Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently built two lidless racks, each one holds 20 - 16 qt Sterilite Containers (total 40 -16 qt). I already have it almost filled. It took me about 2 hours to build each one. The shelves are 1/4 inch Sintra, which works out great....minimal sagging, if any. They are SO lightweight and with wheels, I can easily move them. I'd LOVE to build more like them for my 32 qt Sterilites BUT the Sintra material is SO expensive.

These are cheap compared to commercially manufactured racks on the market (the least expensive ones sell for about $350). I built BOTH of these for about $320 total... It's like two racks for the price of one commercial rack. Plus, the sintra is very forgiving in terms of ease for sliding tubs in and out. I build them from top to bottom and did not use spacers for a tighter fit.

Now, my questions....is there less expensive material out there to use for shelving where I won't compromise price for weight or quality? I want to stay within the 1/4 - 1/2 inch thickness per shelf. I wish I could find something at H.Depot or Lowes to use b/c I'd like to build more racks this weekend. The Sintra is great! I heat my entire herp room so I don't need to worry about heat tape. I thought about 1/2 inch plywood but I'm afraid that moisture or humidity would warp the wood. I also thought about 1/2 inch MDF lined with contact paper...but that would take too long to line all the shelves. I also thought about dry-erase board BUT that's 1/8 inch....way too thin. I've read about people using cheap, hollow doors but I'm not too sure I like that material either.

Is there anything else out there? I've been brainstorming so much that smoke is flowing out of my ears. If not, I may have to suck it up and wait until after the holidays when money is no longer so tight.

Any/All suggestions welcome.

-----
Sincerely, Jason
www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@aol.com

Since you don't use heat tape one option might be Ultra Plus. It is polystryrene sandwiched between two 1mm layers of Sintra. It is much lighter and cheaper but is technically a greater fire hazzard. Not a huge issue if you're not using heat tape.

It is also said to be more rigid than Sintra, although I suspect the differences are marginal.

There are other types of foam-core sign boards out there but they are a bit more flimsy than Ultra Plus. However, they are so incredibly cheap than you might be able to use 1/2" and make up for the reduced rigidity.

What city/state are you located in? I'll see if I can find a distributor of Ultra Plus for you.

nice rack,i have a friend that hatches out about 3000 corns a year and also heats just the room,saves a lot of expense on heat tape and thermostats.

if your going to try and cut expenses i would try melamine shelfs,1/2" would probaly work great,you'll add some weight but that's only a problem wheh moving the rack,with your open design you could have the shelfs removable to lessen weight when moving.if you go that route try giving a cabinet shop a cut sheet,they have higher grade melamine than the HC's and there often less expensive than you would think,sealing the cut edges reduces expansion with high humidity.have fun!

If there was some magic material that was inexpensive and had all the perfect qualities, believe me we'd all be using it.

1/2" melamine is one choice for a less expensive solution. You really don't have to seal the cut ends either, unless you expect condensation touching the exposed particle board.

I've used some water-based gloss paint to help protect cut edges before, and it seemed to work just fine for general rack usage.

I tried once using 3/8 particle board and glued a .1" thick PVCx panel to that. This provided moisture resistance and rigidity, but turned out to be alot of work and still somewhat pricey to do on a large scale.

It looks like what you have works for you nicely, and the price is really not bad considering the results you get.

BTW, if you wanted a more rigid shelf, look into 3/8" PVCx. Not all brands offer this thickness. It is great material, even if it costs a little more.

And the best material IMO is hollow-core PVC, but you have to be willing to part with some $$$. So, what you have now is good!

" BTW, if you wanted a more rigid shelf, look into 3/8" PVCx. Not all brands offer this thickness. It is great material, even if it costs a little more"

Thats correct the 3/8 isnt carried by all makers but in white its not very much more then the 1/4" 2xs more rigid but in white only ( atleast my supplier ) the black is god awful pricey in 3/8" & 1/2" pvcx
-----
Builder of Professional Reptile Enclosures ,Plastic caging , Standard & Professional Breeder Rack Systems[url=http://www.junglehabitatsplastics.com[/url]

Not sure about any cheaper materials in plastics then sintra or the family of .But as a suggestion to the rack you made for the starter / bottom shelf i would advise you to either make solid plywood subfloor for the sintra to overlay and add a support leg to it so its wont drop down. The first shelf as pictured is going to start to sag and thats going to allow all the tubs to gap open towards the center of the shelves. also you need to make sure the empty holes have tubs in them even ifthe tubs are not holding anything as a open tub w 1/4 shelves will let the tubs drop down aswell.

Only thing i can think of that you can pick up locally for less would be the 1/4" panel famil , they make a shower board thats a laminated material like MDF but lighter thinner. MDF for the rack would bve god awful heavy to build and move should you need
-----
Builder of Professional Reptile Enclosures ,Plastic caging , Standard & Professional Breeder Rack Systems[url=http://www.junglehabitatsplastics.com[/url]

Thanks for the tips. Shortly after I posted the pic, I added extra support to the bottom. Although I think it may have been fine but I’m obsessive about doing things right sometimes and I just felt better knowing it would minimize future sagging. I have also added all the tubs…..I just took the pic before I filled it.

I also found a local manufacturer of expanded PVC that offers it surprisingly cheaper than anywhere else. Plus they offer it in all colors for no additional costs. Amazing! I like the white color though and I’m sticking with it for now. I knew after talking with Chris, I just wouldn’t be happy with anything else, especially if nicer material costs more and cheaper material weighs more. Sometimes its tough finding a nice balance but I think expanded PVC might do it for those like me with a fixed budget and high-end projects not quite ready to produce results. That’s one thing I always tell anyone and everyone about this hobby….its an endless money pit. Not that I do it for the money but I’d be happy to eventually make enough to support the cost of frozen mice for 100 snakes or to take my wife on a vacation every once in a blue moon.
-----
Sincerely, Jason
www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@aol.com