Another Fish House Construction Project

[gvt]

I've really enjoyed following the FM Ultimate Fish House post, so I thought I'd post some pictures of my project. I got some ideas from that project, but I've still got a few problems to solve!

The house was purchased as a "Do-It-Yourself Kit". The walls are made from RV wall panels. The outside layer is fiberglass (filon) laminated to wood. There is 2" of foam insulation in the middle of the panel and the inner layer is plywood with vinyl wall covering. There are aluminum tubes around the perimeter of the panels for added strength and for screwing the panels together (see pictures below).

With the kit I got four walls, a roof, two windows, the side entry door, and the frame. The rear double doors are an added option.

I purchased the frame un-painted and had it powder-coated. The plywood floor is 3/4" green-treated. It's the stuff that is rated for below grade (arsenic, not copper) so it won't corrode the frame or screws. It's scewed down with self-tapping screws and glued with PL400.

Here's a shot with the wall propped up temporarily.

We srewed a 3" wide piece of plywood to the bottom of the walls and then ran screws down through the top of the 3" strip into the floor. In this picture you can see the 3" strip, it's just not screwed to the floor yet.

The walls and roof are screwed together with 3 1/2" deck screws through the aluminum tubes and glued with PL400. The aluminum tubes have a wood insert. Here's a couple shots as we started screwing and glueing the house together. We masked off all of the corners in case the glued oozed out.

Here is a shot of the lower front panel screwed and glued into place. This picture shows pretty well how the walls come together.

Here is a shot from the back as we were screwing and glueing it together

For the double doors we cut out the inside layer of plywood and the insulation, then we glued in a 2x4 frame. Part of the frame is covered up by the masking.

The double doors are clad with the outer layer of fiberglass/plywood that was cut out of rear wall. The doors are an exact match to the walls! You can also see the screws holding the walls together in this shot.

Instead of using RV trim (the easy way) for the corners I decided wrap the corners with fiberglass. I thought it would be a more streamlined look. Before fiberglassing we routered the corners to make it easier to keep the mesh and resin tight to the panels.

See the next post for continuation.....

[gvt]

The next step was to sand the area that would get the fiberglass, about 2" around the corners. You can see the temporary protective poly in a few of the pictures. It is peeled back a few inches.

Here's a few shots of the fiberglass going on:

One Coat

Two coats

The last step in the fiberglass process was to brush on a layer of white gel-coat. To do this you just mix white poweder in the resin and brush it on. My hope was that it would match the panels pretty well, but for some reason it turned kind of pea-green. And, it's still somewhat translucent, you can still see the screws and the plywood edge. But, it is 100% waterproof!!!

Here are some shots of the finished exterior, the interior is still empty.

I'll follow up with more pictures as I finish the inside (lights, holes, heater, furniture). Plus, I've got some questions!!!

[Eric Wettschreck]

Pretty cool project. Looks like you got it pretty much hammered down!!!!

[huntingislife]

Interesting, I have never seen them sold like that before. What does a setup like that cost?

[hovermn]

Pretty neat project! I've been working out details on a project similar to that, only using foam panels with glass skin instead of wood with glass.

If I can make one comment. Coat your "gel coat" with a UV blocking varnish, like Spar Varnish. Simply adding white powder to epoxy will not protect it from UV rays, and over time (decently short period, too) it will break down and you'll loose your structual support.

Like I said, great looking project! Thanks for sharing!

[gvt]

boilerguy, Thanks for the positive feedback. I've still got a little work on the outside and lots to do on the inside like beds, cabinet, lights, radio, etc.

huntingislife, I'm a little hesitant to give the price since I bought it back in Feb. I don't know if the price has changed due to the ever-increasing cost of materials. I will say that I shopped for a couple years and I thought it was very reasonable, especially considering that the frame is built very well. It is the sturdiest frame I found.

hovermn, Thanks for the feedback on the gelcoat. I'm planning on trimming all of the corners in aluminum treadplate. Discount Steel will cut/bend up to 12' lengths. I'm trying to find a deal on some 3M VHB tape to attach the treadplate. Hopefully, it can be attached without using screws. I'm also planning to put treadplate around the bottom (front, back, and sides).

[gvt]

Does anyone have any thoughts on what to put on the floor? I've ruled out carpet since I'll be hauling the atv in it. The green-treat plywood is the "bad" stuff with arsenic so I'd like to seal it and maybe just leave it as is. I'm afraid if I use spar varnish on the floor that it will be slippery in the winter. What about Thompsons water sealer or herculiner? I think the toy-hauler rv's have tile on the floor, would that be too slippery in the winter? I'm stumped!

[Nate McVey]

What about Line-X? I think that would make a nonslip, easy to clean floor........might add some unneccesary weight though.........

