Installing THG Heat Tape Under 3/4" Melamine?

[Aedryan Methyus]

This is 100% just a thought. I've never seen it done, and am not sure if it's practical. But figured I'd bounce it out there and see what you thought...

Would it be possible to put the tape inside, then cover it with a thin Plexi? It could be siliconed to stay in place as well as keep the tape clean and dry.
If the tape ever needed to be replaced the Plexi could just be cut out with a razor knife and re-siliconed.

Again, just a thought with no hands on experience.

That is the alternative that a lot of people use. Not with plexi-glass, but with laminated bathroom panel board or similar. Personally, I don't want to commit to that if I don't have to, because if the heat tape would ever need to be replaced, it would be a huge pain. And, not to mention, if pi$$ or water managed to seep past the caulking, there would be huge problems. It would also add about $14.00 to the cost of each enclosure and i'm building several. I would LOVE to use PVC, because it is MUCH lighter and easier to work with than melamine, but these are larger enclosures, which require 2 sheets per enclosure. At $80.00 per sheet for PVC, that would get very expensive for multiple enclosures... I'm getting melamine for about $32.00 per sheet right now...