2012 Fish House Build

[crappiekid]

I saw that fancy house going down the road today!

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I'm ready to see pics of this on the ice with Fish in it.

It's been a good year so far! Been to Red, Gull, Mille Lacs, Cedar, Lexington, and two unnamed lakes for over 2,000 miles on the house, and a bunch of fish. We've had over a dozen walleyes between 25-28.5".

A 25.5"

A 26"

A 28"

This monster from Gull...bit on a shiner that was almost the same size as the fish

First time ice fishing for my nephew

Brother in law with his personal best walleye

Which I re-caught 5 hours later

13.5" Perch

Red Lake

The size fish that brought 500+ fish houses to Cedar Lake

Happy fishing!

[crix]

I was thinking about going down there hmmm i'll pass

some nice fish otherwise though nice work

[BartmanMN]

Nice work.

[Eric_Kruger]

nice work!

[Hawg]

Must be that nice new house.? Rod storage in the bunk is a great idea.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Rod storage in the bunk is a great idea.

The rod holder works great. I wasn't sure the rods would stay up there going across the lake, but only a short 24" rod has fallen down.

The only thing I've found I would do differently would be to not use black Melamine for the top of the bunk in the back, for two reasons. 1) It swells a little bit, making it a super tight fit to drop my table top down. 2) The edging has a tendency to chip off. This will get changed out this summer.

One of the funny common themes I've seen this year is when people stop over, the first thing they do is take a look in the bathroom, and ask something along the lines of "doesn't this stink bomb the place?". The little vent must circulate a lot of air, because there has never been an issue, and believe me...it's had it's share of usage.

[mngundog]

How many amps are your LED lights? And if you did it again would you use the same lights?

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

200 mA.

These are the best lights I've used/seen. Wouldn't do it any different.

[arcticm1000]

Lip_Ripper Guy,

You built a very nice house. Thanks for posting pictures and details of the build.

I seen what looks like a fan and a vent in the picture you posted of the bathroom.

Is this something you made or bought? Where did you get it?

Thanks.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Thanks!

It is a vent to the exterior with an electronic motor to open it at the same time the light switch is flipped. Purchased from the online auction site.

[Hawg]

Well LRG, it looks like the season is starting and you're back to being our resident go to guy. My frame will be done in a couple weeks so get ready for 1000 questions, heres the first couple-Why didn't you run the flooring to the edges of the frame? I see you put the walls up and then sheeted. I'm guessing the 3/4 in material has adequate strength, but did you get any flex around the edges. #2- did you frame the wheel/tire boxes as tight as you could on your crank up houses or is it best to leave a couple extra inches? Was the cost of the alluminum roof anywhere near rubber and was it easy to bend the edges (or flush, I've never seen that done before). I've built many houses over time but never a full 8 ft with wheel boxes, nobody cared in the past about an extra foot on width.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

1) My frame is actually 8'2" wide. The 1"x2" bottom plate for the wall framing is stood on end (on the 1" side), as opposed to the 2" side. This allows the full length & width 23/32" Advantech to slide under, leaving a 1"+ gap for wiring along the floor. The plywood does overlap the outer framing pieces by 1" on each side for support.

2) Framing your wheel wells will be dependent on how your frame is built. I made mine as small as they could be, since there is no need to get in there for anything. Is your frame hydraulic or crank?

3) The aluminum roof was definitely more expensive. I did it for the weight savings, which was substantial. The roof itself was $480, the trim $256, several rolls of 3m VHB tape to hold it on (price will vary based on your supplier, but around $400 if you pay retail), and about $120 in stainless screws for the trim. I would only do the aluminum roof if you are doing your framing the way I did (metal studs), and with the same trim.

The roof is super easy to install. First you clean all the metal studs with an alcohol based cleaner and Scotch Brite, install the 3m VHB on all the studs, then you get the big aluminum roll up there. I put sand bags on the edges for a day or so to help uncoil it. Once everything is lined up perfectly (there are no second chances with the tape), you go one stud at a time peeling off the tape backing. You want one person up top with a heavy duty paint roller to put pressure on the aluminum, and two inside to help peel the tape backing.

