Waterproof coating for covering inside of contiboard cabinet

[Ned]

Are there any waterproof paints/coatings which I can use on Contiboard. I want to make the inside of a vivarium proof against water spillage. Thanks

[Andy Dingley]

No, don't even think about using chipboard. Use a good grade of exterior ply instead.

[robgraham]

and the snakes

How does one actually tell when snakes are happy? They don't seem to wag their tails or smile.

Rob Graham

[Ned]

They bite you less often, are bright and attentive, they eat their dinner and if you're lucky let you pick them up without wiggling too much.

[Ned]

Have you built one with ply Andy? What finishing do you have to apply?

[Andy Dingley]

I've only used solid timber for vivaria and acquaria stands, with a little ply for making cabinet doors or tops. For the enclosure itself I've used glass (or mirror), because it's easier to clean and quite easy to assemble with (the right) silicone.

Terraria are easier to make than aquaria, because the weight of water is enormous. Even a few big rocks is still lighter than a box entirely full of water.

If you're making a desert terrarium, then you could make the base from marine ply. Personally I wouldn't, because I'm still somewhat wary about potential warping, and it's also a nuisance to join glass sides to a wooden base. A terrarium still needs to be water resistant. Cleaning is a wet process, even for a desert terrarium, and spills are inevitable. If you ever have infection problems, turf the inhabitants out, lift out the rocks, then carry the whole glass box outdoors and hosepipe it.

Chipboard is just absolute rubbish within a few feet of water, no matter what you do to it. If you insist, use Contiplas (melamine faced) rather than Contiboard (wood veneer). Chipboard with weight on it also sags over time. Damp chipboard in a similar state does it while you watch.

Poly varnish is a good start. Avoid yacht & spar varnish, as many of those of optimised for flexibility, not water resistance.

Best of the lot, and the only stuff I'd trust to seal the plywood floor, would be Rustin's Plastic Coating, either floor or bar grade. Stinks like a Komodo dragon's latrine when you apply it, but the fumes clear up a lot faster than poly's too.

[Andy Hall]

I think that this would be OK for some types of animal, but I wouldn't want to use it for cases where there is disease risk since the surfaces need to be regularly cleaned. I guess that a suitable spirit based varnish would help with that problem though?

.andy

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[The Natural Philosopher]

Oh - get a large sheet of galls fiber mat, a gallon of laminatiing epoxy, and coat the ruddy thing with that.