DIY wooden rack

[jschwe]

We finally got around to building a new rack this week, and couldn't be happier with it!! We had a second-hand melamine one with back heat that was starting to crumble EVERYWHERE and could not keep up with our cold basement. We'd been wanting to switch to belly heat for a while now anyway, so we figured we might as well just build a rack we could be entirely happy with.

It turned out to be incredibly easy to make and really could've been a one-person job.


Materials:
four 2x4x8
four 1x2x8
one 2x2x8
one 4x8' sheet of tempered hardboard (we had them pre-cut this to ten 18x24 inch pieces) plus another 2x2' sheet of tempered hardboard, since we needed eleven shelves
1" deck screws
2" deck screws

thin solder
1 roll electrical tape
1 roll aluminum tape
5 dollar store extension cords
15' of flexwatt

plus some tools, which we already had- some clamps, a drill, a circular saw, and a level.

The rack we built is based on the one that morphmart did a youtube tutorial for: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYQ5J...ztKYqIopO7l_w&

First, we cut all the 1x2x8s into four 2' pieces, and cut down the 2x4s to 70", the height of our other rack. Using the clamps to hold the 1x2 still, we mounted them, two per shelf on the long side like so:

and then screwed them in place from the other side with three 1" deck screws:

pre-drilling helped to keep the wood from splitting.

We did that with all ten of the shelves, and then the eleventh piece, which was to be the bottom, we wanted to be more stable so it has the 2x2 screwed on.


Once we had all that done, it was time to assemble. We put down a piece of chipboard, since the floor wasn't as level as it should be. Technically the rack is built from the top down, so we put down one of the normal shelves, followed by a tub, and another shelf. (We used 8 cds here to hold up the tub so that it would have a bit of clearance when all is said and done. Our other rack was too snug, the tubs had to be practically shoved in, and we were getting sick of water everywhere...)


Then we stood up two of the 2x4s at the front of the shelves and screwed them in, with the 2" deck screws, making sure to keep them really level.


Once that was done, the other 2x4s went on the back the same way, and we began adding more shelves on top, screwing them each in as we went. (The second tub helped give a bit of added stability, we found it easier to build with that in there.)


After we got all those in, including the sturdier bottom shelf, we flipped her over and it looked something like this:


It was still really wobbly at this point, so we threw on some 2x4 pieces across the front and back below the last shelf. This went a long way to making the whole thing stable.


After that it was done, except for the flexwatt, which unfortunately we don't have any pictures of but this is (one of the many) videos we found helpful for the wiring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QWlF2GdMGQ&
We did 4" flexwatt, and put it across the back about 4-5" in from the edge of the shelf. All the wiring comes out the side closest to the wall, so we don't have to look at it.

Once that was all done and the thermostat was up and running, we put in our bins (Rubbermaid 2221s, which we already had) along with the snakes, and voila!

We didn't build this thing for aesthetics, but I actually like the way it turned out, especially with the raw wood showing. Once we replace our hydrofarm thermostat with a herpstat, we'll be good to go!

[interloc]

Lovely article hunnie!


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[sporty02]

nice rack good job

[interloc]

Thanks. It's so much better than our old one. And the snakes seem much happier.


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[jben]

:thumbup: good job :thumbup:

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[4Ballz]

easy, simple, affordable, full details...what else could you ask for? (actually, just the heat setup) lol

[interloc]

Ya sorry. We forgot to take pics of the flexwatt stuff but the video we posted has all the info you will need and it's the one I used. Grand total was somewhere around 130ish with the flexwatt making up most of that.


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[Quantum Constrictors]

THANK YOU SO FRAKKING MUCH! I have been looking for a good DYI Rack that i wouldnt have to pay over $400 for. I give you one heart for my love of this and you for posting it <3.

LoL thanks a lot!

-reptiliachnids

[jschwe]

THANK YOU SO FRAKKING MUCH! I have been looking for a good DYI Rack that i wouldnt have to pay over $400 for. I give you one heart for my love of this and you for posting it <3.

LoL thanks a lot!

-reptiliachnids

No problem! I am so happy with this rack, and so glad that we didn't end up going with melamine (which we originally were). Melamine is so much more expensive, AND SO HEAVY!!

[vdubya98]

rack looks great! i'm actually going to reconsider my option and look into building this.....a couple of questions, if you don't mind. what did you do with the flexwatt? did you go through the back or the sides for it? and also on the hardwood board, did you use the smooth on both top and bottom, or just the smooth on one side and rough on the other?
thanks