# waterproof



## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

Is it possible to coat contiboard in yaught varnish or would it just run off? Is there another wood i could use, i need the viv to be totally water proof as its gonna be 80% humidity all the time


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

you can use pretty much any other wood. I've varnished contiboard before and it just peeled off.
you can sand the contiboard down so there's a rough surface for the varnish to 'grip' to.


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## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

yeah thought about that but then it would be pretty pointless using it in the first place really, its doing my head in coz i need it to be totally waterproof and dont know which to use, need to get it right first time lol


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## chrism (Jul 5, 2007)

Any chance you can clarify what trying to do / what will live in there? You could incorporate a waterproof natural background fairly easily...


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

you could also stick / staple rubble bags to the inside.


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## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

one is gonna be for green tree monitors the other for blue tree monitors


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## coopdog (Feb 6, 2007)

use marine ply its allready waterproof then putting varnish on it will make it super waterproof.....


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## snickers (Aug 15, 2007)

If you want standing water you probably need to seal something into the bottom. Either glass or a plastic tub of some kind. Contiboard doesn't do well with high humidity, even if it's sealed.


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## Darbz (Mar 22, 2009)

I'm planning to use conti in a high humidity viv...
My idea was to seal the entire base and say 10 cms up the walls with a few layers of epoxy resin, then use bark panel background and sides which should hopefully stop too much water coming into contact with the wood..

Failing that I could always coat the whole inside with epoxy since it's going to have tree bark panels anyway..


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## coopdog (Feb 6, 2007)

yous are making it to complicated for ya selfs if you buy a good grade conti and seal it correclty with normal builders cilicone it works great and saves £££ on resin... plus using resin if the viv gets to hot the resin will let of harmfull fumes...


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## Darbz (Mar 22, 2009)

coopdog said:


> yous are making it to complicated for ya selfs if you buy a good grade conti and seal it correclty with normal builders cilicone it works great and saves £££ on resin... plus using resin if the viv gets to hot the resin will let of harmfull fumes...


Conti won't stand up to 90%+ humidity for long without treatment. and it's for Darts so it won't get anywhere near hot enough to melt epoxy once it's set...

Builders silicone contains fungicides which are harmful to amphibians and plant life in a vivarium, it has to be pesticide and fungicide free like aquarium sealant (which I will use before epoxy coating)

I have put quite alot of thought into it, and i don't think that the cost or effort will be greater than the satisfaction of having a nice looking dart viv thats not an off the shelf job.


(sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread btw..)


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Line it with pond liner, use aquarium sealant to attach it.


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## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

apparently marine ply will eventually rot too?????????


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## coopdog (Feb 6, 2007)

yeah in like 50 yrs they build boats out of it.....


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## coopdog (Feb 6, 2007)

o and their not putting frogs in it their putting monitors in 

most plp building vivs these days use builders cilicon to seal...

but nice one i didnt no that its harmfully to amphibs you learn summat every day..


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## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

will defo being using aquarium selent anyway, just to be on the safe side and i presume it must be stronger as it holds fish tanks together lol
looks like marine ply it will be, do BnQ sell the stuffr though lol


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## Seems Unlikely (Feb 2, 2009)

You building tank in Morecambe or St Helens? I am in process of building viv for aussie water dragons, have used combo of contiboard, g4 pond sealant, aquarium silicone. How high a humidity you gonna be running it at? 90%? And what size? Using standard (off the shelf) sizes for sides etc Means more accurate square edges meaning less gaps to fill in with sealant :2thumb:

If you gonna be waterproofing it's a case of having plenty of time, not rushing, and having somewhere to build where the fumes dont fill your house! Have tried rusing mine and am now a week down the line and having to start some of it again :2wallbang:

Live betweeen Morecambe and Lancaster myself so you welcome to look at what i'm doing if ya like, also work in DT dept at school so if you want non-standard sizes for your viv i can get them cut on our machines for ya. PM me if you like any help

Corin


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## coopdog (Feb 6, 2007)

go to a good builders yard its cheeper and they will cut the sizes you need then just screw it togeather..


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## CWD (Feb 11, 2007)

Well iv used yacht varnish on my conti board over the aquarium sealant and its worked fine


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## Mrs dirtydozen (Sep 5, 2008)

Seems Unlikely said:


> You building tank in Morecambe or St Helens? I am in process of building viv for aussie water dragons, have used combo of contiboard, g4 pond sealant, aquarium silicone. How high a humidity you gonna be running it at? 90%? And what size? Using standard (off the shelf) sizes for sides etc Means more accurate square edges meaning less gaps to fill in with sealant :2thumb:
> 
> If you gonna be waterproofing it's a case of having plenty of time, not rushing, and having somewhere to build where the fumes dont fill your house! Have tried rusing mine and am now a week down the line and having to start some of it again :2wallbang:
> 
> ...


thats very nice of you, iam a DT teacher myself lol
Think im gonna go for the marine ply as i want it to last, humidty needs to be 80%. I have a super rain set up that will be going in it and the tanks will be getting a 1 min blast with the nozzles twice a day. For the two tanks it will prob be about 3 litres a day so it needs to be sealed tight lol


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

youll still need to seal it with yacht varnish though. its less prone to humidity and water problems, but at the end of the day its wood! once sealed marine ply should last you decades though. MDF on the other hand might not last a year


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## Seems Unlikely (Feb 2, 2009)

Mrs dirtydozen said:


> thats very nice of you, iam a DT teacher myself lol
> Think im gonna go for the marine ply as i want it to last, humidty needs to be 80%. I have a super rain set up that will be going in it and the tanks will be getting a 1 min blast with the nozzles twice a day. For the two tanks it will prob be about 3 litres a day so it needs to be sealed tight lol


Ahh, a fellow DT teacher,, we could chinwag about shared learning outcomes and starters and plenaries and 'bite sized chunks' but it all makes me fairly angry fairly quickly... So best not, maybe another time. Marine ply a better bet, nothing lasts for ever but marine ply can be measured in a useful lifetime unlike conti, the coating of which isnt that far removed from paper mache...

Have looked at epoxy resin for the waterproofing of a base to the unit, to keep humidity, also played with idea of lining with thin perspex bonded with aquarium sealant, bit overkill for mine but might work for you and supplies can be aquired thru ur school? Just liberate the leftover 'poo brown' shade that none of the kids want :2thumb:

Anyway good luck with it, will be posting pics of my viv soon so look at that or see it in the fresh, the finest DT mind (mine) has developed the layout to be as 'modular' and 'convertible' as possible, may add underfloor heating roman style in the winter :whistling2:

Good luck-Corin


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## loxocemus (Sep 2, 2006)

i had the same requirements as u so i did the following http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/habitat-pictures/285276-little-rack-type-thing-i.html hope it helps

ed



Mrs dirtydozen said:


> Is it possible to coat contiboard in yaught varnish or would it just run off? Is there another wood i could use, i need the viv to be totally water proof as its gonna be 80% humidity all the time


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## Caraneb (Aug 20, 2007)

I had the same problem about a year ago now as I wanted to keep the wooden effect. We ended up covering the inner sides of the contiboard in fablon and folding it over the raw edges before constructing the viv. We then sealed the joints and so far its been great, we've had no problems at all and managed to keep the wooden effect.


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