I did my best to copy Tom's "Best Night Box Design Yet" as seen in his thread here.. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html
I'm not a super "handy-woman" but I have used a fair share of tools. If a stay at home mom (like me) can build this, then anyone can!
It was fairly easy to do and I only have a few battle wounds
I decided to make it 4'x 2'x 2' with a 12"x 12" door.
I used 2x2s for the framing and plywood for the walls. The roof, door, floor and walls are all insulated with 1.5" thick rigid foam insulation.
I caulked the corners and edges.
Weather stripping is used around the top.
I overlapped 2 layers of vinyl stripping for the door flaps.
The heater is a mini oil filled heat radiator.
The total cost was about $150. I had some of the materials already or it would have cost more. But I'm sure the expense will be worth it when I save on the monthly electric bill!
Here are the photos:
Started as a simple frame:
Insulating the roof:
Putting up the outer plywood walls and the insulation:
Covering all the insulation with inner plywood walls:
Insulating the floor:
All covered up:
Painting:
Adding the door flaps:
I used roofing shingles for traction on the door. The step up to the door ramp was too steep so I made an extra ramp. The door locks at night and I simply move the extra ramp off to the side:
Putting in the oil filled radiator. I wanted to keep the turtles away from it with a barrier. The hardware cloth wall came about by accident but I'm very pleased with it. I caulked around the bottom so hay can't slip under there:
The turtles already enjoy it:
The house sits next to my husband's tool shed and under a covering. It's protected from rain and will be kept cool in the shade of the block wall during summer:
Right now I'm using the radiator's internal thermostat. It's keeps a steady 80-83F. These guys only have access to the house during the day. At night they come inside to sleep in a humid chamber and I turn the heater off and lock the house door. Once they sleep in here I'll set it up with a digital thermostat.
Hope this helps anyone else build one of these wonderful tort houses. I'm sure as my herd grows (either in number or individual's size) I'll have to make another, larger one. But for now, this suits us just perfectly!
I'm not a super "handy-woman" but I have used a fair share of tools. If a stay at home mom (like me) can build this, then anyone can!
It was fairly easy to do and I only have a few battle wounds
I decided to make it 4'x 2'x 2' with a 12"x 12" door.
I used 2x2s for the framing and plywood for the walls. The roof, door, floor and walls are all insulated with 1.5" thick rigid foam insulation.
I caulked the corners and edges.
Weather stripping is used around the top.
I overlapped 2 layers of vinyl stripping for the door flaps.
The heater is a mini oil filled heat radiator.
The total cost was about $150. I had some of the materials already or it would have cost more. But I'm sure the expense will be worth it when I save on the monthly electric bill!
Here are the photos:
Started as a simple frame:
Insulating the roof:
Putting up the outer plywood walls and the insulation:
Covering all the insulation with inner plywood walls:
Insulating the floor:
All covered up:
Painting:
Adding the door flaps:
I used roofing shingles for traction on the door. The step up to the door ramp was too steep so I made an extra ramp. The door locks at night and I simply move the extra ramp off to the side:
Putting in the oil filled radiator. I wanted to keep the turtles away from it with a barrier. The hardware cloth wall came about by accident but I'm very pleased with it. I caulked around the bottom so hay can't slip under there:
The turtles already enjoy it:
The house sits next to my husband's tool shed and under a covering. It's protected from rain and will be kept cool in the shade of the block wall during summer:
Right now I'm using the radiator's internal thermostat. It's keeps a steady 80-83F. These guys only have access to the house during the day. At night they come inside to sleep in a humid chamber and I turn the heater off and lock the house door. Once they sleep in here I'll set it up with a digital thermostat.
Hope this helps anyone else build one of these wonderful tort houses. I'm sure as my herd grows (either in number or individual's size) I'll have to make another, larger one. But for now, this suits us just perfectly!