Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello eveyone, this is my first time posting here but I have read and learned more in the last couple days on this forum than in any book out there. So first off I would like to thank all of you for your words of wisdom and knowledge that can only come years of experience. Okay here we go. I live in northwest ohio. I am plannig on putting a snake room in my basement. One half is finished the other half is block wall. There is no insulation in the dividing wall so I am going to take out 3 pieces of drywall, insulate it then put drywall back up. Not really sure about vapor barrier between block wall and insulation but I can figure that out as i go. I will be drywalling room maybe with green board as that is what the rest of the basement is. Resistant to moisture I think? I will be insulating the ceiling and putting up a drop ceiling. I have been toying around with putting in an exhaust fan through the upper wall going to outside through wood.I thought about reversible so i could use that for heat in the summer as the basement stays about 65 all year. Maybe put in on a thermostat? Any thoughts on that would be greatly appreciated. Also dont really know about ventilation. I was going to use a radiator type heater with oil for heat. Will the crack under the door be enough for air flow? Should I use an oscillating fan to keep from stratification of temp or will this create a draft since my temp in room will be aroud 75 and temp out will be 65. Also the floor is concrete. Will this pose a problem?? 65 on floor and 75 up above? I will be keeping subocs, balls and boas, so i cant keep the temp much warmer than 75. Or maybe this is too much with subocs? Not sure.I just figured I would put them closer to floor and play with temps. My temp in the basement is fairly constant all year so I thought I would use rheostats instead of thermostats since one of the pages I was on said that seemed like one of the only drawbacks. Also if I used a thermostat how would I control temps in rack if the floor is 65 and up top is 75??? Of course with rheostat temp will be constant so upper racks will still be warmer. Hmmm. What to do? I do have a question for Chris Harper2. In your post on Oct 2 youi said that you had some regrets when it came to structure, electrical, and insulation but it was a long story. Can you elaborate on that some for me, unless it doesnt pertain to my situation. I dont need a book or anything like I have here. lol. Just a few highlights maybe.. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

First off its way easie rto read your post if you would break the subjects into paragraph's.

Making a reptie room is basically like making a large reptile cage. You have to keep the temps inside rather constant as compared to the gradient within a cage. Therefore the room should be maintained at the minimum average temp for all species within the room.

To do this you have to do to things heat and insulate, living in Ohio you shouldn't have to worry about cooling but given the choice it may be nice.

No matter what your heat choice, you should insulate the cage. Nothing works better than extruded polysterene and the foil faced version if you can get it is a definete plus. I myself used regular extruded and have no complaints.

If you are starting with bare walls you really need to seal the concrete unless its already dne. A local specialist may need to be consulted but lining the basement walls with Drylok will probably be the best route. I myself used drylok when I revamped my basement and it helped if anything my worried nature.

Basically the drylok provides a barrier against seapage and moisture, it locks water out of the basement. Condensation is another problem, I won't address. Once you have delt with the bare crete. There a re tons of ways to outfit the walls, I used furring strips and 1" poly, you can use traditional 2x4's and thicker poly its all up to you.

Chris always complains that he should had built a thicker subfloor, running 2x4's vertically rather than horizontally. Its a another one of those choices. I couldn't do either since I have a relativly shallow basement, and I couldn't spare the highth. Instead I allow 7" of airspace below the bottom cage to keep it off the cold floor.

The best HVAC option will be one that allows fresh airflow while maintaining a constant temp and humidity. After the basic conditions are meet you can just supplement each cage to within the particualrs for what ever animal resides within.

As far as Elecrical goes you want plenty of outlets within reach of the room, mine has them ever 4' around the room and there aren't ever enough close by, so it seams. Every other oulet in my room is on a timer hardwared to the system. The room has a max draw of 30 amps, the two timers I use are capable of handling 40, I over build.

Another thing to consider is plumbing twith a sink big drain and running water. I huge plus!

Best of Luck
-----
Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Sunglow "Khal" RTB
0.1 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.0 Double Het "Khal" Sunglow RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.13 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.0.7 Normal Suriname Hybrid's
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.14 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

I am going to take out 3 pieces of drywall, insulate it then put drywall back up. Not really sure about vapor barrier between block wall and insulation but I can figure that out as i go.

Look into local code and find out what is necessary. I grew up in Ohio and in my neighborhood none of the homes had basements due to moisture problems. I think it's even worse out in the NW. You might consider using Reflectix as a moisture barrier if it fits into your plans. Expensive but it sure does help block radiant heat.

I will be drywalling room maybe with green board as that is what the rest of the basement is. Resistant to moisture I think?

Good idea.

I will be insulating the ceiling and putting up a drop ceiling.

Not a fan of drop ceilings in reptile rooms. They don't block odor and even tend to absorb it. I prefer sheet-rock.

I have been toying around with putting in an exhaust fan through the upper wall going to outside through wood.I thought about reversible so i could use that for heat in the summer as the basement stays about 65 all year. Maybe put in on a thermostat?

