Fish house remodel - Removing the booth and making a couch

[Glockwinger]

Created the cabinet for the new 12v converter last night and began rewiring the 12v side of the house. The converter is vented to the front, so I am not concerned about putting it in a small space. I cut a 2" hole for all the wires to pull through between the new compartment and where the wires came out of the wall from the factory.

I am excited how this is all shaping up. Looking forward to ice this season to be sure!

[JoeMX1825]

great work, as somebody who's eventually going to get a perm shack, this is a cool thread to watch, love the couch idea! I always thought those small table areas seemed like wasted uncomfortable space. You should put 2 recessed cup holders in that middle couch area seat top, that way you can keep your beer safe while jigging, just pull the cushions towards the walls to expose the cup holders.

[Hawg]

Joe, One better even, if you see my post I'm taking the leftover foam I have and putting it on each end of the bottom cushion with holes cut in for cans and a square cup for jigs and stuff this year. What could be better than a 5 inch thick can cooler!

[JoeMX1825]

i missed that, great idea!

[Glockwinger]

Joe, One better even, if you see my post I'm taking the leftover foam I have and putting it on each end of the bottom cushion with holes cut in for cans and a square cup for jigs and stuff this year. What could be better than a 5 inch thick can cooler!

Genius!

[Glockwinger]

Been spending some time wiring and building...

Here is the converter being wired. I love the fact that now I can have the fish house on 110 power and it is getting 12v constant power without using the battery.

Started working on building a cabinet out of the parts from the one that used to be in the back by the former booth. Gives me extra storage and I get to re-purpose the cabinet. Looks almost factory! Just have to trim it out.

[Glockwinger]

WRAP UP...

Well, I spent today tidying up and installing the trim then about an hour cleaning after all the construction! Here are the final pics:

The new cabinet moved from the back to the front:

For Comparison, here is what it looked like at the start of the project:

Here is the front of the house:

Now I just need some hard water! Thanks all for viewing and the tips.

- Glockwinger

[Gofishleech]

looks awesome!! Does the couch need outer support when pulled out? maybe a pick of bed set up?

[Glockwinger]

It has support on each end but I have not added a center support yet. It only hangs over about 10" when pulled out and I have not noticed any flex of the 3/4" plywood when setting it up as a bed. I'll try it this way for now and if I notice it flexing, I will add a center support.

[JoeMX1825]

nice work, that looks like how it should have come from the factory, much more user friendly now...

[BartmanMN]

Just an idea, since my wife loves symmetry. If you hang a curtain rod in the center of the house, when closed you won't even know the window is not centered. Old interior designers trick.

Looks great with the couch.

[Glockwinger]

That is an excellent idea! That way you won't feel like you are leaning to one side after a few barley pops...

[Gofishleech]

Does the couch/bed ply wood just un fold at the hinge or is it tracked some how? I'm going to do this on a new house build, don't see the need to pay the money they want for Jack/knife sofa.

[Hawg]

Mine is just two hinged sections made from 2x3's and 1/2 in plywood

[Glockwinger]

Does the couch/bed ply wood just un fold at the hinge or is it tracked some how? I'm going to do this on a new house build, don't see the need to pay the money they want for Jack/knife sofa.

Like Hawg's the way I built mine is just hinged. Mine is 3/4 plywood, so I do not have 2x3's under it. If it appears to need support, I will add some. There are no tracks under it. I cut it with enough of a gap so it slides out, but not so it is sloppy. Maybe a 1/4" per side. When it is pulled out, there is only about 1" to the wheel well, so I am not concerned with it sliding off either. I wanted to make it a simple, yet as functional as possible.

Here again is the picture of the top of the cabinet with out the plywood:

And then this is with the sliding plywood over it:

[Hawg]

GW, that really turned out nice. You'll be OK without supports because you have a frame underneath where mine is spanning the whole 8 ft. It will be interesting to see if it stays firm and doesn't flex much when pulled out, but even then it's not all that far. Good job!

[Glockwinger]

Thanks Hawg. I'm really happy I did it.

[Dogzlife000]

Just thought I would mention that my couch/bed is similar, and that I used legs from an old cart table to support the overhang. Just hinge em up and push the plywood back to convert to a couch.

[GoneFish'n71]

Clarkfield outdoors in Clarkfield MN makes the cushions for Ice Castle. You can call them and they will make you any size cushion you want.

[Glockwinger]

Cool, thank you for that information about the cushions GoneFish'n.

[Gofishleech]

Glockwinger what it the measurements of your cushions and how deep & tall is the frame/cabinet ?

[Glockwinger]

Gofishleech, The cabinet is approximately 14" wide and 11" deep and about 5'8" tall. I can get you accurate measurements for the cabinet and cushions tomorrow.

[Gofishleech]

Thanks for the reply. I was interested in the cabinet measurements that the bunk rides/lies on and the cushions. Thanks

Gofishleech, The cabinet is approximately 14" wide and 11" deep and about 5'8" tall. I can get you accurate measurements for the cabinet and cushions tomorrow.

[Glockwinger]

Tom,

The measurements for the couch/bed are 92" long, 24" deep, and 16" high (before cushions). The cushions I have are 36" long and the wide ones are 20" wide and the backrest ones are 16" wide. They are 4" thick. Hope that helps.

[Glockwinger]

Just an idea, since my wife loves symmetry. If you hang a curtain rod in the center of the house, when closed you won't even know the window is not centered. Old interior designers trick.

BartmanMN, I took your advice. Made the rear curtain twice as wide to balance the look. This weekend I got my wife's sewing machine out and made some curtains for the fish house. I had to reach back in the mental file to about 7th grade "home economics" class to remember how to operate the sewing machine! After some trial and error, I had it in no time and sewed up six curtains. Found a nice deer print at the fabric store. Pretty happy with how they turned out.

Here is the back window:

Here is one of the side windows: