Permanent question

[Ryan_V]

Just a quick question. I'm looking at a fish house with retractable wheels and tounge.6x12 Brand new. lightweight at about 1200#'s. My question is this. the construction doesn't include plywood on the walls. There are studs 2 foot on center, 3/4 inch styrofoam insulation, then maintainance free vinyl siding. on the interior is wood paneling.It has a pitched roof with shingle paper. Is this structure sturdy enough?? I don't plan on long trips with the house, but I'm not going to leave it on the lake either, it will stay hooked up to the truck and come home with me when I'm done (most of the time). Looking at it and pushing on the walls, it seems very sturdy, but with my limited construction knowledge, it just seems that there should be plywood on the studs, then siding. if anyone has any input on this, I would appreciate it. this is big purchase for me and I don't want to buy something that may fall apart. He says he's built them for 5 years and has never gotten a call from a customer who's roof leaked, structure failed....etc.

thanks for the help guys!!

[carpshooterdeluxe]

in the consruction of our fishouse we used corrugated tin for exterior as well as for the pitched roof, steel studs 16 inch on center, and 1/8" paneling in the interior. at first i figured the steel studs would make for flimsy walls but the tin stiffened everything right up. as long as the studs and the exterior are sturdy i dont think youll go wrong with the paneling. one thing we keyed in on was making sure that corner areas were either double studded or re-enforced with brackets or the like...that was the advantage of using the steel studs, we could over-build in other areas and still have considerable weight savings.

[Ryan_V]

carp, the only difference if the one I'm looking at buying has vinyl siding, so that really isn't structure, just protection. But like I said, seems solid, and he says he pulls them at 75 to make sure they stay together. I have to make my decision by tomorrow night!!!

[jigglestick]

RYAN, WHEN I BUILD FISH HOUSES, AND WHEN HELPING SOMEONE ELSE, I USE OR AT LEAST SUGGEST THAT STEEL BANDING BE USED ON THE WALLS FOR CROSS STRENGTH. WHEN CONSTRUCTING THE WALLS I LAY STEEL CRATE BANDING FROM CORNER TO CORNER, AND FASTEN IT TO EACH STUD ALONG THE WAY. I DO THIS IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, ON EACH WALL. WHEN DONE THIS WAY IT ADDS VERY LITTLE WEIGHT, IT IS EXTREMELY CHEAP, AND WITH THE WALLS UP AND NO SHEATING ON, I CAN JACK UP THE STRUCTURE FROM ONE CORNER WITH MINIMAL FLEX IF ANY.

MAYBE THE ONES YOU ARE LOOKING AT ARE DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE GETTING ONE OF THE BEST XMAS PRESENTS EVER!!

[greenhorn]

Quote:

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RYAN, WHEN I BUILD FISH HOUSES, AND WHEN HELPING SOMEONE ELSE, I USE OR AT LEAST SUGGEST THAT STEEL BANDING BE USED ON THE WALLS FOR CROSS STRENGTH. WHEN CONSTRUCTING THE WALLS I LAY STEEL CRATE BANDING FROM CORNER TO CORNER, AND FASTEN IT TO EACH STUD ALONG THE WAY. I DO THIS IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, ON EACH WALL. WHEN DONE THIS WAY IT ADDS VERY LITTLE WEIGHT, IT IS EXTREMELY CHEAP, AND WITH THE WALLS UP AND NO SHEATING ON, I CAN JACK UP THE STRUCTURE FROM ONE CORNER WITH MINIMAL FLEX IF ANY.

MAYBE THE ONES YOU ARE LOOKING AT ARE DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE GETTING ONE OF THE BEST XMAS PRESENTS EVER!!

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Hey JiggleStick, where are you getting the banding at? I've heard of others using that idea, and I would too, just not sure where to get it. I'm building a 14 footer...

[dojigger]

Its sounds like you may have some problems down the road with it. I'm a carpenter and know all about sturdiness in walls. When your pulling it you may run into some problems with the studs shifting and working lose, and vinyl siding is not very "stetchy" in real cold wheather, the siding will probably crack if the studs shift. One thing you could do is buy it and put plywood on it yourself. I put 1/4 inch plywood on the walls on my 8x12. I've never had a problem with it shifting,etc. Might sound like a lot of work to rip the siding of but if your careful you can put it back on as long as you dont crack it in the tearoff.

[Neighboor]

I would shy away from the vinyl siding. Cold temps and a slightly flexing fishhouse could mean cracking or the vinyl. Most likely at the attachment (screw) points.

Steel or alum siding would make the house more sturdy too IMO.