# New bookcase viv finished!!



## lola (Dec 11, 2007)

Well, this is how it started , a bookcase unit with 2 drawers from Argos:









After some adjustment and silent screaming, this is the result tonight:









The bookcase was £49.99 + £4.95 delivery
I used 4mm perspex cut to size from the local glass merchant £47.00 delivered
Door runners and handles and wedges from Lotus Nut £20 something incl p&p

Then there's all the electrics - the top drawer is no more, it's just a front with 2 magnetic catches to hold it in place, then inside it in the fixed in bottom drawer are 4 thermostats, 2 UV starters, 2 banks of 4 socket extension leads, 1 bank of 6, bet the village lights dimmed when I turned it all on!!!

There's still some tweaking to do, the decor needs adjusting, the temperatures need watching and thermostats adjusted accordingly....

But for my first ever attempt at a project like this - with my OH's help  - I'm well chuffed!!!!!


----------



## Velosus (Feb 26, 2008)

id be chuffed aswell lol, thats pretty good. especially for your first time.
well done:no1:

whens the next one eh 

Ian


----------



## Ally (Mar 8, 2006)

Looks fantastic!
I love the idea for hiding the electrics.


----------



## Durhamchance (Mar 21, 2008)

wow! love it!


----------



## lola (Dec 11, 2007)

yep we're well pleased with it.... and i'm thinking about doing a similar cupboard conversion for my beardie's new viv when he needs to move up a size


----------



## linda.t (Sep 28, 2007)

great job.


----------



## Sueg65 (Aug 14, 2006)

Nice one well done you. Love how your hiding the cables and stuff in the bottom drawer. :no1:


----------



## Shadow_Eyed (Dec 24, 2007)

Great job youve done there, doesnt look home made at all. :no1:


----------



## lola (Dec 11, 2007)

:blush: thanks!!!

it lives in the living room so we wanted it to look good, not just a stack of vivs if you know what I mean....

I keep checking on it :lol2: - smart


----------



## underdog (Mar 11, 2008)

Looks really good, what lives in there?


----------



## drpjtaylor (Feb 26, 2008)

Looks fantastic. :mf_dribble:
Been thinking of doing something like this myself.
What sizes are each of them when finished?


----------



## SimonB (Jan 31, 2008)

Looks really good that


----------



## Lotus Nut (Jan 7, 2008)

Excellent viv a great job and well thought out too especially for a first attempt it looks first class.

Thanks for the plug also!!!


----------



## DeanThorpe (Apr 9, 2006)

Awesome...
So you used one of the shelfs that came with the bookcase to make the front edging? smart idea.
how big is the hole thing?


----------



## butterfingersbimbo (Jan 26, 2008)

wow well done! : victory:


----------



## Flower (Sep 4, 2006)

:no1:Excellent... you should be chuffed, looks great.. I wish my OH was that clever.


----------



## J-Dee (Jan 14, 2008)

omg i have just brought that book case you have just solved 2 probs for me by your clever idea thank you sooooo much !! yours looks fantastic !!:no1:


----------



## SisterMoonbeam (Jan 28, 2008)

It's amazing... how long did it take you?

giving me ideas :lol2:


----------



## boabloketony (Jan 22, 2007)

It looks brilliant


----------



## Triangulum (Apr 30, 2006)

Lola, i'd be very chuffed also!
Thats a fantastic job, love the decor used also. The large pieces of wood look amazing.


----------



## slimrob (Mar 11, 2006)

looks cool, great effort, just shows you dont have to pay a fortune


----------



## lola (Dec 11, 2007)

: victory: thanks everyone  



it took a couple of weeks longer than I hoped but that was only coz my OH helped and could/would only do so at weekends!!
the bottom viv is about 21" high, the middle one only about 12" high, the top one is about 19" high - the middle shelf of the original stack is a fixed one holding the 'box' firm and that is the one that decided the height of the bottom viv 
yep we used one of the 2 left over shelves as sills - i took the shelves to a local kitchen furniture company I know (do drawings for them occasionally  ) and they cut them neatly and accurately on their table saw thingy.... one shelf was cut into 5 lengths and the other into two. I was intending to use the two bigger pieces as shelves/levels for the two larger vivs but used branches from the garden for them all instead! There are top & bottom sills on the bottom viv, bottom sill only for the middle one as this is not high anyway, and top & bottom for the top viv.
We could have made the top viv shorter and the middle one taller, but I'm only about 5' 2" and want to be able to reach into and deal with the top viv without getting onto a chair to reach!!!
we have put the vents near the tops of each side panel, with plastic hexagonal covers screwed on inside and out, i feel safer with that rather than the push in type 
all lights and heatmats and stat sensors enter either at the top of the viv or at floor level so no holes in the middles of the back panels if at all possible.... the back panel is only hardboard and is not very tough and comes only taped together - once pinned all round and along the backs of each shelf it does get much firmer, and I also re-taped all the joins.
one light in the middle viv - the compact uv - is fitted coming out of the back panel so it's horizontal to the viv which makes more uv accessible apparently than hanging it vertically (so I read somewhere)... to do this I screwed a piece of the unused drawer box side onto the floor of the top viv at the back so it hangs down, then used that as a stronger fixing position for the battenholder.
we've just sold our main garden and the new owners who are going to build a bungalow there have cut down all the lovely trees already - apple, magnolia, cherry, lilac - well I've reclaimed several branches from the apple and magnolia trees, cleaned and baked them so they are still with me, and are now my viv furniture!!!!
I did a lot of it on my own, but my OH took over with most of the electrics and electric drilling things... did you see wallace & gromit when gromit tried to use the power drill and spun round and round, that's me!!!! But I did the design and main construction   :lol2:


----------



## spud100 (Mar 6, 2008)

I wish my dad was that clever!!!!!:lol2:


----------



## Tonino (Dec 20, 2007)

very nice...: victory:


----------



## johnz_snow (May 31, 2007)

i done the same thing with argos`s smaller book case lol the look really goody


----------



## Philcw (Feb 7, 2008)

:no1:


----------



## andyfraser666 (Jan 4, 2007)

With a viv like that Dobby wondering if he left home too soon, nice one :no1:


----------



## lola (Dec 11, 2007)

When he looks round at his new girlfriends I'll bet he could tell you which he prefers LOL....!!!!


----------



## amazoncat (Feb 12, 2008)

It looks amazing, Lola. I'm jealous!


----------



## lola (Dec 11, 2007)

good innit!!!!

since I managed most of it on my own I now know I can do the next one - perhaps a b-i-g one for my beardie to move up into - on own completely!!!!


----------



## andyfraser666 (Jan 4, 2007)

lola said:


> When he looks round at his new girlfriends I'll bet he could tell you which he prefers LOL....!!!!


 
He has been exercising with them so maybe you're right :lol2:


----------



## lola (Dec 11, 2007)

eeeewww.... too much information andy:lol2::lol2::lol2: !!!!!


----------



## Harrison (Feb 29, 2008)

Lola, that's fantastic (just seen the pics). Well done! It looks very neat and more "natural" with all the electronics hidden away.

Not too expensive either!


----------



## PSGeckos (Jul 15, 2007)

:no1: Well done you, thats a cracking stack


----------



## Sid.lola (Jan 10, 2008)

well done. He finally let you finish it eh?! lol


----------

