sealing a diy hood

[sandmanrieast]

What I did was stain a red oak hood then varnished the out side...just stain on the inside...do you think this is good or bad . well this be good protection..Will it warp?

 

[Kelp]

I've done 2 hoods, 1 in pine, that I painted with oil base enamal. The inside was white for reflection purposes. after about 18 months I noticed it was peeling. (only on the inside)
My current hood, which BTW is only about 1 month old, is made of 1/4" plywood also painted with oil base enamal. The inside however is lined with aluminium foil. I spread water resistant elmers glue all over the area to be covered, then layed the foil on it and smoothed it down. A really smart person would use the heavy duty foil as the thinner stuff is not as easy to work with and tears easily. I'm pretty happy with it so far.

[ September 21, 2001: Message edited by: Kelp ]

 

[pez]

Warping is generally caused by great temperature variations and humidity. So unless you seal both the inside and outside really really well, I don't think you can prevent it. In all of the hoods I have built, I sealed in the inside and outside with polyurethane. At least two coats, but I was using plywood - one coat might work fine for you.

-Tom

 

[Mac1]

I used Minwax Sealant - forget the exact name, but just go to your local Hardware store and down the "Paint and Stain" aisle, you should see something similar. I think it was just clear polyeurathane. I had to put 3-4 coats on the thing, but it's held up really good for several years. I also coated a piece of Pressboard I used underneath my sump (to help support it on the stand), and damn near dunked that thing in the stuff. I've been very reckless with it, letting water evaporate right on top of the wood, and after 3 years now, it's just barely starting to show some signs of not being treated too well. I can't say for sure if the Polyeurathane added anything nasty to my tanks (either from falling off the hood, or just being in the vacinity), but haven't seen anything I'd attribute to it.

- Mac