how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instructions..

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

Absolutely amazing! You’ve got skills buddy!

I appreciate you sharing…I just may be brave enough to attempt this!

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

Well aren't you just the smart one. What a great idea and a great job!

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

How would you go about painting. I would want some other colors than grout gray. Would you paint after the sealer dries, and add another coat of sealer? Or would you not need to add sealer.?

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

Those are awesome!!!! I am going to do very soon

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

ArchimedesArtifex- you would paint before you use the sealer.

thereptilestop- as far as i know there aren't any side effects. by letting the piece(s) fully air out before placing them in the cage will allow excess fumes to air out.

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

Amazing idea and the pictures are VERY helpful.. Thank you so much! I'm deff going to try it this weekend!

 

re: "Great Stuff" foam and grouting?

Hey there, i've been working on my own rock setup for my beardie, and found when i went to grout that the grout doesn't stick to the sealing foam (brand by the name of "Great Stuff") I'm wondering if i did something wrong, or if you sanded the sealing foam before you grouted it (as this is what i am planning on doing tomorrow)

Besides that little snag, this has been a great project and i'm really really happy with how the grout is coming out (besides not sticking to the GS). I used sand colored stuff and it looks GREAT!

Oh, i guess one more thing. I used hot glue instead of liquid nails; it is dual-temp glue sticks but i looked online and they need to be heated up to 170* to melt. Since i dont ever plan on having the heat that high in my dragon's tank i figure this was ok. is there any reason why it may not be?

Thanks again for a good DIY project for the week

 

RE: re: "Great Stuff" foam and grouting?

OK...I am getting ready to make some rock wall type things.. but grout is expensive... sanded grout, the stuff in pics here.. is mass expensive.. can i use just plain just add water type concrete? or can I use mortar??

also, i cant find this ' cheap sealer' everyone keeps talking about.. its like 30 bucks, and the grout is like 15 bucks each or something.. HELP!

 

hey VAbeachfam, I just bought the stuff a few days ago; Lowe's has it all fairly cheap (at least in my area). i bought the sanded grout - ~$9 for a big milk-carton looking thing;
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...&lpage=none

some sort of sealer that i cant remember the name of at the moment but it was a silicon sealer (water-based) that cost me ~$7,
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=prod...&lpage=none is a similiar product but the stuff i bought was in a little jug w/out an applicator;

and the foam in the can ("Great Stuff") cost me $6. All in all about $23. I had the polystyrene foam around the house, that could add another $8, but if you have electronics boxes you could probably harvest the foam from those. For what i'm building, $23 is more than a reasonable cost; pretty sure a structure this size would run me at least $60 if i bought it straight out.


I am, however, having problems with the foam still. Tried sanding it down and it worked in some areas and i didn't sand enough in others. Not sure if i'm going to try to re-sand the places (scraping off what dried grout did stick) or attempt to silicon over these areas and stick sand in the silicon.

A word of warning; put the grout in a bucket first, then slowly add water. I did it water and then grout and found it to be very watery. However, if you don't have enough water it'll be like adding slightly wet baking soda to the rocks, doesn't really stick well or smooth at all. I used a small brush to distribute the mixed grout to varying degrees of success.

I got pretty fancy with the foam work on my peice and now i have a ton of nooks and crannies that are becoming quite troublesome to sand and then get grout to stick to, so i caution anyone reading for future reference to make sure you put the foam on evenly and pick up some rough - medium grit sandpaper to use later to roughen the surface up to absorb the water/grout. Like i just said i'm going to use silicon sealer (have tons of it from my various fish aquarium projects, it'd be nice to get rid of!) to fill in the gaps that are refusing to grout and put sand in it.

Btw, i used the sand colored grout, and am loving the looks of it.

 

Awesome job, thanks for the tut. Random question, but are those leaves what I think they are? And if they are, where did you get them? My fiance would love that as part of our leos cage! haha

 

electrixx- i got the leaves at petsmart in the reptile department. they are attached to a suction cup. i cut them off and glues them on the grout with hot glue. i also used some with the suction cup but i dont' think they're in those pics. but just check the reptile department at a petstore em....

tishykb- i had problems with the nooks and crannies in mine. just use your fingers with the grout. you may need to put more water with the grout in order for it to stick better. i really didnt have any trouble with it sticking. do the first layer extra watery, the second medium, and the third really thick. u just have to cake it in there. and play with it. dont get too frustrated.

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

ghetto. yet effective. i like. :mrgreen:

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

would it be possible to use that for other geckos such as tokays

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

Did that 10 pound thing of grout for 9 bucks last long?

I actually am making rock wall things for 40 breeders and the like. they are all from packaging from a tv, and some from an exercize machine from a friends house, so they are already premade, i just need the cheapest grout stuff..

also how long does each layer dry? I dont have a garage i can use, so i need to know how long i would have to leave it out for weather purposes!!!!

 

The package says what they are... :shock:

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

this is te coolest thing. i put like 5 pieces on eachother nad cut the sides on an angle, then cut a whole in the middle, the nfollowed your instructions. its a great food bowl

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

tishykb, i never had a problem with the great stuff and the grout not sticking to it.... odd, i did use a different grout though. I used a premixed sealer/grout all in one type of thing for all of mine. Heres my "tutorial" lol:
http://www.reptilerooms.com/index.php?name...=fake+rock+wall
I love the huge roack wall wlowell made though, that is awesome. And about the hard to reach in places? I used spoons... popsickle sticks... spatula... eventually the only thing that really worked were my fingers... just keep at it and you'll get all of it with a couple layers
Oh yeah! And you definately want to fill in ALL the nooks and cracks and even the bottom b/c crickets and escaped mealies and supers will find their way into that one spot u missed and borrow away in the styrofoam forever and then die and stink.. then u have to carve them out once u figure out why ur tank is smelling even tho keep it so clean..... lol, believe me, just save urself the heart ache and make sure u fill in everything lol

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

What watt infared bulb shoud be used and has anyone melted yet????

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

Your gecko would be burnt to a crisp before styrofoam could melt, so I would imagine any wattage would be fine as long as it's not too hot for the gecko.

 

RE: how i made my fake rock... loads of pics and instruction

that is a sweet setup u have!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
about how long and how much money was invested!
i would like 1 for my leopard geokos!