 2006)

Cheers guys:no1: , i was also thinking of using 18mm mdf sheets which come in 2440mmx1200mm or something like that, may be some wasteage but its cheaper. Then maybe paint it in a nice colour or something:no1:


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## sami (Oct 23, 2006)

PendleHog said:


> Ours does but they expect you to trawl the store looking for a staff member actually allowed to cut it, then they cut it wrong anyway :bash: :lol2:



I think I can go one better 

B&Q again, try this:

(while reading bear in mind we have 3 B&Q's within a 10 minute drive of each other and we only live ain a town not a city!)

Off to B'nQ for some bits of wood.

Find wood

want wood cutting

Guy who can cut wood is on lunch

swear a bit under my breath, realise it's not his fault and drive to bnq #2

find wood

find person who knows which button to press on "wood cutter" (their phrase not mine - "the wood cutter is over here sir")

the "wood cutter" at bnq #2 is broken.

swear a little bit more under my breath, slightly louder this time.

Drive to bnq #3

find wood

find wood cutting peon

send wood off to be cut

wait around

wait around a bit more

wander in the direction he headed off in to see if he'd died on route or been eaten or something

found him pushing a trolley full of boxes of ceramic tiles, distinct lack of wood/cutting.

enquired after my piece of wood

peon looked a bit sheepish and dashed off

peon turns up with a completely different piece of wood. Not even the same type of wood.

I "explain" things to him again.

peon comes back along with my wood, resist urge to feed wood to him.

Head off to pay.

Pay/shout a bit in the car to make myself feel better/head home

Wood is too short by about 1.5 inches, I didn't check it in the shop.

You can guess the rest, it involved a drive back to bnq #3 a bit of shouting and eventually resulted in me getting the wood I wanted and a refund. I love bnq


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## talltom69 (Dec 8, 2006)

If you havent done so already you can always make your rack face width ways that way you wont have the problem of the depth.

I have 6 9ltr boxes on mine and 1 50ltr breeder box.


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## Magpye (Jan 26, 2007)

quixotic_axolotl said:


> I think I can go one better
> 
> B&Q again, try this:
> 
> ...




:lol2: Peon!! :lol2: Sounds like my B&Q too!


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## captaincaveman (Nov 6, 2006)

talltom69 said:


> If you havent done so already you can always make your rack face width ways that way you wont have the problem of the depth.
> 
> I have 6 9ltr boxes on mine and 1 50ltr breeder box.


i thought that, but don't want to go down that route unless i have to cause of the amount of wall space it takes up as im talking about 20-24 50litre boxes


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## Scoffa (Nov 23, 2006)

If you try Travis Perkins, Arnold Laver or a local timber merchant you might be able to find ply wood in 10ft x 5ft sheets. The problem with your tubs is that they are about 28" wide and most of the sheet material only goes up to 48" wide, and that would mean a lot of wastage.


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Unless of course you could find something useful to do with 20-inch-wide pieces of Ply or MDF


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## rantasam (Nov 28, 2006)

quixotic_axolotl said:


> I think I can go one better
> B&Q again, try this:
> (while reading bear in mind we have 3 B&Q's within a 10 minute drive of each other and we only live ain a town not a city!)
> Off to B'nQ for some bits of wood.
> ...


Hahaha! You forgot..

"Got to checkout and realised wood cut man has left the barcode in the offcuts bin". 

:lol2:


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## gaz (Oct 5, 2005)

why not make an open rack out of 2X1" light and easy to move about,cheap to make,looks groovy
regards gaz


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## captaincaveman (Nov 6, 2006)

gaz said:


> why not make an open rack out of 2X1" light and easy to move about,cheap to make,looks groovy
> regards gaz


 

cheers, looks like you got better carpentry skill than me, but that might be an option, do you struggle with heat loss?


I looked around a few places today and 18mm mdf is £13 for a 2440 x 1200sheets, which means i could house six 50litre boxes for £26, the dimensions are something like 920mm wide x 755mm high and 710mm deep, and i have space to hold four of those units, meaning housing for 24 adults with space on top for hatchling rack

Found the heat mats(well strips), they are 35" x 11" which is enough for two 50litre boxes and they are £15, the next size up 47" x 11" just aint big enough for going 3 boxes wide


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## gaz (Oct 5, 2005)

heated rooms so heat loss not a problem
gaz


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