I'm thinking about Ebb/Flow and looking trays seem to be a bit of a PITA to get. They seem to be expensive and ship by freight which just adds to the cost. So, my idea was to build one out of a 4x8 sheet of MDF. Basically build a 7" deep box. Then cut a bunch of 1/4" strips w/ my table saw, staple them to the bottom for the ridges and coat the whole thing in fiberglass resin to make it waterproof... But, my problem is that I've never actually seen one so I'm not sure of some of the details... I assume they need to be sloped toward the drain? I was sure someone had done this but I searched the forums for every keyword I could think of and couldn't find anything. Is this just even more of a pain than buying one?
Water and wood normally don't mix to well, maybe buy a swimming pool locally. I'm sure it can be done but probably lots of work.
Well, yeah, that's why I was going to coat it in fiberglass resin... Don't forget, people DO make boats out of wood... I dunno, maybe I'm the only person who thought of this...? Maybe because it's just a dumb idea? It seems like it would work but I'd be interested in gaining some knoweledge from anyone elses experience if anyone has tried something similar and failed/succeeded...
Definitely a good idea, you would get your exact size and its certainly going to be strong then plastic. If you're going to coat everything in resin then theres no reason it shouldn't work, guess it all depends on how well you build it. Just make sure you attach the corners so they won't come apart and your golden. Good luck
Its funny I just started drawing up the plans for my new grow room and after no luck finding a 3'x4.4' tray decided to pop over here and see if there was a thread on building a custom one and look whats one of the first threads. I was thinking to use some reinforced mdf for the bottom then 2x8s for the sides just so everything is overkill I was just thinking to build everything plumb it then throw on a ton of laquer just to seal the cracks and keep water out of contact from the wood. Also wood is inherently waterproof, barrels for instance. Hell I have a 20+ year old wood hottub thats still holding up fine. That being said wood does very slowly deteriorate and who knows what it would do to the water so some type of sealing would be a safe bet. The fiberglass idea sounds perfectly sound if a bit overkill. After trying and eventually succeeding at building a custom fiberglass hood for an old car of mine im steering clear of it whenever possible... Just mentioning it makes me itchy!
Ive seen something similiar built over on icmag. they made the wood frame and used heavy duty pond liner to line it. they built their flood tables and their reservoirs this way. Its been a while since I read that thread but you can use their search to find it. regards
Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to be such a smart-ass... (Don't shoot me!) I'd probably double 5/8" MDF for the sides. (The kind they prime and precut to width for shelving) I like MDF, it ends up exactly the same size you cut it. I think they call that "dimensionally stable". I'd use construction adhesive between everything and 2x2 or 2x4 batten boards under the tray bottom and drywall screws to hold the MDF to the batten boards. Most woods are not waterproof. Most will rot rather quickly. Spruce will rot to almost nothing VERY quickly. Cypress is good (it grows in swamps afterall). Not fiberglass itself -- fiberglass resin. The stuff you use to stick sheets of fiberglass mesh together. Laquer would be too thin and would take lots of coats to get it thick enough to where I'd feel okay about it holding up. I'd probably prime it so it doesn't soak up too much resin and then paint it again flat white for light reflectivity... I'm trying to avoid pond liners b/c of the puncture risk. But it's good to know that I'm not entirely crazy for thinking this is possible... Thanks for the input guys... Peace.
for all the time and smell of fiberglass why not just get a sheet of 10mm poly plastic (black) and slap it in there fill with water,once shaped to your box use a staples gun and presto you have sealed the deal just a idea ?? cheers
Yeah, it does seem like it would save time... I found 45mil pond liners. I didn't realize they were that thick. You'd have to really TRY to puncture that...