Completely help: Anyone good with building things? - Help.com

Live42morrow
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Anyone good with building things?

?
I am building a massive enclosure for my snakes to go into and have plenty of room to grow for a while and possibly live in it forever..
I have it all planned out in my head and would really like to get started on working on this project with my dad but i have no idea how much 8×4’s of plywood I would need to buy! I have tried so many times trying to figure it out but get soo confused. -_- Home depot cuts wood for free, so i want to be able to go in there with a piece of paper saying how many pieces of wood I will need, and then a list of the dimensions of wood they need to be cut down to..
Also, how about how many 2×4’s would i need for a frame??

Heres what i am going to build.. All together its going to be a cage that will be 7 feet Long, 4 feet deep, and 6 feet high. with NO FRONT THOUGH. I am going to have most of that be glass, so i will figure out the wood for that later on.. Its going to be two seperate pieces though that i am going to connect so if i ever need to move it out of the room, i can do so without completely taking it apart… so i will have one that will be 7 ft long, 6 ft high, 2 feet deep. obviously no front will be on this since it’ll connect to another half. and then i need another 7×6x2 but with no front or back.
I am so sorry if this is confusing on trying to see what i am trying to say when i say no front, 2 pieces connectings, etc.. I tried to explain it as best as i could.. let me know if you dont get it..
Thank you soo much!!

This open post was written 9 months, 1 week ago | V/U/S: 484, 11, 2 | Edit Post | Leave a reply | Report Post


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Since writing this post Live42morrow may have helped people, but has not within the last 4 days. Live42morrow is a verified member, has been around for 2 years, 9 months and has 12 posts and 24 replies to their name.

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southern_comfort offline Verified User (7 years, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 178 #
An Undisclosed Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (16 minutes after post)
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Live42morrow offline Verified User (2 years, 9 months) Long Term User Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (21 minutes after post)

I know the general idea of how to build the cage, heat it, ventilation, hides, etc..
thank you though :)
I just need to know exactly how many 8×4 pieces of plywood I will need to buy for my specific cage i want to build. once i know how many pieces of wood I nedd im all set..

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southern_comfort offline Verified User (7 years, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 178 #
An Undisclosed Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (26 minutes after post)

7 feet Long, 4 feet deep, and 6 feet high

Top: 7′ x 4′
Bottom: 7′ x 4′
Sides: 6′ x 4′ (x2)
Back: 7′ x 6′
Frame (2×4’s?): 7′ x 6′ x 4′
not counting brace members across the back sides top and bottom.

Get out your calculator. Multiply and add to find the total square feet of wood.
Each piece will need to be cut from a single sheet of 8′x4′ plywood. That is 5 sheets.

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Live42morrow offline Verified User (2 years, 9 months) Long Term User Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (49 minutes after post)

you cant get a 7×6 out of an 8×4. not trying to shoot down everything you say, i really do appreciate your help as i am not the greatest at math and have been trying to figure this out for a while.. its definitely confusing me a lot and id like to figure it out as soon as i can thats why im asking for help :)

I came up with needing (3) 7×4s, (3) 7×2s’, and (2) 6×2’s.. cause there is the additional 2 feet that an 8×4 wont cover on the top, bottom, back. and its going to be 2 units combined that are 7 long x 6 ft high x 2 ft deep. that way there i can disconnect the 2 pieces and fit it out of a doorway without taking it apart completely if needed since we plan on moving soon.

I dunno if thats right but it seems right to me.. I just dont know how to figure out the math on how many 8×4’s i would need for that. i was trying to draw out a bunch of rectangles that represent an 8×4 adn draw lines on where it would be cut to the dimensions i need but i was getting so confused. :/

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Live42morrow offline Verified User (2 years, 9 months) Long Term User Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (54 minutes after post)

argh.. I see where i am messing up. see, I keep confusing myself! lol. i dont need 6 feet on the top and bottom so i dont need as many 7×2’s.. that changes things a lot.
so would (3) 7×4’s, 1 7×2, and (2) 6×2’s make more sense?
I just kinda would like someone to couble check what im coming up with, I guess. and then i still dont understand how to figure out how many 8×4’s would give me the right size piieces i need..
I can do taht myself i dnot want you to do everything. what would i be multiplying and adding to figure this out? sorry to be a pain in the @ss

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Live42morrow offline Verified User (2 years, 9 months) Long Term User Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (1 hour, 2 minutes after post)

So it think it would be 5 :) like you’ve said…
one for each 7×4 makes 3
one for my 2 6×2s makes 4
and then 1 for my 7×2 makes 5.

im trying to figure it out too.. just need a little help on it.. not coming on here just to have people do it for me :)
I think i finally got it, though.
let me know please adn thank you for helping out

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Live42morrow offline Verified User (2 years, 9 months) Long Term User Shouts: 0 #
An Unknown Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (1 hour, 14 minutes after post)

okay no wait.. I wish i could delete old posts i hate to keep writing one after another on here!! i feel like such an annoying person when i do that!
the front unit will need:
Top & bottom = (2) 7×2’s
sides = (2) 6×2’s

back unit to be connected to the front unit:
top & bottom = (2) 7×2’s
sides = (2) 6×2’s
Back = (1) 7×4 & (1) 7×2

so all together i need
(5) 7×2’s = (3) 8×4’s
(4) 6×2’s = (2) 8×4’s
(1) 7×4 = (1) 8×4

which equals 6 8×4s!
:D I think i finally got it! can anyone please double check this?

now let me try to figure out how many 8×4s I’ll need..

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southern_comfort offline Verified User (7 years, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 178 #
An Undisclosed Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (1 hour, 29 minutes after post)

4×7 of the back can come from one sheet of plywood. You can buy a 6th sheet to cover the missing 2×7 area or (and this is my suggestion) use the left over 2×4 pieces from the sides to make 2, 2×3.5′ hinged at the top to allow access to the cage. Like:

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Put casters on the bottom (minimum 6) so you can easily roll it away from a wall to perform maintenance.

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southern_comfort offline Verified User (7 years, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 178 #
An Undisclosed Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (1 hour, 35 minutes after post)

You are confusing yourself. Forget 6×2’s and 7×2’s….
Solid top. Solid bottom. Solid sides. Glass front, and 3 pieces for the back.
You still only need 5 sheets of plywood.

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southern_comfort offline Verified User (7 years, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 178 #
An Undisclosed Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (1 hour, 51 minutes after post)

You still need to build the frame though. Use 2×4’s. Attach all plywood pieces to the outside of the frame. The glass front should be slid in the inside of the frame. Do not attach the glass as the wood will expand and contract. Stress on the glass will cause unsightly cracks. Make a track for the glass to slide into and then attach the top.
Allow some room for wires from heat lamp, etc. to come out near the hinged back. Lamps don’t last forever so you will need to change it when it goes out.
Once you have it all planned out take them to a pet store that specializes in snakes and ask for an expert opinion. You might have left out a small but necessary detail.

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southern_comfort offline Verified User (7 years, 1 month) Long Term User Shouts: 178 #
An Undisclosed Location | 9 months, 1 week ago (1 hour, 57 minutes after post)

If you happen to have a video camera, make a video of the project start to finish and post it. I’m sure the information will be invaluable to the next exotic pet owner wishing to follow in your footsteps. Edited for time of course…

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