Reptile & Amphibian Forums

now I need a sealant to seal the grout...anyone have any ideas on what to use? I'm going on vacation next week so I'd like to seal it before I leave and when I get back put it in my beardies tank. Thanks in advance, Cheers.

I used Minwax® Polycrylic® Protective Clear Satin Finish on mine and it seems to be holding up really well so far. However, my environment is a desert scrub one so if you have a setup requiring more humidity, I would wait and see what people have used in a more humid environment.

Hope this helps,
-Matt

P.S. Wheres the PICTURES?!

forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1533776,1534642

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0.0.3 Desert Iguanas(Dipsosaurus dorsalis)
1.2.0 Tucson Banded Geckos(Coleonyx variegatus bogerti)
1.0.0 California Alligator Lizards(Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata)
0.0.1 San Diego Gopher Snake(Pituophis catenifer annectens)

Wow, I pay great attention to detail here HAHA. I see that it is for a beardie now. So what I said should work fine for you. Also, my cage was 4'x2'x2' and almost the entire back and sides are covered with rockwall. One of the aerosol cans went the entire way in sealing the wall, and it was easy as can be to apply.

Hope this helps even more lol,
-Matt
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0.0.3 Desert Iguanas(Dipsosaurus dorsalis)
1.2.0 Tucson Banded Geckos(Coleonyx variegatus bogerti)
1.0.0 California Alligator Lizards(Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata)
0.0.1 San Diego Gopher Snake(Pituophis catenifer annectens)

thanks Matt, I saved pics of your enclosure to my laptop for " ideas ", and it helped greatly and thank you for the sealant advice. My cage is 4 x 3 x 2, and Maddy( my lizard ) is gonna enjoy it, thoroughly it has an arch, basking cliffs, the top is shorter than the enclosure and about 5 inches wide so she can get around with ease. Also made a cliff face with a hide that I carved out, so when I'm through I will post pics, Cheers.

one more question, did the sealant come out glossy? and it was in a spray paint can? not bad, where'd you buy it?? HD, Lowes, ACE etc;

Chris

Seeing the results of Emvee's rock, which looks great, I'd say stick with the matte Polycylic in the rattle can. I see this product locally at Lowes and Ace.

But I have heard of other using either stone sealer or grout sealer in a matte finish. I have heard good things about Aqua Mix.

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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephala (Javan, mixed colors)

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

Mine didn't come out glossy after it dried and everything. I bought the Polycrylic Satin Finish one in the rattle can. As long as you get the clear SATIN instead of gloss or semi-gloss it should come out looking ok. Oh, and also make sure that it is WATER-based and not oil-based. I can't remember if I mentioned that before or not.

I bought mine at Home Depot, but I think they carry it at Lowes as well. It seems to be fairly common. Let me know if you've got any more question, as I tend to check posts I reply to at least once a day.

-Matt
P.S. Here is a link to before and after pictures of my rock wall so you can get a better close-up of the end result.
forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1461419,1461419

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0.0.3 Desert Iguanas(Dipsosaurus dorsalis)
1.2.0 Tucson Banded Geckos(Coleonyx variegatus bogerti)
1.0.0 California Alligator Lizards(Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata)
0.0.1 San Diego Gopher Snake(Pituophis catenifer annectens)

You know, I saw your previous post and made a mental note to go back and look at it but forgot. Excellent results.

Just curious but what would you say are the thinnest and thickest areas of tile grout on your rock? I don't mean the individual layers, but the total thickness of the final product.
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephala (Javan, mixed colors)

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

I did 5 layers, used all 10 pounds of flat gray grout, bought it at HD for $9.55 plus tax. On the basking cliffs I'd say it's about 1/2"-3/4" thick, all around probably 3/8"-1/2" except for the grooves of the carved faces, probably only a 1/4". I hand painted it using cild safe acrylics, Red Earth, as the base, Black, River Rock(greyish color) and terracotta to highlight the rocks give it the bright edge look. But the terracotta was to bright so I dumbed it down with the river rock, as a slurry mix and dabbed it after 4-5 minutes to which took the brightness away. My first one that I've done, I think it's ok but my buddies says it's awesome, so w/e. I'm not an artist, just used my imagination.

Project items I used:
4' x 2' by 4" wide styro
4' x 2" by 2" wide styro
10 lbs. of grout
couple utility knifes
hacksaw blade(blade only)
liquid nails 1 tube only used half
18" long BBQ skewers(nice n' beefy for xtra support)
the last best thing of all
IMAGINATION! can't go wrong with that, lol

When it's all done I'll take pics, to show everyone, Cheers

Just to clarify, was then ten pounds dry or ten pounds mixed? I know there are some pre-mixed grouts but I'm guessing you used the dry stuff.

And how much area did you cover?

Thanks for the information.
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephala (Javan, mixed colors)

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

yea Chris it was dry, well the rockwork is 4' long, it varies in depth from 14"-18" and it stands 18 " tall. I kept the depth of the piece at various sizes for the substrate, I'd feel bad if she had all rockwork and no subsrate. The height of the base ranges from 2" up to 10" I staggered the pieces, for ease of walking or climbing. It doesn't have stairs like ppl make, I kept it as natural looking as I could, even though on the back left there is a ramp that is staggered with the grade. It rises 8" tall over 12" long kinda like a ramp would for humans but rock looking. Too much to explain I'll just take pics when finished and you guys can see, Cheers.

That sounds really cool. I can't wait to see pics The thickness and how much grout you used sounds very similar to how mine turned out. I don't remember if I had 4 layers or 5 though. Either way it sounds pretty cool.

-Matt
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0.0.3 Desert Iguanas(Dipsosaurus dorsalis)
1.2.0 Tucson Banded Geckos(Coleonyx variegatus bogerti)
1.0.0 California Alligator Lizards(Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata)
0.0.1 San Diego Gopher Snake(Pituophis catenifer annectens)

fantastic looking looks like zoo. I know not many keep those types of igunas but love them read very fast

Looking around for ideas... I just want to say that your rock wall looks fantastic. Well done!