[gvt]

shiner2367,

I appreciate the suggestion, my fear is that it will not stay adhered to the wood under the atv tires. If it starts to peel off of the wood I'd have a mess, if not, it would be an awesome floor! Maybe someone has used bedliner of their floor and can share their experience. Thanks again.

[Nate McVey]

I'm pretty sure Line-X will spary on almost anything. I know a few buddies that have wooden atv/snowmobile trailers sprayed with it and it has held up well. Might be worth checking into.......

[gvt]

shiner2367,

Thanks for the info, I'll do some checking on $. That does sound like a great option.

[hovermn]

3M 5200 will attach just about anything to anything. That would be my bet if you want to go screwless. I have a friend that attached some rubrail track to his fiberglass boat with the stuff. He made up a test piece, hung bricks from it, nothing. Took a hammer and whaled on it. Nothing. Then he went to town on it...Nothing.

If I were in your possition, I'd do use 5200.

Again, looking great! Very creative

[gvt]

hovermn,

I wasn't aware of that product, so I did a little investigating. It looks like an intersting option. The 3M VHB is used by trailer manufacturers to attach the aluminum wall panels to the metal studs. It also adheres to fiberglass, so it seems like a good option too. I'll have to do a price comparison and maybe contact 3M to see if they have a recommendation. Thanks again.

[ICE_TEAM_DREAMER]

gvt I do construction on my days off from my full time job. I see that u said u didnt want to use treated lumber due to the arsenic. The lumber companies are no longer using it in treated lumber. If u go to a lumber yard and ask for ACQ or AC2 treated they are both non arsenic based treated materials. Im not an expert by any means, if anyone else has better info by all means correct me. Just thought id throw a lil info at ya just in case u were not aware of that. Good luck! BTW house looks great!

[gvt]

Ice Team Dreamer,

I actually used treated plywood with arsenic. I didn't want the stuff with copper because of the galvanic corrosion that would occur with the steel frame. Even with stainless or coated screws the copper in the plywood would cause corrosion at the steel frame. Now I just need to figure out how to seal/coat the "bad" plywood. I'm planning on checking the price of spray-on bed-liner, but I'm afraid I'll be hit with sticker shock!

[ICE_TEAM_DREAMER]

Ah yes,,,,I see I read your post wrong. As I said I am no expert. I have no clue but could a guy use the floor epoxy that u can put on a garage floor or does that only work on top of concrete? I have seen it on garage floors but i dont know of anyone who has applied it to a wood surface. The bedliner would definatley be good choice IMO. That stuff is nearly indestructable and doesn't seem to get real slippery if wet from augering holes.

[hovermn]

hovermn,

I wasn't aware of that product, so I did a little investigating. It looks like an intersting option. The 3M VHB is used by trailer manufacturers to attach the aluminum wall panels to the metal studs. It also adheres to fiberglass, so it seems like a good option too. I'll have to do a price comparison and maybe contact 3M to see if they have a recommendation. Thanks again.

I guess I hadn't heard of VHB tape until you mentioned it. I just looked it up. Wow, seems to be pretty good stuff! The price is a little steep for my blood, but it looks like you can't go wrong with it.

[SnipeZilla]

Since i dont know the jargon here, maybe this has been mentioned, but what about that rubbery stuff fancy people have in their garages with the flecks in it?

[gvt]

SnipeZilla,

I did some online searching, but I can't find any garage floor coatings that adhere to wood. Thanks

[MNSkin]

Gvt,

Where do you purchase a house like this from??

Thanks Tracey

[gvt]

Tracey,

I purchased the kit (walls, roof, and frame) from Profish Enterprises.

[jiggin pig]

just a fyi on the spray on bedliner. That stuff is heavy. Don't know if your worried about weight or not, but check out to see how much weight it will add on. just my 2 cents, not worth to much

[gvt]

jiggin pig,

Good point regarding the weight. At this point I'm leaning toward good old Thompson's Water Sealer. I wouldn't have to worry about it peeling off and I could slap a fresh coat on at any time.

I've made good progress on the interior this week, I'll post pics in a few days.

[gvt]

Here are some interior photos. I got the upper and lower cabinets with the fold-out sofa/bed used (like new).

Upper and Lower Cabinets:

Lower Cabinet with Sofa/Bed flat:

Upper cabinet - the upper left cut-out of for a stereo:

Toy-hauler bed:

Toy-hauler bed half up:

Toy-hauler bed up:

With the toy-hauler bed in the up position it's about 5'-11" off the floor. In the up position it rests on four heavy-duty gas shocks. It's very easy to move up or down.

[tisosy11]

I like that toy hauler bed a lot. I wonder how durable it is?