I like theat groove and plex glass. I built wodden caged befoer and sealed the bottom with bed liner paint ( like rino liner) it worked great to prevent the wood from molding , and spilled water bowls( use silcon to seal he plywood and 2x4 frame together to make water tight.
I might try to make another one if I got the extra funds this summer ( like msot I see with the plywood only inside) but I will double wall the units so I can fill with expanding foam ot make it warmer and heat holding better .
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If you are building your own I'd suggest using PVC (not PVCx) for the bottom it makes heating much easier. Plexy covering flexwatt is a interesting idea but I would be concerned with water spills (I have a bowl flipper he flips dog bowl some how...) and water entering the lower space and shorting the flexwatt. I am sure that careful sealing would prevent this but I am also sure it would need to be renewed every now and again.
grits don't take this the wrong way I see what I believe could be a flaw and by pointing it out you can improve the product. I have a background in boat building (before the market dropped out 9 years back) I have done 3 'glass' (plexy and lexan) boats wood epoxy encapsulated, the construction is similar. My experience taught be to use glass tempered glass. The problem was plexy moves a lot an amazing amount and sealed stable plywood doesn't much. I think you will find that the silicone seal will fail in a year or less. If you spill water it will flood the flexwatt cavity and there could be a problem (minor or major depending) Pits all glass is a good option and all PVC (pvcx is too good an insulator to be efficient.) even exactly as you have designed but with the plexi bonded to the whole floor.
Just thinking here, my experience is not the same thing at all but it is similar and I would be concerned by the seal breaking due to movement of the plexy.
Thanks for the suggestion kitedemon. There are a few different reasons I do it this way though. The first is I use a commercial grade silicon that is used on the exterior of buildings and is designed to hold up to the elements.The second, and most important, reason is because not many people wont pay to have an entire floor done in it or tempered glass
not many people want pay to have an entire floor done in it or tempered glass
This is so true, the glass cost me between $50 and $100 depending on size. Most people dont want to pay for what they think a $5 piece of plywood will do
Originally Posted by grits
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