I think this guy is wrong... please help!

[Jadie.Glitch]

I saw a member post a photo of their snake rack and I REALLY love it. I went into my local lumber house and asked them for a quote on the materials, kind of explained it, and showed him the picture.

Here's the picture of it, taken from a post by Old_School in a thread in the DIY section:

Basically, it seems like I'm making melamine "bookshelves", right? But instead of books, I will be stuffing containers with snakes in there. Simple enough, right?

Well he (the guy at the lumber house) told me it would need to be done with plywood, not melamine, and that I can't just screw it together. He says there's no way to get some of the divider slats in there without screwing at angles, adding 2x2 support pieces, and glue. Then he quoted me $300 for the raw materials (and this is the quote for PLYWOOD, not melamine like I wanted ).

I left there very discouraged with the idea that I'll just have to sell all my snakes and get out of the hobby (I know, a little melodramatic, but yesterday was just a bad one, lol). The randomly-sized glass tanks all over the house are driving me crazy and I NEED a snake rack. When I saw this one I fell in love with it. It looks like a really nice piece of furniture and also seemed simple enough to put together.

I built a rat-rack with the same lumber person's guidance and did just fine, so I'm inclined to trust him... but is it REALLY that difficult??

I need some help and encouragement here. Thank you much

 

[Nanci]

What if you PM Old School and ask how he built it??

 

[bitsy]

I have some custom made melamine vivs that are screwed together rather than glued, so that they can be dismantled and flatpacked if necessary. They also have two upper levels and two smaller shelves. No glue anywhere.

There are plastic blocks that fit between the parts that sit at right angles to each other. Each block takes two screws - one goes into the upright piece, the other goes into the horizontal piece. No need for screws to go in at an angle. Screws either go in vertically or horizontally.

I don't know why your lumber guy is telling you it's not possible. The rack in your photo shows that it is. Maybe it's just beyond what he's done before and he'd rather work in a material that he understands?

 

[Blue Apple Herps]

You can most definitely just screw it together. You just want to make sure you pre-drill the melamine with holes before inserting screw.

I think what he is talking about are the divider pieces. If you build the basic frame with shelves and then try to add divider pieces then it would be next to impossible to screw them in. So in that regard he is correct. But I think you could get away with just inserting them in w/o screwing them in. They'd still give the support you need.

 

[El Jefe]

Melamine is heavy. I put dividers in and let the tops rest on them. The dividers are cut 1/8th inch higher than the tubs and that allows the tubs to slide easily and also allows air exchange without having to drill a million holes. For bigger/stronger snakes I will put a wood wedge under the tub to make sure it can't move it out....but I've never had one do that anyway. There are a few snakes that are prone to dumping water dishes or getting in and getting wet....for those I drill holes in the sides.

I have 4 rack systems holding over 70 tubs each using this method.

In case you care, to heat them I routered a 1/4 inch groove in the bottom and ran heat cable through that...works very well.

This post shows some of the ones I have now...not super pretty but VERY functional.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showpost.php?p=260715&postcount=13

 

[Cattsy]

Also Old School mentioned that he built it a shelf at a time, so the dividers would go in as the shelves went on, would act as spacers and support as well for when you put the shelves on.


So imagine you're building it from the bottom up. You have the bottom down, and the sides on. You measure and place your first spacer. Use a couple of those little brackets that someone else mentioned to attach them to the bottom of the shelf, then lay the next shelf on top of that, make sure it's level, screw in the sides and down onto the spacer. RInse and repeat?

I wouldn't leave the spacers loose though, because they could be knocked about when you're moving bins in and out and I can see them being a royal pain.

I assure you it IS possible I made a smaller version out of melamine, and plan on making a bigger one!

 

[Sweetseraph]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that picture not actually show 2 identical racks side by side? Perhaps that is where the confusion lies?

 

[darth-hayzer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that picture not actually show 2 identical racks side by side? Perhaps that is where the confusion lies?

I think you are right !

 

[Jadie.Glitch]

What if you PM Old School and ask how he built it??

I've spoken to him briefly about it on the thread I got the pic from, but I think he must be really busy because he didn't have much to say about it. I didn't want to hassle him about plans if he didn't have any. I did PM him about this thread though, and maybe he'll chime in

Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that picture not actually show 2 identical racks side by side? Perhaps that is where the confusion lies?

My husband also pointed that out to me.. looking at it from that view makes it seem a little less daunting. I really thought it was just as easy as stacking it all up, like was just mentioned, and screwing it together as you move forward. I've even heard of people say that they built it upside down, and then turned it over when they were done, and the excess wood on the bottom serves as legs. That way you don't have to be quite as accurate on some of your measurements and it still works out.

I hate to say it, but I might have to figure out all the measurements myself and then bite the bullet and go to HomeDepot to get the melamine and have it cut. I really hate shopping there (I much prefer supporting the smaller business, as opposed to big names like HomeDepot and WalMart) but I may just have to. I think the smaller place just charges way too much for this project, and I really had my heart set on melamine, not raw plywood.

 

[Sweetseraph]

Well, it pretty much is that easy. I built mine upside down and the bit at the bottom is legs and then it leaves a bit of room so it's not right on the floor. I was just gonna screw it together from the sides, but hubby insisted that it needed some support, so he put little ledges for each shelf to sit on. I'm no carpenter, but he sure ain't either! LOL We managed to make something half decent though. It's not completely straight, but I can live with that for our first attempt and I'm using lids anyways. Your original picture is a little more complicated than the one I made, but it wouldn't be that much different, just a few more steps.

