I understand there are a lot of products that can be used to seal enclosures. I am designing a wood enclosure for water dragons that is 3.5 ft x 6.5 ft x 6 ft. I also want to include a sheet of glass as a window to look into a pool constructed with concrete.



Is this going to be a paludarium type design where you can look through the glass and right into the water?



How do Drylock, ReptiShield, vinyl pool lining, and paint compare to each other and can you recommend any specific products?



This really depends on how the concrete pool is built into the cage. It also depends if you need to use silicone or another caulk to attach glass to the cage for viewing into the water, which I'm assuming you do.



With that assumption in mind, I think you should narrow down your choices to Drylok Masonry Latex Waterproofer, epoxy resin, or solvent-based epoxy paint.



Of the two, Drylok will be the cheapes,easiest to repair and certainly the easiest to work with. Epoxy will be more expensive and harder to work with but is the tried and true approach and if executed properly is the least likely to need repair.



Epoxy paint will be somewhere between the two but then you have to deal with the nasty solvents when working with it.



If the bond between the sealed wood and either the glass or the pond does not matter then you should also consider the polyurea. I can comment on this further but I'd need to know more about the design.



Also, I was looking at the construction of the Summer Palace, where he used a coat of Enviro-Tex epoxy, then two coats of an elastomeric paint and then a final coat of epoxy. What do you think about that application?



It worked, but I think even the builder said he really did not test it long term. He and I had a long email exchange, unfortunately deleted by Hotmail, and I think he said that was the one knock against his approach. I may not remember that quite right.



Certainly there are better choices than Envirotex and other bar top epoxies. They are great products but they are designed to go on thick. A regular laminating epoxy resion would have been a better choice for what he did.



Also, what thickness of glass should I use for sliding glass doors that are roughly 36 in tall x 39 in wide?



1/4" glass will be fine but you should consider safety glass.
-----
Currently keeping:



3.5.5 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.3 Rhynchophis boulengeri

0.2 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.2 Lampropeltis triangulum gaigeae

0.0.3 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

1.1.1 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Morelia clastolepis

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

[ Show Entire Thread ]