The edge is a bit tricky. We had to take off about 1" on everything to keep the roof from sticking below the trim. I used an air nibbler from Harbor Freight (for this, and all aluminum cutting). They are like $30. Get two, just in case. Then you go up on the roof with a rubber mallet, and hit down, bending the roof over the top of the framing and siding. Siding seams and corners may need a little more "english" to get a good bend.

You'll need a good drill and lots patience for installing all the stainless screws in the trim.

Have fun!

[Hawg]

Thank you- a zillion more questions coming soon.

[Mid-Lake Rock]

several rolls of 3m VHB tape to hold it on (price will vary based on your supplier, but around $400 if you pay retail)

VHB tape is awesome. I used it building my house after seeing one of LRG's builds. If you know anyone with a business account at Granger, you will save a ton on the tape. I have a friend that works for a large company that does a ton of business with Granger. I used his company's account and saved 40%.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

That is exactly the type of connection you need if you don't want to pay a ridiculous amount ($100+/roll). I used 10 rolls on my house. I was fortunate that I found a supplier selling a case on the auction site, and I got (9) rolls for $13/each. But then I needed a roll of seam tape, couldn't wait for something to pop up for a discount, and paid $150-200 for that one.

[Bonecollecter44]

Nice looking house Lip Ripper..I see u used the 9 led recessed lights on the ceiling, did you go with the warm white led or the cool white that has has the blueish tint to them?

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Warm white.

[SnowGuy73]

House is done, finally! I don't have all the final pics yet, but I should tonight. For now, please excuse the mess in some of the pics.

Just before the carpet went in...

All the interior lights are recessed LED from super bright LEDs. I have 9 in the main part of the house, 3 have separate switches to turn off.

I hate noise. Especially from the forced air furnaces. I wrapped the entire inside of the cabinet and underside of the counter-tops with this duct insulation from Menards. It made an absolutely incredible difference in sound level.

Here's the front of the house. Under the front bench is the hydraulic pump with it's own battery, and the (2) 6-volt batteries which power the house. This is the first house I've used the 6-volt setup in, but most of the RVs use it.

The top center white handle is for the crank-up satellite & (powered) off-air antenna. It seems to work well (Winegard RM-DM61). I get 29 channels at home.

I don't currently have a front upper bunk, but the TV is recessed into the wall so I can add one in the future without moving the TV. For now, I think I'm going to do a wire shelf.

I built all the cabinets and counter-tops in this house as I mentioned previously. They turned out pretty good, IMO. Cedar is really hard to work with, as it is very inconsistent. I probably wouldn't do cedar again.

More to come.....

Awesome build!!

I wish I had your drive and talent to build my own. I especially like the duct insulation in the heater compartment, great idea. Did you use the thinner, self stick insulation or the thicker stuff?

Thanks in advance.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Thanks! I really enjoy building these. In fact, I have the itch to build another, but there won't be time this year. I may come out of fish house building retirement next year...

The insulation I used is a self stick. It has foil on the outside and the insulation has the consistency of play dough.

[SnowGuy73]

Looks great, if you do come out of retirement I can't wait to see the next one!

I will have to check around for the insulation, I was at menards on Friday and didn't really see what I thought I was looking for. I definitely need to do something with the heater compartment. The furnace kicks in at about 02:00 and darn near knocks me out of bed its so loud...... and that's even with half a case of Coors in me!

[SnowGuy73]

Oh, and thanks again for the info. Much appreciated!

[harvey lee]

Look's great, very nice job.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Looks great, if you do come out of retirement I can't wait to see the next one!

I will have to check around for the insulation, I was at menards on Friday and didn't really see what I thought I was looking for. I definitely need to do something with the heater compartment. The furnace kicks in at about 02:00 and darn near knocks me out of bed its so loud...... and that's even with half a case of Coors in me!

Get in to that other half and you'll never hear it!

I think I got my insulation from Home Depot. It might be this:

E/O 12 in. x 15 ft. Self-Stick Foam/Foil Duct Insulation

[Hawg]

LRG, Is it time for my speech about direct vent, even if it's supplemental? Kind of nice to see the Ice Forum picking up again.