Question about type of wood.

[fluffycupcake]

Okay, so I did a search on here about shelves & I've learned a bit more info.


I took some measurements for my cage & now I was looking on Lowe's web site trying to see if I could calculate how much it'll cost, because hopefully I have enough spare moolah right now that I could get them tomorrow.. well technically today.

Anyhow... I'm pretty sure this is what I want to get :

http://www.lowes.com/pd_30820-99999...pl__0__s?Ntt=kiln+dried+pine+1+x+6&facetInfo=


I hope that link works, because I think it has my specific store in the location field. Anyways, it says "kiln-dried whitewood" which I read on some posts on here that it is in fact kiln-dried pine, which is what I want. Then I done some research online & all kinds of web sites say all kinds of different things, that it can be a mixture of woods, it can be spruce, and several other things.
So, now I am so confused & I want to make sure I get the right thing that won't harm my future babies.
Also it says Dressing Smooth 4 sides, what does that mean?


I really hope that works, because that is much cheaper than I thought it would be. I've never done any type of shopping for wood, so I was assuming that the wood wouldn't be too terribly expensive but it would still run me a bit. And that is only 5$ for a 8 ft long board, with the perfect thickness & width.





Last question.. more like an opinion actually... what width do you all have for your shelves? I was figuring 6 in. would be big enough that they could turn and set comfortably.
I'm planning on doing four 12 in. shelves, one 15 in. shelve & then three 8 in. shelves. The four 12 in. shelves, I am going to stagger each one on the back on my FN so instead of having a long board, it will kind of be broken up. I'll do two on each level that way.
The one 15in. I plan on having on the side of one level, I haven't decided yet.
One of the 8 in. ones, I'm going to put it underneath a fleece hidey house I'm getting, just to give it a bit more stability & so the girls can come in and out.
Then, two of the 8 in shelves, I'm going to use those as the "stairs" to allow the girls to get up and down from the top level. The steps are pretty much my main concern... is that enough? Just two?



Sorry this is so long and has several different questions. I wanted to try & get everything into one post & try to explain it the best I could so you all could understand me, because quite often I think that when I type I'm making PERFECT sense, then I go back and read it and I am like "whaaaaa?!" hehe.



Editing to ask another question!
About the wing nuts, I just did a search on those on the Lowe's web site & some are stainless steel, some are zinc coated, & there are a few others, which do I need to get?

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

From what I have read, Lowe's now refers to their KD Pine as KD Whitewood. Pretty sure I read that on here somewhere, but I'm not 100%.

Maybe someone who has bought their wood from Lowe's can tell us both. lol

 

[fluffycupcake]

Haha, I hope someone can inform us. I just want to make extra, double, super sure! That is one thing I don't want to mess up on.


Also, I thought of another opinion I want to ask!
How many of the bolts do you use for your shelves? I want them to be secure, but not over do it.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Personally, I do about 2 to 3 on the back, depending on how longer, and 1 on each end.

 

[Vyxxin]

I have been told by a Lowes employee that it IS pine. I use the 1x6 stuff not the 2x6...that's going to be VERY heavy IMO.

Likewise, number of bolts is based on size...length and home many walls of the cage the shelf touches. For instance a shelf that is braced on 3 sides of a cage will need less bolts than one only braced on two sides of the cage (IMO).

Also, pine is cheap...bolts/washers/wingnuts are not Keep it in mind!

 

[fluffycupcake]

Personally, I do about 2 to 3 on the back, depending on how longer, and 1 on each end.

I was figuring for 2 for the shorter ones & maybe 3 or 4 for the longer ones. So apparently my mind is on the right track.

I have been told by a Lowes employee that it IS pine. I use the 1x6 stuff not the 2x6...that's going to be VERY heavy IMO.

Likewise, number of bolts is based on size...length and home many walls of the cage the shelf touches. For instance a shelf that is braced on 3 sides of a cage will need less bolts than one only braced on two sides of the cage (IMO).

Also, pine is cheap...bolts/washers/wingnuts are not Keep it in mind!

Yeah, I'm hoping they have 1 x 6, in that description of the 2 x 6 it says actual thickness is 1 1/2 in. thick. So, hopefully when I go to Lowe's they have the 1 in. thick.

I haven't really decided about the actual layout of the shelves, like EXACTLY where they will go.. haha. So, I might just end up buying a few extra of the bolts just in case.

And I noticed that! I'm going to spend much more on hardware than the actual shelves themselves.
:impatient:
Oh well!

 

[Mandy]

I get my wood at Home Depot as they have the boards all set out and in layman's terms, KD Pine on the labels.

We went to Lowes this past weekend, and saw Pine on one side and 'Whitewood' across from it.
We asked the employees what was pine and Kiln dried, but they responded with 'Well, technically it's all Kiln Dried.'

We left and my step-father was in the car saying;
'Well, technically chinchillas will be chewing on this..so technically if anything happens, I'll be here for..you.' lol

Maybe you'll have better luck with your local store.

 

[fluffycupcake]

I get my wood at Home Depot as they have the boards all set out and in layman's terms, KD Pine on the labels.

We went to Lowes this past weekend, and saw Pine on one side and 'Whitewood' across from it.
We asked the employees what was pine and Kiln dried, but they responded with 'Well, technically it's all Kiln Dried.'

We left and my step-father was in the car saying;
'Well, technically chinchillas will be chewing on this..so technically if anything happens, I'll be here for..you.' lol

Maybe you'll have better luck with your local store.

Well, if I get the same type of response at my Lowe's then I'll certainly try my Home Depot. The type of wood, that is just something I do not want to play around with, that is a life & death thing for the chins.

I tried to look up the wood online at Home Depot but it kept bringing up all kinds of crazy things and never actual lumber.. so I couldn't price it there.. but, I would have to assume that it would be around the same price, plus the Home Depot I would be going to is across the state line in VA, so the sales tax is much cheaper in VA than in TN. So that is always a plus. Which, there is also a Lowe's in VA that isn't too far from the Home Depot I would be going to. So at least I have a few options I guess.
:hmm:

 

[Mandy]

I also see they don't make it easy on their site.
We usually pay 8$ for an 8ft board of KD Pine? Using the finger method here, I'm seeing about 3/4inch thick on my shelves.
The hardware is normally 24 cents for a washer and 25 cents for a bolt. (Size to hold in a Ferret Nation, and it may be vice-versa. lol)
Don't have my receipt by me.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

I also see they don't make it easy on their site.
We usually pay 8$ for an 8ft board of KD Pine? Using the finger method here, I'm seeing about 3/4inch thick on my shelves.
The hardware is normally 24 cents for a washer and 25 cents for a bolt. (Size to hold in a Ferret Nation, and it may be vice-versa. lol)
Don't have my receipt by me.

I use 84 lumber because I'm never sure about Lowe's and I'm pretty sure the KD Pine boards there for 8ft are like $3.50 or something. I know it isn't $8

 

[Mandy]

Much better price then..
Ive never heard of them..Is this a store you pick it up at, or just order and pick it up? The site confused me.

 

[fluffycupcake]

I use 84 lumber because I'm never sure about Lowe's and I'm pretty sure the KD Pine boards there for 8ft are like $3.50 or something. I know it isn't $8

The 84 Lumber that used to be near me closed down. So that is out of the options.



I posted the question about the metals for the bolts, etc in my first question.. does anyone know about what metal I should get?

I did find the hanger bolts on Home Depot's web site & they have a 4 pack of them for .98 I think they are cheaper than Lowe's. Standard Steel is what those hanger bolts are made of at Home Depot.

But, on the Lowe's web site they were listed as zinc coated, stainless steel, & a few other things.

 

[greychins]

I can't help ya with the bolts or wingnuts - I buy them by the 1000 bag, special ordered at Menards... and I think they're steel? You'd think I'd know, but I really don't. And in all honesty, the reason I've never really messed around to check is because even with some mighty determined chewers, in all of our cages in all the years past, we've only had to pull out one bolt due to chewing getting close to it. When the chins can't get to it, I'm not worried.

As for the wood, I get it from Home Depot. I know where it is, and none of that Lowe's confusing crap with the whitewood. But I get the 8" deep wood. Sure, the chins do fine on 6... but on that same note, I can sleep fine in a twin bed.. but I sure like my queen! So they get 8. Little more room to lounge around on. But that's just me. Here, a 1x8x6' board is $5.33 I think.

 

[fluffycupcake]

I can't help ya with the bolts or wingnuts - I buy them by the 1000 bag, special ordered at Menards... and I think they're steel? You'd think I'd know, but I really don't. And in all honesty, the reason I've never really messed around to check is because even with some mighty determined chewers, in all of our cages in all the years past, we've only had to pull out one bolt due to chewing getting close to it. When the chins can't get to it, I'm not worried.

As for the wood, I get it from Home Depot. I know where it is, and none of that Lowe's confusing crap with the whitewood. But I get the 8" deep wood. Sure, the chins do fine on 6... but on that same note, I can sleep fine in a twin bed.. but I sure like my queen! So they get 8. Little more room to lounge around on. But that's just me. Here, a 1x8x6' board is $5.33 I think.

Haha, I never even thought that they can't even get close to the screws and such to chew them.

Bahaaaa, I feel so dumb. I guess the washers would be the only thing they can get close to. And I'm going to assume that the stainless steel would be the way to go? Right?

Home Depot is probably where I'll end up getting everything, according to their web site, they have a better deal for the hardware. A 4 pack of the screws there is the same price as a 2 pack at Lowes & it is cheaper for the wing nuts there also, and I'm pretty sure the washers will be cheaper as well. Every time I typed 'washers' into the search, I kept getting pages & pages of washing machines. Pffft..
I may end up getting a wider board, I'll have to check it out once I get there. It is really hard for me to be able to understand and plan something without actually SEEING it in front of me.

 

[Idgie]

I just use poplar instead of pine. Nice clean boards and they are safe. I get it at Menards or Home Depot.

 

[Drawn2beaches]

Not sure if it has been said yet but I saw a couple say it is "pine" it isn't just pine it is generic whitewood which includes spruce and douglas, and a couple other, it isnt just pine and you should go to a lumber yard if you want to be positive you are using pine as I believe one of the types of whitewood is not safe


and to be even further on the safe side use stainless steel, non zinc screws.

 

[fluffycupcake]

Well, now I have a new problem... I went to Home Depot, asked for Kiln Dried pine, and told the guy what kind of measurements I wanted, he cut the wood. I'm OCD about things, so once I got home.. I typed the sku number into the Home Depot web site & this is the link that came up :

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...P_PARENT_ID&storeId=10051&Ntpr=1&ddkey=Search


The specifications is what I'm worried about. The guy said it was Pine, now under the 'Primary Specific Wood Species' it says this : 'Norway Spruce (Picea abies)' .


:banghead:

 

[Bonkers]

my home depot has kiln dried pine clearly labeled, if i remember correctly there was also white wood in the same section.