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.

I've built two racks myself and purchased two. I spent about $200 making my first rack which worked out great for about 4 years. Then it started to show its age so I made a new one. I must say I did much better the second time around :P

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7087/7...dc3079ba_b.jpg

If you are handy with some tools, give it a try. If not, just buy one :P

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGuy

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.

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Shipping is included... Free shipping to continental US.

I can't thank you ALL enough for your responses. These pictures are extremely helpful and I am absolutely convinced that DIY is the way to go. I know between the men in my family and myself, I can make a rack that fits my needs and is reliable. I'll be selling a full desk set and bookshelf to help offset cost (and make room for the unit and the new babies I'll be getting soon!). Obviously, the professional rack systems are sleek and reliable, but I just don't see myself having that kind of cash anytime soon and I'd rather spend it on new snakes and a fancy Herpstat!

I have some individual questions/comments:

TheSnakeGuy - what did you use as an insulator? I'll need to construct mine to work in a room temp space as well. And please post pics!

Chaos, Piercing Princess, and Snow - I'm thinking that design will be the best way for me to go for now - it won't be permanent just yet, so I need the light portability of plastic. I would have thought the flexwatt would have melted the plastic, so that's good to know!

And Kaorte - that thing is gorgeous. I won't be doing that anytime soon haha, although I'll definitely get your advice if/when I do!

Don't be fooled by the looks of mine ;) It wasn't very expensive! The most expensive part is probably the nice handles I have on the tubs :P Its a nice touch.

The handles on the tubs were a nice touch. The whole thing looks professionally done.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Don't be fooled by the looks of mine ;) It wasn't very expensive! The most expensive part is probably the nice handles I have on the tubs :P Its a nice touch.

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It's still really clean and well-made :) I'm impressed! And the handles are pretty sweet :P

I think I got a pack of handles for like $15. Not really that bad in the grand scheme of things :)

Also if you are building with melamine, please make sure to get the iron on edging so you don't have any wood edges. It not only looks better but helps protect the wood against moisture!

I went with the build route. Much like karote my second attempt was much nicer. First attempt:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/05/25/7yqa4e7u.jpg

Much better attempt
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/05/25/yta8eheb.jpg
This XPVC rack cost me about 500 for everything. It holds 12 bins and is easily expanded of need be. I'm super happy with it!

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Originally Posted by Zuma22

TheSnakeGuy - what did you use as an insulator? I'll need to construct mine to work in a room temp space as well. And please post pics!

Chaos, Piercing Princess, and Snow - I'm thinking that design will be the best way for me to go for now - it won't be permanent just yet, so I need the light portability of plastic. I would have thought the flexwatt would have melted the plastic, so that's good to know!

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When you get ready to do it the original thread with designs and discussion is here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...r-s-Snake-Rack

As for the insulator, I haven't had to insulate mine yet since I just built it a month or so ago and it's nice and warm in Georgia, but when winter rolls around I plan on enclosing it with foam board insulation. That should just be a matter of measuring, cutting, and gluing the pieces to the sides.

DIY is always cheaper to some degree without question. A big part of any cabinet is always the labour cost. You are going to pay more for material than a profesional would because your not buying in the quantity that the are but in the end your still coming out ahead. That is as long as you have some carpentry skills and the patience required to build it. That being said for many a good option is to buy a rack made by a pro. There built by people that have done it over and over and who have hopefully protected it over the years. And if you shop around there is no reason to pay as much as some manufacturers charge. I build to a of racks for clients in xpvc, and my prices aren't really that much more than it would cost to build them yourself. Especially once you consider the time and effort you going invest in doing it yourself.

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Originally Posted by Zuma22

Chaos, Piercing Princess, and Snow - I'm thinking that design will be the best way for me to go for now - it won't be permanent just yet, so I need the light portability of plastic. I would have thought the flexwatt would have melted the plastic, so that's good to know!

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Very lightweight and very portable! And disassembled easily. Also note, I made mine an adult rack for 41 qt tubs. I'll soon be making another of the same exact design but for babies/juvies. For my adult rack I used the 2x3x5 shelf from home depot, and for the baby rack I will be using the 1.5x3x5 (with the tubs sliding out from the front of the shelf rather than the side).
When I did my adult one I bought a large slab of whiteboard (like 4x6) which was $14 from home depot and they cut it into 2x3 pieces for me for free
The shelf itself was $50
Flexwatt totaled about $30 (I already have wiring/soldering iron/clamps ready to go, and also had a thermostat)
Tubs $11 a piece (cheaper on line I think but I'm not sure with shipping cost

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Originally Posted by SnowShredder

Very lightweight and very portable! And disassembled easily. Also note, I made mine an adult rack for 41 qt tubs. I'll soon be making another of the same exact design but for babies/juvies. For my adult rack I used the 2x3x5 shelf from home depot, and for the baby rack I will be using the 1.5x3x5 (with the tubs sliding out from the front of the shelf rather than the side). I bought a large slab of whiteboard (like 4x6) which was $14 from home depot and they cut it into 2x3 pieces for me for free

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Curious, what tubs are you using for the adult rack?

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Originally Posted by ChaosAffect

Curious, what tubs are you using for the adult rack?

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I got them from target, sterilite 41 qt

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Originally Posted by SnowShredder

I got them from target, sterilite 41 qt

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And they fit right between the posts from the side? Good to know.

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Originally Posted by ChaosAffect

And they fit right between the posts from the side? Good to know.

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Yes there's actually quite a bit of room, and I wish I had been able to find a slightly wider tub, the length fits perfect (just enough to fit a screw in the back as a "stopper"). Just took this picture to show you

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9be2a25e.jpghttp://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/...psb1045717.jpg

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Originally Posted by interloc

I went with the build route. Much like karote my second attempt was much nicer. First attempt:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/05/25/7yqa4e7u.jpg

Much better attempt
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/05/25/yta8eheb.jpg
This XPVC rack cost me about 500 for everything. It holds 12 bins and is easily expanded of need be. I'm super happy with it!

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How did you make the spacers on the post with xpvc rack

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Originally Posted by Got Balls?

How did you make the spacers on the post with xpvc rack

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Looks like some PVC pipe, a threaded rod, and some washers and nuts... Just a guess.

Just buy one. You afford snakes you can afford a rack.
So worth it it when you just order and plug it in.

Agreed. Who gives a crap about saving money and having the satisfaction of using something you built yourself? Take the easiest path. It's the American way!

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Originally Posted by Mr Oni

Just buy one. You afford snakes you can afford a rack.
So worth it it when you just order and plug it in.

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not everyone who owns snakes, are rich.

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Originally Posted by Newbie Ball

not everyone who owns snakes, are rich.

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Thank you, Newbie...I can't really afford them easily, so I'd rather see my money go towards nice snakes than a rack that I can build myself. Plus, as some have mentioned, there's something to be said for building something with your own two hands, especially for creatures in your care. Plus, most everyone owning BPs will tell you that they spent their early days scanning Target and WalMart, etc. for odd, cheap items that would work for hides and water bowls that would help cut cost. I've turned lots of random oddball things into BP palaces :P for pennies.

I own both built and purchased racks. I love my wooden diy racks( no pics ) as I took them down when I moved. But u built my racks so the tubs would fit with the lids on and handle locks on ( this way no worries about escapes or injury to a snake if they started to attempt to squeeze out and I had to remove the tub to get them.
The purchased racks were great deals and lot lighter to move at new place( it got steps lol) When I build my racks I designed them for 2 weeks and finalized the build when it was set to hold 14 tubs( each rack) and had to do assembly in the room lol they measured in about 4 ft wide x 4 ft tall and about 29 inches deep)
they were made with plywood( 1/2- 3/4 inch thick sheets. and there was 2 tubs per shelf.

it cost me about 400 bucks. but I never had an escape( unless I left the lids off due to multitasking - feeding and cleaning tubs at the same time) plus I never had an RI or other real health issues ( unless I received the snakes with an Ri or such

There is a huge disparity between the diys and purchased racks. Saying it is cheaper to build a rack than to buy one and then using far inferior materials is not a true comparison. With the issues surrounding melamine substrates currently it is not a great option. The new melamine is free of off gassing is far more costly. (in my area it is a special order with a 40 sheet minimum) The cost of PVCx retail (around the 175-250 sheet range would bring a 7 level rack into the cost of 600$ I can buy a rack this size of 600$ so about the same as materials. Then lets talk about labour, your time may not be worth anything but mine is. This makes DIYs quite costly if you look at the real cost and compaire similar quality.

