Melamine Enclosure but with hinged glass doors

[A's Reptile Room]

Hi, I recently completed building my first Melamine enclosure and I am really happy with the result. I am about to start my next project of another 3 enclosures, a double high (2 x 4x2x2) and another single (4x2x2).

The glass sliding doors on my current one gets substrate in the tracks and makes a god awful sound when opening, so I am looking into the possibility of doing double hinged doors on the next ones. Has anyone done this before? and by any chance have any photos of how you did it?

Many Thanks

 

[E.Shell]

I used hinged glass doors on a build about a year ago and I am getting ready to do another set on a similar enclosure now.

My issues were like yours; substrate gets kicked up into the tracks and grinds horribly. The monitors aren't too bad, because their substrate is primarily soft coco-fiber/soil mix. My uromastyx are the worse, because I have them on a coarse sand substrate and that stuff will REALLY grind...

My home-made enclosures are relatively large - the one pictured is 60" x 30" x 68" (152 x 76 x 173cm) and the one under construction right now is 48"x 24" x 68" (122 x 66 x 173cm).

The first/bigger enclosure's opening was fairly large, 44"x31" (112 x 79cm), and because I had considered eventually getting slightly bigger monitors, I wanted it to be heavy duty. The second enclosure like this will have similar doors, at about 35" x 31" (89 x 79cm).

I also wanted good quality/high-clarity glass because the enclosure is also decorative.

The size itself drives the glass thickness, because it cannot be allowed to flex. I work in residential construction and had our glazier, a friend who does our glass shelving and shower enclosures, do it for me. Doug made a set of doors using 3/8" (9.5mm) thick glass. He beveled all edges and installed chrome-plated door pulls to open, and heavy-duty self-closing chrome-plated hinges. Because of the size, weight and location of the doors, the glass is tempered for safety.

The thick glass is very heavy. My enclosure is PVC and I had to beef-up the door frame to carry with weight and provide enough rigidity to be perfectly stable.

I am extremely pleased with the result, but even with Doug selling me everything at his cost and installing it for free, it was still VERY expensive and came to almost $500USD for the pair of 22"x31" (56 x 79cm) doors. Most of the expense was in the upgrade hardware and in the tempering cost, but 3/8" thick glass isn't cheap either. A set of doors like this is essentially a custom, high-quality double shower door like we would put in our upscale projects, with the only real difference being height.

I have the second similar enclosure ready to go and honestly, the cost of the doors has me on hold for another few weeks. I am so pleased with the outcome of the first set and want them to match, so I cannot bring myself to do the second set any other way.

The first two pics, Doug is final-fitting the doors prior to taking them down to go to the tempering facility. All drilling and grinding has to take place prior to tempering, so any minor fitting adjustments need to be made now.





The doors are complete here and standing open:



The small block in the center of the bottom sill is a stop-block and the self-closing hinges pull themselves closed against this block. Once the doors are open to about 45 degrees, they will stay open on their own.

This system has been in service, open/closed at least a couple times daily, for more than a year, and still works well and looks good. The gaps around the glass and between the panels is 1/8" (3mm) and narrow enough that medium/large crickets cannot escape around the edges of the glass.



E.T.A.:
I was going to install a latch, but with the relatively small/lightweight Ackies and non-venomous status, I decided the hinge torsion was plenty to keep it closed securely. A latch should be used for a bigger, stronger and/or more dangerous animal.

 

[user 43767]

Hi, I recently completed building my first Melamine enclosure and I am really happy with the result. I am about to start my next project of another 3 enclosures, a double high (2 x 4x2x2) and another single (4x2x2).

The glass sliding doors on my current one gets substrate in the tracks and makes a god awful sound when opening, so I am looking into the possibility of doing double hinged doors on the next ones. Has anyone done this before? and by any chance have any photos of how you did it?

Many Thanks

Hi, which species are you keeping and can you show the enclosure you built?

 

[A's Reptile Room]

I used hinged glass doors on a build about a year ago and I am getting ready to do another set on a similar enclosure now.

My issues were like yours; substrate gets kicked up into the tracks and grinds horribly. The monitors aren't too bad, because their substrate is primarily soft coco-fiber/soil mix. My uromastyx are the worse, because I have them on a coarse sand substrate and that stuff will REALLY grind...

