Epoxy Vs Polyester

I am in need of opinions from anyone with experience with these resins. I use them a lot for projects I have going on here and there. In working with them, I usually know immediately what would work best under whichever situations. This time, I am just not sure...

I have a 4x5x3 wood enclosure for my burms. Right now I have reduced to one (see how long that lasts lol) and this gives me an opportunity to do something I have planned on doing for a long time; refinish the wood. I have not used these resins on a snake cage of this size, or any snake cage for that matter. I worry about strength, brittleness, cleaning, and so forth. The plan is to round out the now-square edges and then refinish with one of the resins for a nice, thick coat. So, simply, what is the recommendation between these two and, just as important, why?

I would say an epoxy resin would work better. Although more expensive it would bond better, allow less water absorption, and won't "crack" as much, if at all. I have never used either in an application of this sort so follow up posts as to your progress would be greatly appreciated. Keep us updated.

Marsell: I was thinking the same, especially with the cracking-prone brittleness of polyester, but wasn't sure of others experiences. Unfortunately I won't be tackling this for a little longer than I expected due to the temps going just low enough now to conflict with good application. When I do it, though, I will post a follow up for how it works and then any pertinent updates if it fails or problems arise.

The costs will be more since the cage is so big, but I need to redo the cage and round out the corners anyways, so all in all it would be just part of the process and a time saver from wood sealers.

I have been building wooden cages for boas for a long time. What I have always done is sanded the wood really well, apply whatever kind of stain I am going for then use MINWAX polyurethane. I have found that many thin coats work better than a couple thick coats. One of the cages I built a long time ago is still being used today and has been working great. The problem I have ran into is the type of wood changes how well the poly will seal. For instance, a good quality, sanded wood seals a lot better than standard plywood. Just my .2 cents. Hope it helps.

MXracer: Thank you for the info. That is what I have done in the past and on this cage, so that is actually the base I am going to be sanding down and coating over with the epoxy. I used the same brand and everything. I plan on keeping the walls with the same coating, possibly even re-coating when I tackle the project, but I want something more on the floor.
What problems have you had with plywood? I have used plywood mostly without problems. The problem I found with plywood is that it can split and separate if used with a heating device, like a good heatpad. That was not a problem with the poly's sealing though, rather the wood.

Well, the wood cracking is one thing. More or less I have just seen better results with the sealing when using a good quality plywood. The better quality plywood is stronger on the ends, seals better at the joint. The cheaper stuff I would sand down with a belt sander, poly it and I would still have problems with wood cracking, or water seeping out if a bowl was spilled. Do you know what I mean by the cheap and the good plywood? Like at lowes you got your, I think its called C grade plywood, which is standard building plywood, maybe $17 a sheet, then it goes up in better quality. I use something in between. I am building a cage now. I am using 6' by 12'' shelving board for the top, sides and back, stained with poly. The bottom will be made out of either shelving board covered with linoleum, counter top or melamine shelving for ease of cleaning and making it more water resistant. Haven't decided yet. I know linoleum can be a pain to clean if you get something cheap.

Let me take that back. I am going to use laminate flooring for the bottom of the cage. Cheap, easy to clean and looks great. I will keep you posted.

I have seen people using the laminate flooring with problems when they get the textured kind. Watch out for the textures with deeper imprints, or designs that create undercuts into themselves. Let us know how that works! I may need to re-consider that approach to my project.

I have already been through that problem, very diffucult to clean. I am going for the smooth, wood floor type laminate. It will look good, found some cheap and it will be water proof and easy to clean. Like wiping off a counter top is what I am going for. I will keep you updated. With it as cold as it is here though it has slowed down my cage building. I may move my project into the house, lol.

Originally Posted by WtGreg

...but I want something more on the floor.

How about putting a thin strip of plexi glass, at least on the floor? Anytime I've built wooden caging, I attached 1/4 plexi on all the interior walls. Its a lot easier to clean and I never had to worry about what the wood would do in such a hot/wet environment.

Since you'll probably have the floor covered with substrate...plexi wont be noticeable. Even if you decide to put plexi on ALL the interior...other then some extra glare, the aesthetics shouldn't suffer

Either way, good luck and be sure to post pics when your done.