I have another question,

Should I use some primer or some stain before I paint the inside with epoxy?

You should be proud of what you've accomplished so far. It's awesome. I didn't use the West System Epoxy but the epoxy I used adhered well just to the bare plywood. I sprinkled sand on that part to get rid of the shiny look. How are you attaching the styrofoam panels to the walls? I know you want it removeable for cleaning. I had to silicone all edges to keep crickets from hiding in the cracks.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

WOW, all I can say is WOW!

I have managed to do the scariest part for me! Epoxy

Surprisingly it was not smelly at all! Ok maybe a little...
It is possible that it was because I was using the mask... and it was done outside!

I have couple of concerns though.
I have painted the wood and all wooden parts of the enclosure and it seemed to have turned out perfect... BUT when I have covered the background for some reason there is white or milky residue running... I NEED HELP I have no idea if it is normal... also the paint seemed to have ran a little on some areas.

The milky residue seemed to have went away a little as epoxy dried... I will check in the morning!

Please help me with above....

And here are the pix:

The enclosure outside of the house already painted with epoxy inside:


Inside view of enclosure... you can see it is shiny



Another view:


The double floor painted:


Shelves waterfall and the little cave *** NOTICE THE MILKY RESIDUE:


Left wall:


Right wall dried a little less milky stuff:


The back wall:


Close up on milky stuff:


This is a close up that shows that the paint ran a little:
** I have read in the past that epoxy may interract with some paints... Yet it shouldnt do this with this pait I used high quality acrylic latex paint.


EPOXY:


Tools:


Here you go I will update tomorrow... Please let me know your experiences with epoxy....

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Igor
"Things we do for our pets..."

I'll see what I can find out Igor. I'm not sure what it would be. Did you apply the epoxy on the backgrounds while they were standing like that? If so it could be that some of the catalyst which has less viscosity ran down. I'll borrow one of your pics and investigate.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

It cured fine.
on wood it is just beautiful!!!

but on the rocky background does not look perfect

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Igor
"Things we do for our pets..."

You could always do some more painting on it to hide it.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

I guess I could but you know how epoxy is.... nothing sticks to it and to sand it will probably be ****

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Igor
"Things we do for our pets..."

The only thing I could find out is "if it was all mixed in correct proportions then maybe it was applied too thick. It is possible when it fully cures(could take a week or so) that it will dry clear."
You know the arylic compound I was talking about to increase elasticity? If you apply some of that on and do another light coat of epoxy it should hide it.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

There should be no issues with mixing because I have used west system pumps... maybe it is some residue with partially cured epoxy that was in the mixing jar but all work was done in the period of 4-6 hours... hmm... anyways the surfaces cured well... worse come to worst I will redo the background later...


anyways the project is scheduled to be completed this weekend

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Igor
"Things we do for our pets..."

Looking forward to the finished project and the look on your Chinese Water Dragon face when he's in it.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa