How to fill up a gap for a warped sliding door?

[redshepherd]

I think my melamine enclosure (REGRETS OMG) I have for my dumeril's is already warping a bit. I noticed just now that the right sliding door doesn't shut cleanly (it's lopsided), and there's a 1cm gap between the door and the wall on the upper half.

What can I use to fill up the gap and that is easy to work with? It probably should stick to the glass sliding door instead of the wall.

[JodanOrNoDan]

I feel for you melamine is some horrible stuff. I do not keep snakes in anything but tubs but I do have a lot of negative experiences with that material. Putting something on the glass would probably not resist pressure from the animal well. The only thing I can think of would be to bolt a piece of better material to the inside of the enclosure on that side with enough overhang to cover the gap. If the material is strong enough and bolted well, you may actually be able to pull the warp out over time by periodically tightening the hardware. It is not going to look good but there is probably not much else u can do outside of replacing the warped piece. If you do try the bolt method make sure you use some really good sized washers otherwise the bolts will pull through that wonderful material.

[zina10]

can you make a couple of good pictures of the unit itself ? And the door/wall ?

[redshepherd]

I feel for you melamine is some horrible stuff. I do not keep snakes in anything but tubs but I do have a lot of negative experiences with that material. Putting something on the glass would probably not resist pressure from the animal well. The only thing I can think of would be to bolt a piece of better material to the inside of the enclosure on that side with enough overhang to cover the gap. If the material is strong enough and bolted well, you may actually be able to pull the warp out over time by periodically tightening the hardware. It is not going to look good but there is probably not much else u can do outside of replacing the warped piece. If you do try the bolt method make sure you use some really good sized washers otherwise the bolts will pull through that wonderful material.

It's terrible, I wish I did research on specific materials before getting it LOL. I just figured since I see melamine being used very often, it must be fine... but haha wrong.

I'm actually not sure what you mean by bolting on the inside to pull the wall in, though it sounds like a good idea.

can you make a couple of good pictures of the unit itself ? And the door/wall ?

sure! I just drew that image, because taking a picture is more of a hassle haha. I'll post something.

[Zincubus]

I simple fix would be to measure and cut a slim piece of wood and either hot glue it or screw it into position - vertically . So say the Viv is 14" tall/high - you would need a piece of wood 14" by say 1" wide and maybe 1/2 of an inch thick ( approx the same as the warp ) and fix it inside of the viv front panel - vertically .

So the viv door glass slides up against the added piece of wood .


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[redshepherd]

Zincubus, thanks- I was thinking something like that. Where do I get a piece of wood that size? Or is there another material I can use?

Current makeshift fix lol...



And what it actually looks like. This is closed "shut". It doesn't go any further than that, because it hits the bottom corner.

[CALM Pythons]

I simple fix would be to measure and cut a slim piece of wood and either hot glue it or screw it into position - vertically . So say the Viv is 14" tall/high - you would need a piece of wood 14" by say 1" wide and maybe 1/2 of an inch thick ( approx the same as the warp ) and fix it inside of the viv front panel - vertically .

So the viv door glass slides up against the added piece of wood .


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X2^^^^^. Lowes has 1x2's for cheap and they will cut & rip one so its 3/4 thick by your 14" high.. Drill 3 holes so it doesn't split and bolt/washer & nut it. You can spray it white too.


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[zina10]

How does the door fit on the other side of the enclosure?

I'm just wondering what is going on with it to have caused that. Wondering if both sides are beginning to lean to the right slightly.
That would also mean that the door isn't perfect on the other end, though.

If that is the case, I would want to look into straightening and stabilizing the enclosure somehow. Because whatever is going on, is probably going to keep happening. The gap will grow and eventually it will be structurally unsound. I wouldn't want it "giving out" while you aren't home.

You could get a level and try to find out where or what is leaning, try to fix that and add support to keep from happening again.

[redshepherd]

Thanks sully and zincubus, I'll look into doing this! I'm not handy with materials and stuff at all, but I think I can figure this out at least LOL!

Zina, weirdly the other door fits snug from top to bottom. So only something is happening with the right side, maybe a warped ceiling panel? I have no clue. You're right, that would be scary if the enclosure eventually collapses when I'm not home! I'll get a level and see if I can figure it out...

How do you suggest adding support? I don't know how this building thing works.

[Zincubus]

Well I'm rubbish at DIY but mine brain works kinda differently than most and I'm always able to find a quick and easy fix for anything that comes up .

Adding support to the whole structure is another quick fix ...

Just need some L shaped brackets ..... and put one on all eight corners .... 8 cost me about £6 a few months ago when I bolstered by big Boa viv .

You could easily get away with using just 4 though and put them on the two front bottom corners and the two front top ones .
These are similar to the ones I used although mine only had half as many screw holes - you only really need to be putting two screws on each face so brackets with four or six will be fine _ it's the shape that's important .

Hope that makes sense

..


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