Rebuilding Northlander base

[WTN4ICE]

I spent some time enlarging the holes in my new to me Northlander to accomidate a 10" auger and it got me thinking about rebuilding the base. As it is it's 1/2 in plywood and 1x4 pine boards that have seen some use and are cracked here and there. I ran some dry wall screws around the edges to strenghten things up for now but can see a summer rebuild in the works.

I am thinking an insulated floor of styro between sheets of treated 1/4 in plywood or 1/2 on the bottom and 1/4 on the top. If the floor was thick enough catch covers would be nice. Also some sort of composite or plastic material to replace the 1x4 boards.

The weight issue isn't a major concern but the lighter the better,I have a sled and Voyager for run and gun days.I want to do some over nighters so wherever I set it it could be for say two days.

I also noticed there is no reflective material on it so I will have to figure something out for that. I did pick up an CO2 detector and a friend gave me an old cot so things are comming together.

I am open to any input on materials or ideas. The rebuild will be a summer project but I like time to "ponder" things...no vikes reference there.

[Rebel9921]

I helped a friend rebuild his 4x8 Canvas Craft last year using green treated boards & 3/4" green treated plywood along with outdoor carpeting from the big orange home improvement store... I can tell you that its FAR FAR more sturdier than the previous flooring...

What we did was rip the boards into 2x1.5" in the proper length, then we figured out where he wanted the hole in the plywood then installed the carpeting using contact glue and stainless steel staples, cut the holes and folded the carpet underneath... then we installed the green treated strips on top and underneath it... when that was done, we applied few cans of truck bedliner to the underside of the flooring... worked great...

Yes, it added weight to the whole thing BIG TIME... If I was to do it differently next time, I would go for either 3/8" or 1/2" plywood and do the boards at 1.5x1.5... If you have some extra money, you could always go 1x1 aluminum welded frame then 1/2" plywood screwed in on the top... then apply Herculiner on the underside... It'll LAST you for years, and be very light-weight...

[Jim Almquist]

I have a 8x8 that I made some drop in floors that were 1/4" plywood on both sides with a 2x2" with 2" foam in the center. I notched out the area by the holes. I use reflectixe for my insulation on the walls and the ceiling. The ceiling ends up getting 2 layers of reflectixe but that is a good thing. I have a 30,000 BTU heater that is on pilot most of the time. I have spent 3 days in a row in the house and use it mostly for a base camp. I made my floors drop in just to keep the weight of the house down because it weighs enough as it is. I can set it all up by myself but it is a lot of work and takes close to a hour to setup and a good 45 min. to tear down.

[Brad B]

I spent some time enlarging the holes in my new to me Northlander to accomidate a 10" auger and it got me thinking about rebuilding the base. As it is it's 1/2 in plywood and 1x4 pine boards that have seen some use and are cracked here and there. I ran some dry wall screws around the edges to strenghten things up for now but can see a summer rebuild in the works.

I am thinking an insulated floor of styro between sheets of treated 1/4 in plywood or 1/2 on the bottom and 1/4 on the top. If the floor was thick enough catch covers would be nice. Also some sort of composite or plastic material to replace the 1x4 boards.

The weight issue isn't a major concern but the lighter the better,I have a sled and Voyager for run and gun days.I want to do some over nighters so wherever I set it it could be for say two days.

I also noticed there is no reflective material on it so I will have to figure something out for that. I did pick up an CO2 detector and a friend gave me an old cot so things are comming together.

I am open to any input on materials or ideas. The rebuild will be a summer project but I like time to "ponder" things...no vikes reference there.

I bought a 4X8 northlander kit from canvas craft. I did build the base so I could insulate it and I did add the catch covers. to get the floor think enough for the catch covers I went with a 3/4" sheet of plywood on top then a frame work of 1X4's laid flat and the 3/4" insulation sheet between the 1X4's then to hold the insultation in place I used a 1/4" sheet of ply. total thickness of the floor is 1 3/4" thick. the catch cover are 1 1/2" tall. I installed a total of 6 catch covers in it. 3 on each side in a l pattern .

I can set the house up tommorrow and take some pics of the floor and catch covers if you want me to.

doing this to the base did add alot of weight to the house but with the full isulated norpac house on the insulated base it take very little to heat the house. I run my buddy heater on low and if it gets to wam then I just leave the pilot lit and that gives off enough heat.

using 2 sheets of 1/4" plywood would make the floor spongy. I even had this problem when I tried 1/2" ply first. that is when I decided to go with 3/4" ply.

[Brad B]

here is the pics of the base and catch covers on my northlander.

a few things I did differently with mine is that I ordered it with a door on each end. I ordered it in blue(they had some left over blue norpac material and asked me if I wanted it in black or blue. I liked the blue so I went with that. I also used 1 X 3's instead of 1 X 4's.

