[Chief Herb]

I am about to start construction on a small wood viv and am wondering if I can just coat the wood in Polyurethane rather than using marine epoxy? I can get Polyurethane for free and would really like to save the money. On the inside there should be almost no exposed wood except for right around the door. Would 3-4 good coats of Polyurethane sufficiently seal the wood and would it be safe for some frogs?

 

[BR5]

As long as you let it cure out I don't see an issue, just wondering why go to the trouble of making one with a wood frame?

 

[BethInAK]

i do not know about the safety of polyeurethane, but I do think its just NOT AS WATERPROOF as epoxy and if it has standing water on it for a long time that it will eventually break through the coating and crack and rot, no?

However, since you are doing a custom build, I wonder if you couldn't find some sort of plastic tray in the base of the viv to provide the additional waterproofing for the bottom?