so im building a 8’x3’x2’ indoor enclosure for my redfoot. im trying to find a good waterproofer, im going to use a PM60 from pro products so theres gonna be a lot of water. i use drylok now but i dont know if that can handle the constant water and humidity. im open to any suggestions, i just dont want to go with pond armor because it gets expensive
waterproofer?
- Thread starter baldegale
- Start date
Dry Lok does NOT work. The bottom of my enclosure rotted out (Literally…) after only two years. Untreated plywood would have lasted longer than that and I had primer and three coats of Dry Lok on it.
You only need one order of Pond Armor to cover that size enclosure. I did a 4x8 with no problem. In my opinion, for the level of wetness and humidity you are going for here, you need the Pond Armor.
You can use non-toxic boat paint and primer, but that will be twice the price of Pond Armor. But no mixing!
@Markw84 has suggested kitchen counter top paint in the past, but I haven't tried it yet.
I don't think you will need the mister in a closed chamber. I think that will make things too wet and cause shell rot on a RF.
You only need one order of Pond Armor to cover that size enclosure. I did a 4x8 with no problem. In my opinion, for the level of wetness and humidity you are going for here, you need the Pond Armor.
You can use non-toxic boat paint and primer, but that will be twice the price of Pond Armor. But no mixing!
@Markw84 has suggested kitchen counter top paint in the past, but I haven't tried it yet.
I don't think you will need the mister in a closed chamber. I think that will make things too wet and cause shell rot on a RF.
Dry Lok does NOT work. The bottom of my enclosure rotted out (Literally…) after only two years. Untreated plywood would have lasted longer than that and I had primer and three coats of Dry Lok on it.
You only need one order of Pond Armor to cover that size enclosure. I did a 4x8 with no problem. In my opinion, for the level of wetness and humidity you are going for here, you need the Pond Armor.
You can use non-toxic boat paint and primer, but that will be twice the price of Pond Armor. But no mixing!
@Markw84 has suggested kitchen counter top paint in the past, but I haven't tried it yet.
I don't think you will need the mister in a closed chamber. I think that will make things too wet and cause shell rot on a RF.
ive noticed that with the drylok, it started cracking in the corners already and its only been a month. thankfully i have an extra layer of protection on the bottom and this new enclosure should be built within the next two months.
also, the last closed chamber i had i had a hard time keeping the humidity up
granted it was 4x8x3.5 but i couldnt keep it up past 70% and even then that only lasted for an hour then dropped down to 50-60%. sad part is my RF already has shell rot.. and i dont get quite how? i never really had the bedding soaking wet. just damp and even now in this enclosure its pretty dry cause in order for me to keep it damp id have to mist it 3-4 times a day. (not closed by any means, its a complicated situation) anyways, im treating him with athletes foot cream and waiting to see if i should be doing anything else.
also, this is the stuff i used on my original closed chamber https://www.homedepot.com/p/TriCoPo...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CLCd6e7I29gCFc4DgQodA5IGtg
it seemed to work fine, but i dont know if it can handle the constant moisture.
That is a new product for me. The label sounds promising, but I have zero experience with it. It would be great if it works and is non-toxic in a heated closed chamber system.
Yes. Two coats with the Pond Armor.
Mobileturtle500
New Member
So I was curious about the kennel seal so I contacted the manufacturer and talked to them and explained how the enclosures are and how humid everything is and he said that once cured it will have no problem with high humidity and then where the substrate touches he said to do two coats and it will work perfect and is not going to harm a tortoise. so I'm going to try it because it sounds promising. I will let you know how it works.
it works really well, ive used it before. i just dont know if itll work against the water of the mister. also, it doesn’t protect against UVB really well
also, i did 3 coats on an entire 4’x8’x3.5’ tall enclosure. it still only used about half a gallon. it also only takes 30 minutes in the proper temp to put another coat. also it virtually has no smell, it smells like very faint elmers glue.
ohiohomestead
New Member
Fiigured I would share as I found this thread on my search.
I used Pond Armour and it came out great. Was mentioned since using on LARGE sulcatas the constant digging maybe a issue.