[WTN4ICE]

Thanks for the pics,thats exactly what I was thinking about.I really like the catch covers.Any pics of the insulation before the top sheet was on ???

[Brad B]

no I don't have pics of that. I used the cheap 3/4" white foam bead sheet foam(like $6.00 for a 4 X 8 sheet). it works very well. the floor dries out really fast with the insulated house and floor. I just run my heater on low and in no more the 20 minutes the floor is dry.

[WTN4ICE]

Thats a nice house..part of the rebuild will be adding a door on the other end. How is the material attached over the center ridge,it looks like you have it straight and even.Mine just is bunched up over the ridge and looks sloppy. I may just cut out a small piece to get a better fit over the ridge. I like it to look like I knew what I was doing at the end of a project.

Do you think two 1/2 sheets would be strong enough ?? Treated necessary or not ?

Years ago I worked at small window company and we had a product that was two aluminum skins with insulation between. It came in standard sheets and seemed to be very rigid,I may have to look into that also.

[Brad B]

Thats a nice house..part of the rebuild will be adding a door on the other end. How is the material attached over the center ridge,it looks like you have it straight and even.Mine just is bunched up over the ridge and looks sloppy. I may just cut out a small piece to get a better fit over the ridge. I like it to look like I knew what I was doing at the end of a project.

Do you think two 1/2 sheets would be strong enough ?? Treated necessary or not ?

Years ago I worked at small window company and we had a product that was two aluminum skins with insulation between. It came in standard sheets and seemed to be very rigid,I may have to look into that also.

what I did was I made both halves of the floor sat them side by side and attached the supplied hinge. then I took the poles and installed them into the base. once this was done then I laid the house shell on it lining up the corners and started to staple them down. I wouldn't cut yours once you have the new base made just carefully staple every thing down and it should eliminate this issue you are having. remember to line up the corners of the house to the corners of the base.

I personally didn't use treated but if you wanted to you could. the treated is a little heavier then non treated. 2 sheets of 1/2" would work but you will feel the floor move up and down when you walk on it. by going 3/4" on top you get no movement in the floor. the 1/4" on the other side (the side that goes on the ice) is only there to hold the insulation in place. if you go with 2 sheets of 1/2" then you would have to add more cross bracing and this would take up space where you could have insulation and this would also add weight. I should of painted my base before I put everything on it but the house and poles come off easy enough that if the floor does go bad I can just make a new one and put the house on that.

when do you plan to do the rebuild. I will be in the Fargo and Grandforks Area at the end of next June and could stop and help you with making the new base if you are going to wait for next summer to do it.

[MnIceman]

I did this many years ago with a 4x8. I used 2 1/4" sheets of exterior plywood, 1x2's, 1x3's,& 3/4" foam. I layed out where I wanted the holes in each half. Used the 1x3's for the outer edge framing and 1x2's for hole framing and extra floor support between the sheets.Attached 1x3's on the top edge for fold up room of poles and canvas. Filled in the framing from the bottom with foam and covered with the other 1/4" sheet. I also glued the plywood to the framing besides screws (now I would use staples). Then I attached 1x2's laying flat on the bottom to act like skids. It gave the floor extra rigidity on top of snow and would add an air space when on bare ice. The floor would dry out on longer trips and would stay warm with very little banking. I also added aluminum bars to the bottom of the 1x2's to act like skis. The holes were square and I made wood hole covers with the drops from cutting the holes.Back when I did this there was no insulated canvas so I made a whole interior liner for the canvas with a blue plastic tarp. I also heated it with a vented 20,000 btu propane stove ( before buddy heaters). I used it many years before I gave it away.

[WTN4ICE]

Thanks for the offer. I will use it the way it is for now and do the rebuild over the summer. That will give me plenty of time to decide on a game plan and pick up materials on sale whenever possible. Going to keep an eye on catch covers towards the end of this season.

I will check with Canvas Craft about adding another door.I hear they are good to deal with.

[Brad B]

Thanks for the offer. I will use it the way it is for now and do the rebuild over the summer. That will give me plenty of time to decide on a game plan and pick up materials on sale whenever possible. Going to keep an eye on catch covers towards the end of this season.

I will check with Canvas Craft about adding another door.I hear they are good to deal with.

since it is one of their houses they should be able to add the door for $50 to $100. when I ordered my house they charged $45 for the extra door if you ordered at the same time as the house. the best time to send it to them would be in the spring before they get busy with boat covers.

[Jim Almquist]

When you have the base removed will be the time to have the new door put in. Another thing is to ask for a little scrap material in case you need to patch your house in the future.

[WTN4ICE]

Thank you gentlemen for all the good info. Always good to pick the brains of "those who have boldly gone where no man has before".

I travel ND delivering liquor and wine so I get alot of widnshield time to think about things. I modded out my Voyager a few years ago and that was a fun project also. Always good to have something to keep the wheels turning.