Here's mine (made from pine):

The shelves were made from 36" x 16" pieces and the sides were 60" x 16". I bought 6 of the shelves as is and the remaining 2 were pieces left over from cutting the side pieces down (they started off as 96" x 16" pieces). Including the screws and lengths to make those little ledges, it was $163. I did look at melamine, but it was pretty expensive and heavy. Not that the pine is light!

 

[cornsnakelovah]

Well, it pretty much is that easy. I built mine upside down and the bit at the bottom is legs and then it leaves a bit of room so it's not right on the floor. I was just gonna screw it together from the sides, but hubby insisted that it needed some support, so he put little ledges for each shelf to sit on. I'm no carpenter, but he sure ain't either! LOL We managed to make something half decent though. It's not completely straight, but I can live with that for our first attempt and I'm using lids anyways. Your original picture is a little more complicated than the one I made, but it wouldn't be that much different, just a few more steps.

Here's mine (made from pine):

The shelves were made from 36" x 16" pieces and the sides were 60" x 16". I bought 6 of the shelves as is and the remaining 2 were pieces left over from cutting the side pieces down (they started off as 96" x 16" pieces). Including the screws and lengths to make those little ledges, it was $163. I did look at melamine, but it was pretty expensive and heavy. Not that the pine is light!

I love those plastic bins thay are practicly escape-proof!:crazy02::dancer::spinner::crazy02:

 

[Old_School]

I saw a member post a photo of their snake rack and I REALLY love it. I went into my local lumber house and asked them for a quote on the materials, kind of explained it, and showed him the picture.

Here's the picture of it, taken from a post by Old_School in a thread in the DIY section:

Basically, it seems like I'm making melamine "bookshelves", right? But instead of books, I will be stuffing containers with snakes in there. Simple enough, right?

Well he (the guy at the lumber house) told me it would need to be done with plywood, not melamine, and that I can't just screw it together. He says there's no way to get some of the divider slats in there without screwing at angles, adding 2x2 support pieces, and glue. Then he quoted me $300 for the raw materials (and this is the quote for PLYWOOD, not melamine like I wanted ).

I left there very discouraged with the idea that I'll just have to sell all my snakes and get out of the hobby (I know, a little melodramatic, but yesterday was just a bad one, lol). The randomly-sized glass tanks all over the house are driving me crazy and I NEED a snake rack. When I saw this one I fell in love with it. It looks like a really nice piece of furniture and also seemed simple enough to put together.

I built a rat-rack with the same lumber person's guidance and did just fine, so I'm inclined to trust him... but is it REALLY that difficult??

I need some help and encouragement here. Thank you much

I build them just like a Melamine bookshelf, no 2x2's. I just start at the bottom lay down 2 tubs and then lay the next shelf on top of that and work my way up.. I do use some a cd on each corner of the tub when I place down the tubs and remove them after i secure the shelf. this gives the tub just enough clearance to slide freely, but not enough clearance to allow escape.
All the shelves are 2' x 4' originally ( home depot sells melamine in that size) I cut 1' off each board, making each shelf 2' x 3 '. this will allow for two tubs ( 32 or 29 quart) on each shelf.
After the shelves are assembled and the unit looks like a bookcase, i take all the left over 1' pieces and use them as dividers on each shelf. Doing this will give the unit good support and prevent the shelves from sagging overtime.
finally I use pegboard on the back to keep the tubs from being slid too far back and it also tightens the unit up even further.
I do not heat the racks, I maintain the room at 82 degrees.
If you go to reptilegeeks.com, I have a page there under the same name old_school and I have an photo album there that shows a few pics taken as i constructed the units, check it out. Hope this helps...Btw, the racks are now 4 years old and as good as the day they were built.

 

[Old_School]

BTW, In the pic, those are 2 units side by side.

 

[Old_School]

Also each shelf is simply screw in, no brackets ect. Take the time to predrill each screw hole so the melamine does not crack. Go slow, don't rush and you'll enjoy the project.

 

[desertanimal]

Go with melamine if you want something long-term. I made a small rack for $25 bucks or so a few years back out of press-board, and I recently had to varnish the shelves because they kept getting moldy on the snake-open side. Melamine looks nicer, and you won't ever develop that issue with it.

 

[Jadie.Glitch]

Okay, I'm gearing up to do some of my own measurements and then go buy some supplies! I think we're going to make one side first, then the next side next month.

Old_School: Usually melamine has a couple of rough edges on it... Did you paint these over, or were you able to find boards that had all of the edges covered?

 

[Old_School]

Okay, I'm gearing up to do some of my own measurements and then go buy some supplies! I think we're going to make one side first, then the next side next month.

Old_School: Usually melamine has a couple of rough edges on it... Did you paint these over, or were you able to find boards that had all of the edges covered?

it is melamine edging tape.. you will fing it in the same area as the melamine.. it irons on and it is in roll form.. cut the length you need and iron it on.. do not paint the edges as the moisture from the paint will cause the wood edges to swell and ruin everything.
If you check out my album on reptilegeeks.com you will see the application of the tape

 

[Jadie.Glitch]

Thank you all for all the help!!