2017 Fish House Build

[perchking]

looks sharp, nice work!  I really like the flat texture vs the high gloss.

 

[ANYFISH2]

Geez, I think you missed a spot by the window, no wires!

Looking great, fun to follow.

[Datman7890]

Looking great. Cant wait to hear how the hydronic floor works out. Been debating on doing that myself when I build next summer.

Do the axles on that frame automatically lock when raised? 

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

3 hours ago, Datman7890 said:

Do the axles on that frame automatically lock when raised? 

Yes.  There is an actuator on each of the rear hydraulic cylinders that lock everything automatically.  

[vtx1029]

Are you going to install your siding on the entry door? 

What fasteners would you recommend for the floor? I'm also having my trailer galvanized.

Did you have someone weld your wheel wells or did you do them yourself? More info on that would be great. 

[Chapman]

On 3/17/2016 at 8:03 PM, Lip_Ripper Guy said:

Once again, back by popular demand, THE 2017 Fish House Build.

Here are some of the features:

1) Frame- 8'x 21' custom tandem axle hydraulic frame.  I should be picking this up in about two weeks.  It will be galvanized, and should last longer than me.

2) Exterior-All aluminum smooth siding.  Down to two colors 1) Construction Orange, or 2) Pepsi Blue.  Going to have to decide very shortly.  The orange is awesome for directing people to your location, but I feel like I should do something a little bit different.  I wanted "Extreme Green", but I can't find it anywhere locally.  

3) Insulation-"Extreme insulation package".  It will be 2 3/4" of spray foam in the roof & walls, with a 1/2" foam board in the interior, for an "extreme" double thermal break.  The floor will have 1 1/2" of high density board foam, and 2" of spray foam.  This design, combined with the heat system, may make this the most efficient fish house ever built.      

4) Heat- In floor hydronic heat.  It will consist of aluminum sheeting over the frame, 1 1/2" of high density board foam, and a layer of aluminum sheeting over the top.  Pex will be run through the foam, and special heat transfer plates will connect the pex to the top layer of aluminum sheeting.  The system won't freeze down to at least -50, and will have a propane and/or electric water heater with a small (totally silent) circulator pump.  This is greatly simplifying the design, but gives a good general idea without giving my future patent away    

5) Interior-Walls will be a pine tongue and groove, cabinets will be pine, and the ceiling will be a mix of wood and galvanized sheeting.  My hope is that the shiny galvanized sheeting will act as a reflective layer, and help reflect the heat back down towards the livable space.  That may or may not work, but the design looks super cool.  

6) Lighting- All LED lights.  Interior lights will be a recessed 12 LED fixture, 3 LED hole lights, a special "in-Catch-Cover" single LED, red LED fishing lights, (10) exterior porch lights-3 on each long wall, 2 on the back wall, and 1 on each V front wall, and a roof mounted strobe that will be visible for miles.

 

Anyone can feel free to ask questions along the way, and any feedback or comments are welcome.  Stay tuned!

    

Hi. Reading your article then came across your hydronic floor. I would build a solar hydronic panel and install it on the roof. Copper tubing painted black. Then you wouldn't have to use the heater during the day. Just power for the pump.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

On July 8, 2016 at 9:44 PM, vtx1029 said:

Are you going to install your siding on the entry door? 

What fasteners would you recommend for the floor? I'm also having my trailer galvanized.

Did you have someone weld your wheel wells or did you do them yourself? More info on that would be great. 

Not planning to install ON the door, but I do have an extra piece.  I'm not sure how it would stick to the textured surface of the door.

Menards has the self tappers you need for attaching plywood to metal.  WAY cheaper than Fastenal.  

We did our own wheel wells.  They aren't hard to do, other than you need to think in depth as to how you want to finish around them with furring strips and what not.  The actual plastic welding of the HDPE was easy, but there is a definite technique to doing it right and getting a solid weld.  

On July 8, 2016 at 10:46 PM, Chapman said:

Hi. Reading your article then came across your hydronic floor. I would build a solar hydronic panel and install it on the roof. Copper tubing painted black. Then you wouldn't have to use the heater during the day. Just power for the pump.

I think it would be very challenging to have a solar hydronic panel or black painted copper tubing work as a heater in the winter, but you are welcome to try it on your fish house and share your experience with us  

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I'm revising my order of operations to allow us to have all 3 houses spray foamed at the same time.  So that means the 21' is getting the hydronic heat system installed this week.  

I started yesterday on the first layer of 3/4" high density foam.  This stuff goes down quick.  It is glued to the 1/2" marine plywood and also held in place by cap nails until it dries.  I had thought about pulling them out after the glue dried, but decided to just pound them flush with the top of the foam.  

Once the first layer was done, I went back and cut all the holes for the Catch Covers.  

Up next is the 2nd layer of 3/4" foam which will contain the PEX tubing and heat transfer plates.  This will all be topped off by .063" aluminum, turning the floor into one giant heat exchanger.  

  

Edited July 11, 2016 by Lip_Ripper Guy
Technical difficulties.

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Have you gotten any figures yet on how quickly the house will come up to temperature with the hydronic heat?  Assuming it will maintain it no problem just wondering from truck to ice house how long until its warm.  Or can you bring it to temperature before you leave or even while your driving?