With an insulated room, including the floor and ceiling, and incorporating a radiant barrier you will likely find that the ambient temperature of the room is raised quite a bit. Also, most of the heat outdoors during the summer is radiant and is not easily drawn via forced air (like a reversed fan). Humid air will help raise the air temps a bit and it is humid where you are from. But overall I would say don't get too elaborate with the fan unless you'll have rodents in the room.

Any thoughts on that would be greatly appreciated. Also dont really know about ventilation. I was going to use a radiator type heater with oil for heat. Will the crack under the door be enough for air flow?

My room has a very tight exterior door, even though the room opens up to my heated garage and not to the outside. My room is also built very tight. Most of my fresh air comes from the otherwise loose fitting exhaust fan. I may install some floor drains in future cages and at that time will probably allow for some extra air flow into the room.

If you room will have a normal interior door and an exhaust fan I think that will be enough.

Should I use an oscillating fan to keep from stratification of temp or will this create a draft since my temp in room will be aroud 75 and temp out will be 65. Also the floor is concrete. Will this pose a problem??

I have a ceiling fan that runs on reverse 24/7 and has for a few years now. With radiant heat and the way my room is insulated it does not do much for the vertical heat gradiant but I do like having the air moving around. If your floor will stay concrete then I highly recommend having the fan.

Regarding heating the racks and thermostats vs. rheostats, I would recommend dealing with that when it comes up. It's a common issue that a lot of people deal with.

What to do? I do have a question for Chris Harper2. In your post on Oct 2 you said that you had some regrets when it came to structure, electrical, and insulation but it was a long story.

I do wish I had installed the 2x4 on the floor vertically and also made them level. Instead I just laid 2x4's flat and let them follow the natural slope of the floor and I regret that now. Not a huge deal but it would not have been much more work and that part of my garage had over 8' ceilings so the height would have been a non-issue.

Regarding electric, that really turned out to be a huge mess. Hired a guy as a favor more than anything and did not get good advice at all. Basically I wish I had everything in plugmold that I could adjust height wise as needed. I also wish that I had two circuits in the room with one being on a hard-wired timer. With my standard receptacles like I have then the bottom one would be on the timer and the top one would be on 24/7. With plugmold maybe every other one would be on the timer.

I'm also not sure that framing out the entire area with an air space was necessary in my area. I was new here and should have researched more. But I wanted the framing for the electric at the time. Now I wish I had just glued expanded polystyrene to the walls and then used firing strips to then have a layer of reflectix with an air space. Drywall over that and then plugmold attached directly to the wall.

Another insulation regret I have is not buying the foil-faced batting I found locally. It was an overstock and would have been just enough to do the entire garage and snake room. The foil-faced poly-iso board I used was a lot more work to install in the snake room area and it has turned out to be remarkably efficient. But for less time and similar money I could have done the entire garage with the foil faced batting.

I slightly regret not using green board drywall, although everything is hold up well.

I'm not sure I really needed to run the cove heaters on 220V. I now wish I had extra room on my panel for another 220V circuit in our kitchen. Again, my room is very cheap to heat so I really can't complain.

I do regret the cheap, glue-less vinyl flooring I used. It looks nice but is harder to clean compared to the vinyl flooring in our laundry room.

Lastly, I do wish I had spend a bit more time thinking about layout of the room. I just walled off the back 9' of the room and probably don't need anywhere near that much space. In a home or basement this is less of a concern as adding or remodeling a room adds equity. In a garage a separate room can be a good thing for a guy looking for a finishing room but a bad thing for a guy looking to store a boat.

On that note, do approach this project this project with equity in mind. Make the room versatile and appealing to future buyers.

-----
Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will now be doing a drywall ceiling instead of a drop ceiling. Excellent advice chris!!

Also I will be putting up a 2 by 4 stud wall against the block. If I put up visqueen on the wall then foil backed insulation with greenboard that should keep block the walls from sweating. So I have been told. Does this sound right?? My basement was done in 1922 so I doubt it has drylok but I have never had trouble with with moisture or anything before.

My basement has a utility tub with a drain that will be in the room so I am fortunate there. It has no sump crock just a drain that goes... somewhere? Maybe out to the sewer or an old stone bed. Not really sure. I was worried about sewer backup or water coming in , but if it hasnt backed up this year I doubt it ever will. I will be putting a cage over the hole just in case I ever have any escape artist's.

I do have another question about the fan. I have heard that a draft can cause respiratory infections in some reptiles. If I put in a ceiling fan on reverse will that create a draft along the walls by the floor or not?

I do think I figured out my problem with the floor being colder than up above. Vision Cages rack design has a heat cord instead of flexwatt that can be looped through various slots. Doing this I can adjust the heat on every tub to make up for temp variations or different snakes. I just found that out on their website. Good idea, if you ask me!

I had to google the plugmold to find out what you were talking about but now that I know, I will surely be using it in the room. Also, I will be hardwiring timers on every other outlet as suggested.

Once again thank you very much for the ideas. Hopefully I'll be able to build my room with minimal regrets