My home-made enclosures are relatively large - the one pictured is 60" x 30" x 68" (152 x 76 x 173cm) and the one under construction right now is 48"x 24" x 68" (122 x 66 x 173cm).

The first/bigger enclosure's opening was fairly large, 44"x31" (112 x 79cm), and because I had considered eventually getting slightly bigger monitors, I wanted it to be heavy duty. The second enclosure like this will have similar doors, at about 35" x 31" (89 x 79cm).

I also wanted good quality/high-clarity glass because the enclosure is also decorative.

The size itself drives the glass thickness, because it cannot be allowed to flex. I work in residential construction and had our glazier, a friend who does our glass shelving and shower enclosures, do it for me. Doug made a set of doors using 3/8" (9.5mm) thick glass. He beveled all edges and installed chrome-plated door pulls to open, and heavy-duty self-closing chrome-plated hinges. Because of the size, weight and location of the doors, the glass is tempered for safety.

The thick glass is very heavy. My enclosure is PVC and I had to beef-up the door frame to carry with weight and provide enough rigidity to be perfectly stable.

I am extremely pleased with the result, but even with Doug selling me everything at his cost and installing it for free, it was still VERY expensive and came to almost $500USD for the pair of 22"x31" (56 x 79cm) doors. Most of the expense was in the upgrade hardware and in the tempering cost, but 3/8" thick glass isn't cheap either. A set of doors like this is essentially a custom, high-quality double shower door like we would put in our upscale projects, with the only real difference being height.

I have the second similar enclosure ready to go and honestly, the cost of the doors has me on hold for another few weeks. I am so pleased with the outcome of the first set and want them to match, so I cannot bring myself to do the second set any other way.

The first two pics, Doug is final-fitting the doors prior to taking them down to go to the tempering facility. All drilling and grinding has to take place prior to tempering, so any minor fitting adjustments need to be made now.

View attachment 332635

View attachment 332636

The doors are complete here and standing open:

View attachment 332637

The small block in the center of the bottom sill is a stop-block and the self-closing hinges pull themselves closed against this block. Once the doors are open to about 45 degrees, they will stay open on their own.

This system has been in service, open/closed at least a couple times daily, for more than a year, and still works well and looks good. The gaps around the glass and between the panels is 1/8" (3mm) and narrow enough that medium/large crickets cannot escape around the edges of the glass.

View attachment 332638

E.T.A.:
I was going to install a latch, but with the relatively small/lightweight Ackies and non-venomous status, I decided the hinge torsion was plenty to keep it closed securely. A latch should be used for a bigger, stronger and/or more dangerous animal.

Thanks for the comprehensive response @E.Shell Those glass doors sure are chunky! Your enclosure looks great also. The quality of your door set up and the fact I am doing 3 x enclosures will push me out of my budget I think.
I have been contemplating doing a framed glass door option, kind of like a picture frame with a bevelled back that the glass sits into. I have seen a few done this way but they can look pretty average if not done well........back to the drawing board for me

Hi, which species are you keeping and can you show the enclosure you built?

Hi @murrindindi In this enclosure I have Central Netted Dragons. It is my first attempt at building my own enclosure so not perfect, but I will get better.

pics below



and my problem .........

 

[dragonlover1]

I have lot's of dragons on sand so I know that sound.
The way to beat sand in the tracks is to put another piece of glass inside the enclosure that is higher than the tracks. My enclosures have a 6" high barrier, no it doesn't completely solve the problem but it does reduce it.
You could do it with timber or (yucky) melamine but you can't see through it

 

[A's Reptile Room]

I have lot's of dragons on sand so I know that sound.
The way to beat sand in the tracks is to put another piece of glass inside the enclosure that is higher than the tracks. My enclosures have a 6" high barrier, no it doesn't completely solve the problem but it does reduce it.
You could do it with timber or (yucky) melamine but you can't see through it

That's not a bad idea at all!
I will try that on my current enclosure and see how it goes. Cheers

 

[dragonlover1]

I used hinged glass doors on a build about a year ago and I am getting ready to do another set on a similar enclosure now.