(It has been dug at quit heavy and holding up so far.)
I did the floor and 12" up the walls but there is 5-7" of substrate. Originally there was only 2-3" but added the other 5" to curb the digging. seemed to work and the like the pre-evening chore of burrowing. (Enjoyable to watch in mornings as the un-burrow!)
Application was a bit more intense it is basically a (2 part) epoxy by definition and prepping is crucial as it only has a 30 minute work time. but plan on 20 minutes tops as you can feel the slight heat in the container used while applying. Doing it in 2 coats as directions suggest is minimal. I ended up buying two 1.5 qrt. boxes and followed the directions to a T on the first one. Second one I added a third step (cutting it as direction mentioned with the higher ratio of alcohol.) to give me time to apply edges and corners. Worked well as the plywood I used seemed to really absorb the product and I wanted to level it out with any cracks or fastener holes.
(I did Alex caulk major cracks and screw holes prior but could have done a bit more. Don't be afraid to really trowel the Alex caulk or what ever you use to make it as smooth/level/grade as possible before applying.)
Curing was VERY pungent to say the least. A full 24-30 hours the enclosure and room was direct vented out side. Once cure it cleared right up.
Final product was as they advertise, a nice rubberized coating that is very durable and so far strong! Having a solid well secure surface will also help the long term integrity of it to minimize movement which I can see it failing in those spots rapidly.
Next product I bought and hopefully be using here shortly is the Restoluem counter top paint. so will toss in my experience in on that once I use it.
Any other other products I am all ears for. (didn't use the kennel paint as it was a bit to thin for the plywood I got in for the project but see the possible benefits mention above.)
I used Pond Armour and it came out great. Was mentioned since using on LARGE sulcatas the constant digging maybe a issue.
(It has been dug at quit heavy and holding up so far.)
I did the floor and 12" up the walls but there is 5-7" of substrate. Originally there was only 2-3" but added the other 5" to curb the digging. seemed to work and the like the pre-evening chore of burrowing. (Enjoyable to watch in mornings as the un-burrow!)
Application was a bit more intense it is basically a (2 part) epoxy by definition and prepping is crucial as it only has a 30 minute work time. but plan on 20 minutes tops as you can feel the slight heat in the container used while applying. Doing it in 2 coats as directions suggest is minimal. I ended up buying two 1.5 qrt. boxes and followed the directions to a T on the first one. Second one I added a third step (cutting it as direction mentioned with the higher ratio of alcohol.) to give me time to apply edges and corners. Worked well as the plywood I used seemed to really absorb the product and I wanted to level it out with any cracks or fastener holes.
(I did Alex caulk major cracks and screw holes prior but could have done a bit more. Don't be afraid to really trowel the Alex caulk or what ever you use to make it as smooth/level/grade as possible before applying.)
Curing was VERY pungent to say the least. A full 24-30 hours the enclosure and room was direct vented out side. Once cure it cleared right up.
Final product was as they advertise, a nice rubberized coating that is very durable and so far strong! Having a solid well secure surface will also help the long term integrity of it to minimize movement which I can see it failing in those spots rapidly.
Next product I bought and hopefully be using here shortly is the Restoluem counter top paint. so will toss in my experience in on that once I use it.
Any other other products I am all ears for. (didn't use the kennel paint as it was a bit to thin for the plywood I got in for the project but see the possible benefits mention above.)
I’ve mentioned this in a different thread along the same lines. Back in my days of keeping large tropical fish we often would build our own tanks from plywood. Obviously plywood alone doesn’t work in an indoor setting. For sealing the plywood the word on the street was that any NON-LEAD marine paint was fine to use. Now in today’s world, I’m not even sure you can purchase a leaded paint, but if you could find a non-toxic marine paint I’d figure it’d be fine to use once aired out fully.
ohiohomestead
New Member
I have had a couple experiences using a couple different paints with a close relation with humidity and found most worked, but were substrate has direct contact and with movement of the wood I saw swelling that was minimal but enough to get the paint to bubble or loss adhesion. Been 10 years now and haven’t revisited those forms of paints again for any newer forms/products. Will do a bit more research.
