Rack system humidity

So, how do you protect your rack from the humidity levels? I keep trying to find something online that says "Do this". But I see people have sealed the wood or bought melamine "cause it isn't hurt by the humidity" and one guy got corrugated plastic and "slid it" into place?

What do you guys do?

What is your rack made from? different materials require different methods of protection.

my rack is made of melamine. All my homemade racks are made so that the lid stays on the bin. I've heard of people using thin sheets of resin or clear coating the wood at the top but I wouldn't even know where to begin.. I'm not all that handy at building stuff.

Wish I could be more help!

An advantage of plastic racks. The melamine racks I have seen after a while kinda come apart I suppose you could try to paint the edges it might help some but I think it is just a for a while longer fix. Melamine is likely to have issues sooner or later.

I'm planning on plywood, but I haven't made any decisions yet. Still weighing my options. I just want to know what would be easiest.

well Plywood can be sealed with a wood sealer, but you will have to air it our before you put any snakes in it. You could even use some cheap linoleum tiles or something similar on the wood that is exposed to the inside of the tubs. There is no single way to do this, the rte are many possible routes to take. All you need to do is keep moisture from penetrating the wood.

What would you recommend sealing it with? Thompson's Waterseal?

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Originally Posted by Kodieh

What would you recommend sealing it with? Thompson's Waterseal?

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I haven't ever made a plywood rack, but I would think that Thompson's Waterseal would work just fine. I'm sure that there is a thread in the caging or DIY section of this website, you can use the search bar under the logout button to search

I have seen some people use a water based paint that's water resistant, like for a bathroom perhaps? I wider how well that would work.

I would not recommend thompsons unless painted over. It never really stops out gassing. I would also avoid bathroom paints they often have anti fungal/ mould additives in them. I would recommend a good polyurethane paint it basically after out gassing is plastic. Liner polyurethane are the best but also hard to work with and very costly that would be my first recommendation but the cost stops most.

at one of the places that I have worked at we had a huge lamination machine.( for paper, but it had an adjustable roller so it could handle thicker objects as well) It certainly could have handled a piece of 1/2" plywood that was just big enough for a rack shelf. I don't know if you have access to such a machine but since the wood would be totally encased in plastic I think that it would do the trick.