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Also, may be to long of a list but any chance you have a ballpark listing of what all you have in for lighting fixtures etc?  Just looks like a load more wiring then I am expecting in ours.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

6 hours ago, Moon Lake Refuge said:

Have you gotten any figures yet on how quickly the house will come up to temperature with the hydronic heat?  Assuming it will maintain it no problem just wondering from truck to ice house how long until its warm.  Or can you bring it to temperature before you leave or even while your driving?

I did a ton of calculations, but I don't have them in front of me right now.  

Here's what I know: It takes roughly 20 minutes to heat the 6 gallons of water in the heater to 140 degrees.  I'm anticipating running somewhere closer to 110-120.  The 100' of PEX holds about a gallon.  With the way the floor is designed, there will be very little heat loss below or to the sides of the piping.  It should almost all be transferred from the heat plates, to the aluminum floor, and then upwards.

Since the water heater is both LP and electric, my plan is to leave it plugged in at home in between trips, with the thermostat around 40 degrees.  That'll keep the water in the heater fully heated and ready to rock once I hit the landing.  I should be able to fire everything up once I get there and have a semi-warm house almost immediately.     

3 hours ago, Moon Lake Refuge said:

Also, may be to long of a list but any chance you have a ballpark listing of what all you have in for lighting fixtures etc?  Just looks like a load more wiring then I am expecting in ours.

Ballpark: (10) overhead lights, (10) holes lights, (10) exterior lights, inside cabinet lighting, ceiling fan, furnace, (6) AC outlets, tv antenna, exterior strobe, (2) ceiling vents/fans, range hood, (15) clearance lights, (2) tail lights, (1) license plate light, etc.

What used a lot of wire is that I ran a separate wire for each individual trailer light all the way to the front of the fish house.  This eliminated a ton of connections, and thus problems down the road.  

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Got the rear zone all ready to go tonight, and the front about 75% done.  I had enough of the heat, and was suffering from a serious lack of beer.  This is now ready for the PEX tubing, and then the aluminum floor on top.  

[YettiStyle]

Are you using just regular water or are you going to put some sort of antifreeze (glycol, ethanol, methanol) through your lines to prevent accidental freezing? 

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

1 hour ago, YettiStyle said:

Are you using just regular water or are you going to put some sort of antifreeze (glycol, ethanol, methanol) through your lines to prevent accidental freezing? 

Propylene glycol.  I haven't decided on the exact ratio, but it'll have a flow point to somewhere around -30 to -40 and freeze protection to -60 or so.  It's a balance between efficiency and freeze safety.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Lip_Ripper Guy

[Boar]

not to go back words on the build topic, but yeah galvized fumes from welding are toxic, ive welded it for years, galvanized studs to steel for framing. it was primarilay spot.welding. if one ran long term beads under a helet for extended periods of time, a clean air hel.et is in order. i wasnt exposed.for.extensive p3riods of ti.e, but i did have a cew fellow employes that would get nauseated from it

 

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Same view, except with the PEX run.  

[smurfy]

7 hours ago, Boar said:

not to go back words on the build topic, but yeah galvized fumes from welding are toxic, ive welded it for years, galvanized studs to steel for framing. it was primarilay spot.welding. if one ran long term beads under a helet for extended periods of time, a clean air hel.et is in order. i wasnt exposed.for.extensive p3riods of ti.e, but i did have a cew fellow employes that would get nauseated from it

 

So boar when you welded that didn't your employer require you to wear an air forced hood??? If not shame on them.

And NO I wasn't gonna say that explains why you are the way you are cause ya sniffed to much of them fumes!!

[smurfy]

That is one dandy looking fishhouse I might add!!!

[Boar]

no requirement cause they had us wear clean air testing probes that we clipped to our collar and they allway tested well below osha standards, bad thing was we wernt required to wear them under our helemt. not unlike  the helmet you need to wear outside thehome. s

[Datman7890]

Looking really good. You figure a 12k btu water heater is enough to keep the shack warm on cold windy night? Obviously going extreme on the insulation helps. Awesome watching the improvements and changes you've made with each build. 

Did you ever try contacting firebrand fishhouses to source the 1 piece aluminum roof? I know there roofs are aluminum. 

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

23 hours ago, Datman7890 said:

Looking really good. You figure a 12k btu water heater is enough to keep the shack warm on cold windy night? Obviously going extreme on the insulation helps. Awesome watching the improvements and changes you've made with each build. 

Did you ever try contacting firebrand fishhouses to source the 1 piece aluminum roof? I know there roofs are aluminum. 

Thank you!  I'm thinking it should keep up no problem, but it's totally untested, so we'll find out   If all else fails, I have a 30k btu furnace as backup.  

[slammer]

Quite impressive!  Have you thought about a patent on the floor heat thing or not worth time/money?  Someone already do it?  How will you power the circulating pump? 

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

12 hours ago, slammer said:

Quite impressive!  Have you thought about a patent on the floor heat thing or not worth time/money?  Someone already do it?  How will you power the circulating pump? 

I don't think there is really anything to patent.  It is widely done in home construction, and I just modified this slightly to work in a fish house.  The pump is a 12 volt circulation pump.  Draw is 1.3 amps.  

Edited July 14, 2016 by Lip_Ripper Guy

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

We finished up the PEX last night, and pressure tested the system to 75psi.  No leaks!

There is a concentration of tubing by the door to help with snow melt, and any air leakage.  

Up next is the aluminum floor, and then rubber over the top.

[tisosys11]

Are you going to test the aluminum/rubber floor sandwich with heat before putting everything in place?  I would think there might be chance for hot spots where the pex is running.