It depends on the way you look at it. If you build same materials and similar quality DIYs typically are far more expensive.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

There is a huge disparity between the diys and purchased racks. Saying it is cheaper to build a rack than to buy one and then using far inferior materials is not a true comparison. With the issues surrounding melamine substrates currently it is not a great option. The new melamine is free of off gassing is far more costly. (in my area it is a special order with a 40 sheet minimum) The cost of PVCx retail (around the 175-250 sheet range would bring a 7 level rack into the cost of 600$ I can buy a rack this size of 600$ so about the same as materials. Then lets talk about labour, your time may not be worth anything but mine is. This makes DIYs quite costly if you look at the real cost and compaire similar quality.

It depends on the way you look at it. If you build same materials and similar quality DIYs typically are far more expensive.

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Issues surrounding melamine? Do elaborate.
People have been using this stuff for many years to build racks. This is the first I've heard about it being "inferior".

You keep your animals at pretty high standards, I get that. But surely you can agree that a home made melamine rack with 7 slots will indeed be cheaper than buying one.

Its no question that the professional ones are of higher quality but we are simply looking at price. If you use flexwatt and a herpstat it works just the same as a PVC rack.


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Melamine out gassing both phenols (from the glues in the particle boards) and formaldehyde also from the glues. In high concentrations they are know to cause health issues in humans many production houses are no longer working with it due to safety concerns.

The more expensive formaldehyde free boards use phenols and as we know reptiles are very very sensitive to phenols (found in cedar for example) and PAM for that matter. This means in both cases every cut surface needs to be sealed (not to mention safety concerns to cut it) You can often smell the board and get that sharp chemical smell of the formaldehyde.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/eve...d-outgassing#b
http://www.ehow.com/list_7169795_hea...cle-board.html
http://science.education.nih.gov/sup...m#formaldehyde
http://www.debralynndadd.com/_blog/g...d_become_safe/
Sealer
http://www.greenchicafe.com/seal-out...ecoat-products

People also have had snakes die for no reason and develop RI with out any obvious cause. It is hard to make a connection but it is a possibility.

Simple price the guy by me whom builds furniture (one of my contractors) will build a rack for 165$, I don't think I could build the same his price wholesale on melamine board is far less than mine.

I do not think melamine is a good offering at all. Poor water resistance, outgassing issues, fire hazards (lower ignition temps) poor weight to strength, difficulty cleaning/disinfecting it is not the first choice of materials. Given unlimited budget HDPE perhaps or aluminum composite panels would be the best possible materials (aluminum composite panels are not as much as most think they are.) PVCx is a reasonable compromise. I believe the cost is in the labor, my time is worth something so if I spend 8 hours building a rack that has some value.

The issue I see is it is not just cost if it were buy a plastic shelf unit. I applaud that as a cost savings method if you need to save as much as possible there is no question a cheap shelving system is far less than everything. So then compare melamine to plastic shelves melamine raw sheets are more. No comparison. Karote you are comparing apples to oranges it is not just money, if it were you would advocate ready mades. You are now comparing DIY melamine against PVCx it is hard to do to they are very different materials. To my mind the time to build is worth as much as materials so scrimping on materials is silly. The killer with PVCx is the wholesale price is far different than the retail. I pay whole sale for it so I know more than double. Why buying one and building one are not that different.

To me if cost is all that matters a ready made shelf system is the cheapest way hands down. When you step up to better quality just buy one it is cheaper in the long run. (assuming basic skills highly skilled it is debatable or if you want something not available.

I appreciate everyone's comments, especially about the melamine. I did not know any of this. Given that, I decided to go with the shelving unit from Home Depot and cut it down to customize the heights. I'm overjoyed with the final product and can't wait to get my new arrivals in there. I would love a nice, sleek, wooden unit, but it just wasn't in the cards for me at the moment. My dad's help was invaluable and I'm certain he would have been far less helpful had there been extensive wooden constructing involved. I'll post pictures in a new thread as soon as it is finally complete. I can fit 6, 12, 16, 28, and 41 qt tubs in different combinations so I have options as snakes grow, etc. By the time the San Diego Super Show rolls around I may be needing another one :P

THG tape and new hides on their way from Reptile Basics! Then the waiting game for the FedEx fairy...:D