Is that a lot more expensive than working with plastic?

Decided to do some searching on this since it's been so long since I've worked with fiberglass and polyester.

I did most of my pricing at US Composites since they have generally been the cheapest company for products like this, short of shopping for overstocks on internet auctions.

I'm going to say that a decent polyester resin is $30 per gallon, or about 24 cents per ounce.

I found an 8.5 ounce per yard cloth that seems like it would work for the type of stand alone structure both you and I mentioned (using plywood to make a mold and fiberglass to form a part that is pulled from said mold).

The 8.5 ounce cloth as about $7 per yard.

If you assume one ounce of resin per ounce of material per yard then it would take 8.5 ounces to wet out the above cloth.

So 8.5 x 24 cents equals is about $2. Add the $7 for the yard of cloth and you are at $9.

That's $9 for just a single 36" square of 8.5 ounce fiberglass. I'm guessing that the type of construction we are talking about would require more than a single layer, but I'm not completely sure. When I did stuff like this we probably always overbuilt it.

At any rate, 1/2" expanded PVC in black can be found for as cheap as $2.35 per square foot so that same 36" square would run about $21.

So factoring in waste one could lay down two layers of fiberglass for the same as 1/2" PVCX.

To me that is not worth it, especially since I think two layers would not be quite enough. There is A LOT of work, mess and odor to deal with to layer out two layers of cloth. There would have to be some compelling reason for me to use it.

Hope this helps the OP.
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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (Javan, mixed colors)

0.0.4 Rhynchophis boulengeri

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.1 Lampropeltis triangulum multistriata

0.0.1 Rhamphiophis rubropunctatus

0.0.2 Morelia viridis (Aru & Merauke locale types)

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

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