Cost of DIY Rack vs. Purchased Rack?

I'm quickly getting to the point where I need a rack and I'm wondering what you all have found regarding the cost of building your own system or just buying one outright. I'm leaning towards the DIY just because I can customize it. Thanks!

I spent about $130 including heat tape building my DIY rack based on a shelf from Home Depot. It's 36"x24" and holds 8 32qt tubs.

http://i.imgur.com/yxzVZDZ.jpg

Mine is similar to Chaos', also a Home Depot shelving unit, but i bought two of them and stacked them, one unit holds 9 adults, the other 16 hatchings and 10 subadults. For each with tubs/tape/thermostats it was probably about $150-200 each. I realized the great part about the DIY ones; Moving. I was able to take them apart in 10 minutes and put them back up just as fast. They're light and easy and customizable.

It may just be me, but I'd spend a little more money on a business who makes racks than making my own. If it falls apart, there's someone else to blame. Now, that's not a great thing to say but it certainly wouldn't be my fault and I would have someone to go to for repairs, replacements, or reparations.

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Originally Posted by PiercingPrincess

Mine is similar to Chaos', also a Home Depot shelving unit, but i bought two of them and stacked them, one unit holds 9 adults, the other 16 hatchings and 10 subadults. For each with tubs/tape/thermostats it was probably about $150-200 each. I realized the great part about the DIY ones; Moving. I was able to take them apart in 10 minutes and put them back up just as fast. They're light and easy and customizable.

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That's another great thing about this design: Expandability. If (when) I need more space I can just buy another shelving unit and add it to the top.

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Originally Posted by Kodieh

It may just be me, but I'd spend a little more money on a business who makes racks than making my own. If it falls apart, there's someone else to blame. Now, that's not a great thing to say but it certainly wouldn't be my fault and I would have someone to go to for repairs, replacements, or reparations.

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I'm not a carpenter and I was able to put it together solidly and without a lot of trouble or tools. I'm sure it's a little more substantial than the ones you could buy premade, but there's really no concern about it falling apart, and I spent 1/3 what I would for the same space from an online store... and I got it pretty much immediately.

I spent 175$ and built a full 3 wall melamine, 6 tub, 41 qt rack with heat. It's something that would probably go for 400-500$ according to manufacturing standards. Just a little 3 stack from Reptile Basics costs 300$(god knows what shipping costs are) with only 4" heat tape. It's designed to go in a heated room. I built mine for standard room temperatures by using 3/4" melamine and insulating the back. Also it has a 15" long piece of 12" wide heat tape under each tub to generate enough heat to keep the cool side at least 77 degrees while the hot is about 91 degrees. It's even on swivel wheels for easy moving. And the top is big enough for a 36"X18"X18" cage to sit on. It took some doing with many tools and probably 30 man hours between my father and I, but it was TOTALLY worth it to build my own. I'll have to post some pics on this thread later.

I did the same as chaoseffect and piercingprincess. Plastic shelving from home depot, under each shelf is a fitted sheet of white board. This is a great link to a tutorial on it http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...shelving-unit)

Here is my set up. Cost me about $150 (shelf, whiteboard, flexwatt, tubs)

before I secured the flexwatt down
http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3e79478e.jpg



Finished

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5a6e6834.jpg

I like my PVC racks. And if you wait, you can maybe find some on sale.

I got my first two for 20% off as a presale to an expo:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/05/23/ja3a9usu.jpg

I have:
1 10 slot 6qt rack
1 5 slot 28qt rack
1 4 slot 41 qt rack.

The 41 qt rack is made by boaphile. I found it on a classified website and it's definitely not my favorite. It's a bit heavy and a bit wobbly.

My other two are awesome and super light. They're also made to stack, and we're fairly cheap.

If you have the skills to make you're own, do so. I'm just not handy, and would rather have the proper equipment. Knowing me I'd screw a rack up royally.

Well I am purchasing the following from AP right now:

Hatchling rack that holds 32 FB 10 tubs
Grow out rack that holds seven 32qt or fourteen 15 qt sterilite
Two adult racks that each hold seven FB 70 tubs

Without tubs, plus shipping it is right around $2000 ($200 and change is in shipping alone) to be able to house a total of 53-60 animals.

All the tubs will be another $600 or so. Plus another few hundred for T-stats.

Can I build racks as nice as AP for less? Maybe, IF I can get ahold of the supplies and tools.

I keep seeing people talk about supplies and tools, so let me give a rundown of what tools and supplies I used to build mine.

Tools:
Miter saw. $8 from Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com/p/Buck-Bros...8#.UZ4o1Ie1GAg
Power drill.

Supplies:
1 Shelving unit
1 Box of Drywall screws
1 piece of Ecuboard, cut into 2'x3' pieces at the store for free (Marker Board is a better option, but they didn't have any and I got impatient.)
1 can of spray paint. (Unnecessary if you use Marker Board)
4 Strips of heat tape with wiring already attached
1 roll of Aluminum Tape

and One afternoon of work.

That's it.