It was only a 55g, but for a while I was able to make it look passable in my bedroom by just draping a stolen dark blue airline blanket under the bottom edge of the tank so it covered the front of the stand, kind of like a curtain. I had speakers on the sides so it was easy to hide. But yeah, you could do some sort of curtain and still have access to below. Or you could just do a sliding plywood frame, as mentioned. Just make it three sided and tack some trim to the top and bottom and suddenly it looks just like any other nice stand. Home Depot can cut the ply to size for you too. If you want, you can use a jig saw to cut door holes and order pre-cut unstained doors to hang too. Should be pretty simple.
Steel stands...how to make them look good?
- Thread starter jcardona1
- Start date
Here's the pics.
Pic 1, steel stand.
Pic 2, Steel stand with 2x4's Siliconed into all corners, small piece of 2x4 at the tops and bottoms of the 2x4 to create a nailing edge on all corners of stand. Yes the silicone really holds them in, push on them and they don't move at all, won't just pop off thats for sure. I used GE type 1, lol. but worked great.
Pic 3, 1/4" plywood inlayed.
Pic 4, plywood/visible steel painted.
I still have to redo the trim in white. The plywood on the front just slips up under the trim and is even with the outer metal., and I have a couple screws in it painted the same color(screws usually out lol, I think they are in the picture). The trim was siliconed/nailed to the 1 1/4" piece of wood that sits atop the stand.
The wood on the very bottom of the stand I inlayed from the back with only alex plus caulking, it seems strong also, the kids havn't kicked it in lol. Also the wood nor the stand is crooked, the floor is!!
Pic 1, steel stand.
Pic 2, Steel stand with 2x4's Siliconed into all corners, small piece of 2x4 at the tops and bottoms of the 2x4 to create a nailing edge on all corners of stand. Yes the silicone really holds them in, push on them and they don't move at all, won't just pop off thats for sure. I used GE type 1, lol. but worked great.
Pic 3, 1/4" plywood inlayed.
Pic 4, plywood/visible steel painted.
I still have to redo the trim in white. The plywood on the front just slips up under the trim and is even with the outer metal., and I have a couple screws in it painted the same color(screws usually out lol, I think they are in the picture). The trim was siliconed/nailed to the 1 1/4" piece of wood that sits atop the stand.
The wood on the very bottom of the stand I inlayed from the back with only alex plus caulking, it seems strong also, the kids havn't kicked it in lol. Also the wood nor the stand is crooked, the floor is!!
...
i did the same, i went to walmart, picked up a double thick black sheet for 4$, then big velcro strips for 9$. i rapped it up really nice. It looks much better.
jcardona1;3211676; said:
moose216;3211809; said:
Thanks, I'm liking it alot better, my main reason for doing it was to keep the kids out - and it does!
I could have layed the ply overtop the steel that is still visible, but I think it looks good the way it is.
My girlfriends friend was here the other day saying 'is that the same stand?' I said uhh yeah you were here when I was ripping the plywood on the tablesaw.
Oh and i'm no carpenter, the table saw and miter saw make it easy.
thats awesome. I too have steel stands (seem most in canada have em lol) and I will keep that in mind..
Since it would not be giving any structural stability to the stand, i would just get some finish ply and wrap the stand. You could attach with screws or construction addhesive. I would use screws just incase it had to come off. Maybe 4-5 across the top would be fine for a 6' tank and a couple at the bottom.
You could cut out door holes and by pre-made cabinet doors and get some decorative hinges and hang um.
Then add corner moulding to all the corners and some more moulding to the top and bottom like crown moulding. And if you are not that good with wood just use some spackling to fill all the gaps and sand it up and paint it. putty is your freind.
After that you would not be able to tell it was a metal stand. And also if you are not comfortable making the cuts on the ply. Home depot will cut it for you for a small fee like 2 bucks a cut. And you can cut the moulding with a hand saw.
You could cut out door holes and by pre-made cabinet doors and get some decorative hinges and hang um.
Then add corner moulding to all the corners and some more moulding to the top and bottom like crown moulding. And if you are not that good with wood just use some spackling to fill all the gaps and sand it up and paint it. putty is your freind.
After that you would not be able to tell it was a metal stand. And also if you are not comfortable making the cuts on the ply. Home depot will cut it for you for a small fee like 2 bucks a cut. And you can cut the moulding with a hand saw.
