# Building my first rack.. eventually!



## Xelazander (Jan 2, 2013)

So I've come to the inevitable decision that I want more reptiles, and probably want to breed them, currently I have viv setups for my two young boas but I've been looking into racking and it's appealing much more to me than loads of wood everywhere!

I've got a very tight budget so I'm starting small, I've decided on the IKEA Komplement tubs (as recommended on this forum):
KOMPLEMENT Box - 50x58x18 cm - IKEA
2x 104 litre (100x58x18.) and 4x 52 litre (50x58x18.) to start with, I can always build higher when I get more money/reptiles.

And I'm going to build my own wooden rack to house these lidless, I've read many guides but still a little unsure of my DIY abilities (it's been a while since woodwork at secondary school!) 

Little scale drawing in excel/paint to show what I want to achieve:









So now I need to buy the wood, if I take my drawing and label up the dimensions of the tubs, would somewhere like Wickes, B&Q, etc. cut it to size for me? What wood would you suggest and what sort of price do you think it would cost? I'd like the back to be solid ideally (for insulation) but if that'll add a lot of extra cost I'll use a cheaper board.

How do you fix the shelf pieces to the frame to keep them sturdy?

After reading all the guides I think I'm going to use heat wire laid into groves in the wood, and covered in aluminium heat foil, I've no electrician experience so any advice here in getting this hooked up to a stat (I presume it comes with a plug and you just plug it in) and getting the heat the same in each tub would be very welcome!

Edit: Found that the ZooMed stuff isn't as expensive as I thought: http://www.bluelizardreptiles.co.uk/reptileheating/heatcables/097612301007
Would this get hot enough though for a gradient temp with a hot end of ~32C? 

Thanks for your time reading, I'll take pictures when I start building!


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

Xelazander said:


> So I've come to the inevitable decision that I want more reptiles, and probably want to breed them, currently I have viv setups for my two young boas but I've been looking into racking and it's appealing much more to me than loads of wood everywhere!
> 
> I've got a very tight budget so I'm starting small, I've decided on the IKEA Komplement tubs (as recommended on this forum):
> KOMPLEMENT Box - 50x58x18 cm - IKEA
> ...


Solid back or crap back you'll still need two 8 x 4 sheets of your chosen material, here's an example I put together, shows dimensions, and a rough cutting guide of which bits you can get out of an 8 x 4 sheet. All measurements based on 15mm thick timber.

B and Q might do it OK for you, or maybe not, they could advise you to buy more than you need by accident if you don't know exactly what you need.










Hope it helps, 

Dave


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## Xelazander (Jan 2, 2013)

my_shed said:


> Solid back or crap back you'll still need two 8 x 4 sheets of your chosen material, here's an example I put together, shows dimensions, and a rough cutting guide of which bits you can get out of an 8 x 4 sheet. All measurements based on 15mm thick timber.
> 
> B and Q might do it OK for you, or maybe not, they could advise you to buy more than you need by accident if you don't know exactly what you need.
> 
> ...


That's excellent, thank you very much Dave!

People say to use melamine but I can't find it in anywhere near those large sizes, would MDF be suitable or would it rot from the heat+humidity? If not, what wood would you suggest? (Open to everyone!)


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

Xelazander said:


> That's excellent, thank you very much Dave!
> 
> People say to use melamine but I can't find it in anywhere near those large sizes, would MDF be suitable or would it rot from the heat+humidity? If not, what wood would you suggest? (Open to everyone!)


Plywood, chipboard, MDf will all be fine unless its very high humidity you're dealing with. The thing to be aware of is sagging, if you go for MDF i'd adjust the sizes and get thicker timber, maybe 25mm. Plywood should be ok in maybe 18mm, likewise chipboard. To be honest though I'd build a rack differently to this if it was me, (I do make them to order, along with vivs, backgrounds etc). Due to the width being over three foot and presumably a layer of sustrate, decent size water bowl etc, I'd probably look into putting supporting framework in too.

Dave


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## Xelazander (Jan 2, 2013)

my_shed said:


> Plywood, chipboard, MDf will all be fine unless its very high humidity you're dealing with. The thing to be aware of is sagging, if you go for MDF i'd adjust the sizes and get thicker timber, maybe 25mm. Plywood should be ok in maybe 18mm, likewise chipboard. To be honest though I'd build a rack differently to this if it was me, (I do make them to order, along with vivs, backgrounds etc). Due to the width being over three foot and presumably a layer of sustrate, decent size water bowl etc, I'd probably look into putting supporting framework in too.
> 
> Dave


Would you possibly do me a quote for something of these dimensions on how you would build it please?


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

Xelazander said:


> Would you possibly do me a quote for something of these dimensions on how you would build it please?


Do you want an actual quote? Or a building guide? I'm not worried, if you just want a building guide I'll mock you up something tonight, if you want a quote you'd need to bear in mind the distance would probably make it less than feasible.

Dave


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## Xelazander (Jan 2, 2013)

A building guide is what I really need, but an estimate price for building materials (not including tubs) if you were to build one would be welcome too please.


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

Ok, sorry for the delay.....it's been hectic here today!

Right, here is what I would do. Please bear in mind this is not me aiming to put in a competitive quote, and while not expensive, its not the cheapest method either. Basically the carcass remains the same as the last sketch, except the sides increase from 765 to 894. The shelves are the full depth of 600, like the sides and top and bottom. The backboard is cut to fit between each shelf for support. The shelves are now constructed by making rectangles with 38x25 timbers (available from B & Q etc), gluing 3.6mm ply or 4mm hardboard to the bottom and then placing the original shelves on top. This would not only be stronger than unsupported melamine, but allows a cavity of 25mm that can be filled with insulation board. I'd also, if it was for me, be looking at the way loxocemus modified his tubs to put viewing windows in, and be doing this, and putting LED lighting in, which could easily be concealed in this shelf design, as could additional ventilation, etc. 

**edit:There would also be a length of melamine on the front of each shelf to block the view of the differing wood types, it's not shown in the diagram below, but I would set the end of the shelf back into the carcass 15mm and cap it with melamine.









Depending on the size of heatmats being used, I'd probably also try something along the lines of replacing the rear half of the shelf with 6mm ply, then putting 4mm strips around and 4mm glass, like this










to give easy access to the heatmat but leave the bottom flat so you're not constantly pushing the mat out the way when sliding the tubs in and out, or scraping them across the top of the mat.

Anyway, I apologize that this is very rough, because i'm knackered, hopefully it'll give you some ideas and pointers. Any more questions feel free.

Dave


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## Xelazander (Jan 2, 2013)

Thank you Dave, that's very informative. 

I think I'll combine the two methods for something more cost-effective! This is only going to be temporary after all, until I can afford something built by a professional like yourself!

The support is something I'll incorporate, but I think having one single long heat cable laid (multiple lengths) into the shelves and covered with heat tape will be simpler and cheaper than multiple heat mats and glass panels. 

I went into B&Q warehouse near me today to look at wood (giggity) but I couldn't find any useful staff to talk about advice for a build such as this. 

Again, thank you.


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

Xelazander said:


> Thank you Dave, that's very informative.
> 
> I think I'll combine the two methods for something more cost-effective! This is only going to be temporary after all, until I can afford something built by a professional like yourself!
> 
> ...


Sounds like a plan, just beware of weakening the shelves by channelling into them. Normally not a problem just be careful with the width of this one.

Dave


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## Xelazander (Jan 2, 2013)

Sent you a PM - if it worked, not showing up in sent items list.


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## my_shed (Jan 5, 2011)

Replied.....hope it helps :2thumb:


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