Great Stuff Background (wet?)

[Poly]

I plan on creating a Great Stuff background... but since the foam isn't water proof, what happens when damp plants grow on it or it gets sprayed with water? Will it shrink?

When I make it, I'll be spraying the foam onto plywood (hint... hint... new viv coming up ), and then covering it with a thick layer of black GE II Silicone, is the silicone the reason it can resist water?

The background (and false bottom) I made in my Tomato frog (now houses chubby frogs) vivarium worked good, but for one, the chubby frogs would burry down 6+" until they got the the top of the false bottom, which I was afraid of them hurting themselves on the abrasive screen, so I removed the fasle bottom, and as for the background, well the frgs (and I) had no use for it, besides it was my first background and didn't work out that well.

Thanks,

~Royce

[DonLisk]

Hey Royce,
The Great Stuff Foam is made to resist water and stop leaks in cracks and is the same product used to build outdoor water falls. The silicone does seal the GS to make a better waterproof barrier but is also how we attached the substrate for a natural covering.

If your looking to seal the plywood which needs to be 100 percent separated from the moisture getting to it, there are paints which will do this as will the regular GE II silicone. I'm not positive the paint but there are a few construction journals that I thought someone posted using, like SludgeMonkeys.

Hopefully someone will pipe in with what is best for sealing off the plywood.

[frogluver]

I hope you don’t mind me borrowing your thread Royce .....
Would any of the Great Stuff foams be safe to use in the terrarium? There are several types, i.e. window and door, big gap filler, etc.., but I didn’t know if one would be safer than the other. My first choice would be the pond and stone formula, but as a substitute, could I use any of the other formulas?

[DonLisk]

Yes, any version of Great Stuff is pretty much the same thing as is the Tetra Waterfall Foam. I like the big gap version and think its available in black too. The Tetra waterfall Foam is also in black but more than double the price.

[frogluver]

Yes, any version of Great Stuff is pretty much the same thing as is the Tetra Waterfall Foam. I like the big gap version and think its available in black too. The Tetra waterfall Foam is also in black but more than double the price.

Ok, gotcha......thanks Don !!

[DonLisk]

The big thing to remember with these foams is to NOT put it on so thick that it takes forever to dry or make what seems to be not drying areas that end up with air pockets.

If you need to design in large areas like making a tree, do it in layers adding a new layer over one that has completely dried.

You might also find it pulls off the glass as some parts expand and others contract during drying.
If its a visual spot, you can either fill in with more GS or you can trim the GS back to add in silicone and substrate to hide the GS on the sides.

Look through some of the journals and see what others did since some silicone before the GS to hide the white color and others like me don't.

[Poly]

Don: I was planning on coating the entire inside of the woden tank with fibreglass resin... thing is, will great stuff adhere to it?