Condo wood?

[Bunbun500]

I am probably way over thinking this, but I really want my condo to be well planned out and constructed, so I would appreciate any help! I have been doing a lot of idea searching on here lately and have been shopping around at home depot, menards, etc. looking for the perfect building materials. I have my NIC grids, but I’m lost when it comes to what kind of wood and flooring to get. 

For wood, I am doing plywood, but I haven’t been able to find specific kinds of plywood besides birch and pine, everything else looks like a mix of different stuff. Birch is way out of my price range, but would pine or just the regular pressed ply wood be safe? It’s going to be covered with a tile flooring of some kind. I’ve only been able to find dowels that are pine or from “natural wood”, I’m not sure what natural wood includes lol but would pine work here too? 

As far as the flooring goes, I have been reading a lot about people using the stick on laminate tiles for the flooring. Do you need to use any kind of caulk or grout to hold them together, or are they really as easy as peel and stick? 

So far those are my only questions, I will probably have many many more so I really do appreciate the help  

[Mimzy]

I used poplar & birch for mine. I was confused on the wood too. Only red specifically not to use red wood because it can be harmful to bunnies. I think mostly aside from red wood, you just have to make sure the wood is not chemically treated (if treated, it will be green), & kiln dried. Although, the people I asked at Home Depot had no idea what I was talking about when I said kiln dried -.-
For the flooring, I also use the sticky laminate flooring. All I’ve done extra is hot glue the edges for extra strength. Just make sure not to put too much & press it down well. You want it to lay as flat as possible next to the other!

Otherwise, a large sheet of laminate flooring would be good as well & probably would be better for a bunny to not lift up. I didn’t get the whole sheet simply because I found it might be a little more difficult especially with no extra help (which I didn’t have)

Good luck!

[Beka27]

Regular plywood is fine since it will be covered up. Definitely look for the flattest, straightest piece you can find (and they should be able to cut it to size for you). Are you doing a ledge around it or keeping it flat? Make sure you have room outside the grids (3-4 inches) to account for any movement of grids.

[RabbitPam]

“Untreated” is what you want to watch out for. If it’s been treated, say prepared for use in an outdoor deck, then it has chemicals added and is a problem. A plain, natural untreated pine is OK.

Beka makes a good point about allowing room outside the grids. My xpen moves off the edge of my area rug I use for the floor (covered by a cotton sheet) and it isn’t as flat as I’d like it to be in spots.

[Deleted User]

I would definitely go with poplar as Mimzy suggested. It is a little bit more expensive but it is not a softer wood nor an extremely hard one. It’s a great in between wood.

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