Aww, man!.......... So you're gonna make me embarrass myself, eh? Ha! Ha!



> > > What, may I ask is the reason you don't use FRP?



Truthfully? Probably because I think too dadgum much. Ha! Ha! There's a couple of reasons I'm not gonna use FRP on this enclosure. This is kinda long & drawn out so you'll have to bear with me.



1. Price. FRP is $30 per sheet (4 x 8), the smoothpanel board I'm using is $10 per sheet. Needing 5 sheets totals $100 in savings. Granted, the smoothpanel boards aren't recommended for areas with constant contact with water. They're water resistant, not waterproof. But I'm not building a swimming pool, nor do I intend on having standing water in direct contact with the panels.



I'm going to take a few scrap pieces of the panels I'm using and build a small box and then seal it with silicone. I'll pour water in it & let it set to see if the water goes thru the panels and will let eveyone here know in the next few days. I might should've already done this, but, oh well. Ha!



2. I don't like the looks/texture of FRP & it's hard to clean. I just didn't want it for the inside walls. Even if I used it in the bottom section, only, since I plan on stopping my dirt a few inches below the top of the bottom section, the top & bottom panels wouldn't have matched. Visual concept.



I am taking extra measures to try to compensate for the lack of a more guaranteed seal that FRP provides in the bottom section. 1/2 of a gallon of poly on the inside face of the plywood that the smoothpanels will be secured to, plus, a watertight liner of 30lb roofing felt on the face of the smoothpanels. This at least borderlines "crazy." Ha! Ha! It will take me aprox. an extra 2 hrs to do this instead of just using FRP, and will cost an extra $25, reducing my savings to $75. But I don't have to look at FRP inside my cage or try to keep it clean. 2 hrs of extra work to save $75 equals to earning $37.50 per hour. That's a little more than I average per hour in my business.



I believe it will work. I sure as heck hope it does. Ha! Ha! If not, oh well, I'll know what not to do next time.



I've heard of some people just polyurethaning plywood & using it for the interior walls. I could see it on the top section but I'd be afraid a monitor would dig a burrow, run into the wall & keep scratching at it to where it scratched all the poly off & left no protection in that area. That would be just my luck for that one spot to be the wettest area of the cage.



Ya'll keep in mind that this is really an experimental cage so I don't suggest anyone jump on this bandwagon for the time being. I will conduct the test of the panels I'm using & let everyone know if they'll hold water or not within the next few days.



So, in case anyone had any doubts, yes, I'm nuttier than a fruitcake.



Have a good one!

HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,

this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:

Appalachian American

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