My issues were like yours; substrate gets kicked up into the tracks and grinds horribly. The monitors aren't too bad, because their substrate is primarily soft coco-fiber/soil mix. My uromastyx are the worse, because I have them on a coarse sand substrate and that stuff will REALLY grind...

My home-made enclosures are relatively large - the one pictured is 60" x 30" x 68" (152 x 76 x 173cm) and the one under construction right now is 48"x 24" x 68" (122 x 66 x 173cm).

The first/bigger enclosure's opening was fairly large, 44"x31" (112 x 79cm), and because I had considered eventually getting slightly bigger monitors, I wanted it to be heavy duty. The second enclosure like this will have similar doors, at about 35" x 31" (89 x 79cm).

I also wanted good quality/high-clarity glass because the enclosure is also decorative.

The size itself drives the glass thickness, because it cannot be allowed to flex. I work in residential construction and had our glazier, a friend who does our glass shelving and shower enclosures, do it for me. Doug made a set of doors using 3/8" (9.5mm) thick glass. He beveled all edges and installed chrome-plated door pulls to open, and heavy-duty self-closing chrome-plated hinges. Because of the size, weight and location of the doors, the glass is tempered for safety.

The thick glass is very heavy. My enclosure is PVC and I had to beef-up the door frame to carry with weight and provide enough rigidity to be perfectly stable.

I am extremely pleased with the result, but even with Doug selling me everything at his cost and installing it for free, it was still VERY expensive and came to almost $500USD for the pair of 22"x31" (56 x 79cm) doors. Most of the expense was in the upgrade hardware and in the tempering cost, but 3/8" thick glass isn't cheap either. A set of doors like this is essentially a custom, high-quality double shower door like we would put in our upscale projects, with the only real difference being height.

I have the second similar enclosure ready to go and honestly, the cost of the doors has me on hold for another few weeks. I am so pleased with the outcome of the first set and want them to match, so I cannot bring myself to do the second set any other way.

The first two pics, Doug is final-fitting the doors prior to taking them down to go to the tempering facility. All drilling and grinding has to take place prior to tempering, so any minor fitting adjustments need to be made now.

View attachment 332635

View attachment 332636

The doors are complete here and standing open:

View attachment 332637

The small block in the center of the bottom sill is a stop-block and the self-closing hinges pull themselves closed against this block. Once the doors are open to about 45 degrees, they will stay open on their own.

This system has been in service, open/closed at least a couple times daily, for more than a year, and still works well and looks good. The gaps around the glass and between the panels is 1/8" (3mm) and narrow enough that medium/large crickets cannot escape around the edges of the glass.

View attachment 332638

E.T.A.:
I was going to install a latch, but with the relatively small/lightweight Ackies and non-venomous status, I decided the hinge torsion was plenty to keep it closed securely. A latch should be used for a bigger, stronger and/or more dangerous animal.

glass is relatively cheap to obtain and cut, it gets expensive when you want to do something difficult like drilling etc. Many years ago I had a custom built twin tank glass enclosure that needed a tunnel between the 2 so I could separate the dragons if necessary. This meant drilling so a small door could be cut The drilling cost more than the glass, so it ended up costing about $800. This all happened before I learnt about front opening enclosures ,as in the early days of reptile keeping we used fish tanks

 

[Tinky]

The trick is to raise your sliding channel above the substrate. So instead of putting your tracks on the floor of the enclosure, put a piece of quad (say 10mm x 20mmor 30mm) on the floor and then you channel on the Quad so it is 20mm or 30 above the floor height, and out of the substrate.

 

[A's Reptile Room]

The trick is to raise your sliding channel above the substrate. So instead of putting your tracks on the floor of the enclosure, put a piece of quad (say 10mm x 20mmor 30mm) on the floor and then you channel on the Quad so it is 20mm or 30 above the floor height, and out of the substrate.

Hi Tinky, I have done that. The track is 100mm high. The problem is the dragons inside poke their head up to have a look around and drop sand in the track (like my profile pic). I have found a small workaround.... I just keep a small paintbrush handy and brush out the track when it gets too noisy

 

[Herpetology]

blowing a straw also works at getting the substrate out of the track