Viv Build

[Dungbug]

I'm thinking of expanding a bit & I like the idea of building a viv from scratch so it can be built to maximumise the space I have available in the spare room. I've done quite a bit of furniture building in a previous job & I've built a few interiors from scratch for VW camper vans so I'd say I'm competant with wood work

The viv would be housing 1 BD with a view to add another at a later date, I'm just after some pointers from anyone else that has built a viv themselves (phot's of your work would be nice as well!). Thanks in advance.

[RichNick]

i'd love to give you some pointers but if you competent with wood working then im sure you will mostly know how to make one, i just cut and screwed all the sides together with sealant on the joints,put a vent in the back and then the glass on the front.Then i drilled a few holes for the mat and stat wires and hole sawed a hole in the top for the light to poke through.Last but not least added the glass.So really make a box with no front for the glass and there you have it.

Just a box with front missing.....


Then with the glass in and a background it turned into a viv

[Dungbug]

Nice viv fella, I didn't think there was anything overly complicated in building one but I just wondered if there was any pitfalls to be aware of.
I've been looking at new viv's and weighing up the cost of buying new and the cost of materials to do a self build, the advantage of self build would be that I can build to the space I have, thus maximising the living space for Kinta (my Beardy).
I remember a friend building a viv for his Iggy out of a pair of wardrobes (which he outgrew so he build a housing using the space under his staircase), sounds a bit odd but the housing was beatifully finished & his iggy had a nice home!
Looks like I'll be pricing up materials this weekend, I noticed on a different thread that someone had made a background up out of polystyrine (I think it was to house a CWD), that looked stunning!

[RichNick]

yeah ive seen that one, its fantastic.Wardrobes are a good way to make one, strangely enough mines made from wardrobe doors lol
Hope it goes well for you.

[Dungbug]

Thank you........Might take a while as I've got a shed to put up & some other jobs in the house that'll need doing.......Watch this space.

[simmi85]

heres a couple i have built got more but no pics of up to date 1s

[Dungbug]

Nice work. Where did you get the veneered wood from? (If you don't mind me asking)

[simmi85]

its just conti board any diy shop sells it

[Meko]

for some reason i only have pics from the basic frame and not half build.

just click back (on photobucket not the browser) till you get bored to see what happened after this

6ft1.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[toontomh]

Just looked through all that Meko, looks great! It's actually similar to the sort of thing I'm hoping to do if I'm allowed, so if you don't mind me asking, how much ish did that come to costing? (Just the Beardie viv and accessories, not the stuff after)

Thanks,

Tom