# Pva glue as sealer



## Sold81 (Dec 2, 2007)

For sealing fake rock what part pva to water?

And how long do you leave to dry between coats.

Thanks


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## Toeboe (Dec 28, 2006)

I usually do at least one watered down coat to ensure it gets into all the nooks and crannies, then an undiluted coat to finish. I just add enough water to make the PVA easy to brush on but without being like water, if that makes sense,lol
Hope this helps


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## Sold81 (Dec 2, 2007)

Toeboe said:


> I usually do at least one watered down coat to ensure it gets into all the nooks and crannies, then an undiluted coat to finish. I just add enough water to make the PVA easy to brush on but without being like water, if that makes sense,lol
> Hope this helps



Cheers mate and here was me going to do 4 or 5 coats  how long do you leave the watered down coat to dry before applying the 2nd coat?

! more thing I used no more nails to hold the back/side/floor panels together then covered it in a few coats of grout (only at the front you can still see NMN at the back that will be tight against the viv) then will seal front and back with pva.

Will it be ok that the no more nails is exposed at the back but sealed or should I mix up some more grout and completely cover the nmn

The no more nails has been dry for about 3 weeks


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## Welsh dragon (Oct 27, 2009)

I dont use pva glue. I paint the grout then spray with plasticote then a coat of yacht varnish.


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## GeckoD (May 30, 2010)

isnt PVA water soluable? and melts at a fairly low temp???


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## Toeboe (Dec 28, 2006)

Welsh dragon said:


> I dont use pva glue. I paint the grout then spray with plasticote then a coat of yacht varnish.


Thats a lovely set-up. 
Your method of sealing is far more robust and water resistant than mine, but at a cost. I use waterproof PVA, but its only really moisture resistant. 
Yes, it does breakdown under watery conditions so if you are keeping high humidity then a varnish is the best option. But its not as cheap. High temps dont seem to break it down, but I'm only seeing 80s at one end of my snake viv from an AHS 250W
I have used my grout/PVA method on many fake walls for spiders and my cornsnake and had no issue, but i'm not using it in an extreme environment. If water droplets do settle on PVA for any length of time, then it goes white until it has dried. On the odd occasion when excessively sprayin a spider I have noticed a little whitish cast to the wall, but it has never been an issue to the animal and has always dried within an hour or so.
Sold81, once the white colour has gone then its safe to put another coat on if needed. I usually let the final coat dry for a couple of days naturally after *all* the wall has cleared of white spots. I have also when needed, rushed the process by placing on the boiler or radiators.
I have never used NMN on a build because of the length of time curing. Its very vapour heavy too. I use PVA, silicone or grout to attach polystyrene to a hardboard baseboard the once the grout and PVA layers have been applied its fairly tough. I guess if you attaching something with substantial weight then that would have to be accomodated for. But you would be surprised how good looking polystyrene looks when decorated and coated properly. Its very deceptive. Its also very easy to reapir or modify.


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## Sold81 (Dec 2, 2007)

Toeboe said:


> Thats a lovely set-up.
> Your method of sealing is far more robust and water resistant than mine, but at a cost. I use waterproof PVA, but its only really moisture resistant.
> Yes, it does breakdown under watery conditions so if you are keeping high humidity then a varnish is the best option. But its not as cheap. High temps dont seem to break it down, but I'm only seeing 80s at one end of my snake viv from an AHS 250W
> I have used my grout/PVA method on many fake walls for spiders and my cornsnake and had no issue, but i'm not using it in an extreme environment. If water droplets do settle on PVA for any length of time, then it goes white until it has dried. On the odd occasion when excessively sprayin a spider I have noticed a little whitish cast to the wall, but it has never been an issue to the animal and has always dried within an hour or so.
> ...



As I said the NMN was applied nearly a month ago and is solid it has been coated with pva and will be coated with a few more pva coats.


















Its only visable from the back of the structure that will be tight against the viv but I was worried that it might gove off vapour.








What i was thinking of doing though was grouting over the NMN completely with a few coats of grout then sealing with pva.


So should it be OK as it is sealed or will it give off vapour and if it does woul covering it all with grout and sealing none of the NMN showing stop vapour release?

Its for a beardie so it wont get wet


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## Toeboe (Dec 28, 2006)

I think after a month it will be pretty safe, but to be certain I would do the PVA at least. Its looking good though. 
One thing I notice is the deep corner. This will probably be tricky to clean if they mess up in it, which they invariably will do,lol. At this stage its not too late to put some polystyrene to make a nice radius in the corner and easier to clean. I have a couple of dirt traps on my snakes wall, and its annoying and a hassle to correct now its in use. I have another one in the making to put the wrongs right, but its on the slow burner for now.
Anyway its only a minor point on a good looking wall. Well done : victory:


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