Building my first perm. fish house...any suggestions?

[Hemlock]

Well, I know it's the wrong time of the year to start this, but I am just starting the planning right now. I was just at the lumber yard and they put together a quote for me to build an 8 X 12 house. Here's the recipe...

2 8' 4X4 all weather wood $9.40 ea.

2 12' 4X4 all weather wood $14.10 ea.

8 sheets 1" white styrofoam (R-4) $8.49 ea.

60 econo 2x4 studs $ 1.29 ea.

6 26X96" Alsynite (plastic stuff for roof)$16.00 ea.

10 sheets 7/16" OSB plywood $14.38 ea.

Grand total before hardware and taxes: $417.96

I don't need this thing to be plush (If I find a deal on a door or a couple windows, great, otherwise no biggie)

Where can these plans be tweeked for better economy or to make a better fish house?

Would love to hear from those who have been there, done this.

(Prices are in Canadian funds. Multiply the price by .84 to get an accurate US value)

[Piker]

If I were you I'd scrap the white styrofoam for the denser yellow stuff. If the white stuff is what I'm thinking of it'll chip apart and get messy. I don't care for the stuff, personally. Are you planning to cover it with some paneling or something? If you're not I'd definitely consider the yellow stuff. (or pink or blue or whatever it is I think it's called Certifoam).

[Ole1855]

When you say plastic stuff for the roof I hope you're planning on insulating the ceiling?? Right? Because if you're planning on using the "plastic stuff" so it will allow light in through the ceiling, you're also going to have a rain forest inside your house.

Ole

[PP Angler]

Piker is right on with the white bead insulation, one problem I encountered is that I didn't use enough insulation, I now have 2" pink in the floor and I'll be tearing the paneling off the ceiling so I can add some more insulation there. The higher the R value the better, you'll save $$ on propane and enjoy a much more even non-fluctating (sp) heat. Hope this helps.

[Hemlock]

Ok, might scrap the white foam insulation. I know it chips apart easily. I was planning on panneling, but if the R value isn't enough with the white, then I'll go with the colorful stuff.

Ole, huge oversight on my part with the roof. Roof will be insulated. Rainforest....hahaha. Thanks!

A buddy of mine suggested treated plywood floor, with 1x2 studs, metal siding and roof, then spray foam the inside walls and ceiling. Any guesses on cost? That sounds like a decent way to go too.

[hanson]

Hemlock-

An 8'x12'? Do you know how you are moving it? Is it a one time move to the lake or will it be on many different lakes?

I built a tank of a 7'x12'- pole barn steel siding & roof, insulated floor, 2x2 studs, pink rigid insul, 1/4" luaun paneling, etc. I got it moved to the lake but that is a different thread altogether. 4 guys can't lift it. Heck, 6 can't lift it.

Just a couple things to consider.

[Hemlock]

Well, I know it might be heavy, but it'll be moved only twice a year. I'm going to pull it out on to LOW and leave it in one spot. Plan was to get it out on a large tilt trailer and dump 'er off. Getting it back on, get the house started up the trailer, have the trailer wheels chalked (sp?) and ease it on with the pull of a truck. (this is all after we've got it free from ice and snow of course.)

Of course, assembling some of the main pieces out on the ice wouldn't be so bad either. A lot of people do that around here. Might take them an hour to assemble...

Keep the opinions and ideas coming, that's what I wanted.

[R_B]

I suggest buying a crank down trailer and building on that. It's worth the $$$. Best thing I ever bought. I used 1 1/2" insulation doubled in the roof, 3/4" treated floor, steel siding and roof (a bit heavy) I suggest aluminum.

[JohnMickish]

Don't forget to wrap the inside with poly before the paneling and the outside with Tyvek under the siding. That will be the best $50 you will spend on the house.

[freighttrain50]

i said this somewhere else and cant remember where. put a heating coil on or in the bottom so when you go to take it off all you have to do is hook her up to a battery and she should pop right up. cant give you too many details because i have only seen it once or twice. sorry. thought it was a neat thing and maybe it will work here maybe it wont. just a thought.

[Hemlock]

Thanks again for the info. I am learning and will continue to learn what's the best way to do this for my specific application.

RB drop down trailer is ruled out. This house will travel a maximum of 15 miles out on the ice and then 15 back in, that's it. Bigger bucks will be spent next year on a snowmobile and an Otter.

Thanks again, and I'll keep an eye out for any more posts here.

[Piker]

Are you building it on skids so that you can drag it once it hits the ice? Having skids that are as wide as a pickup would be pretty handy. Dump it off by from the trailer on good ground and then drag it out on skids. I think that's a good way to go, that's how many resort houses are built. Easier to move it a little also. If you're not doing too much road travel this would be a better setup than a wheeled trailer.

[Piker]

Also, ditto the Tyvek and poly wrap. The purpose of it is that the Tyvek will breath on the outside and then the poly on the inside will protect the paneling. Mine has Tyvek under steel and then poly under 1/4" OSB on the inside.

[Piker]

Some other thoughts from personal experience.

1. Have plenty of windows, natural lighting is nice. Put them at the right height for site lines when seated.

2. Vent well, not so much for CO, but humidity

3. Make your door swing in, not outward (wind will catch it)

4. If you can afford it, buy catch covers for the holes. I lose my hole covers all the time. $20 per hole, pricey but I think they'd be worth it.

5. I plan to carpet mine in the future, if it's not a sleeper house this might not be so important. Chicks dig carpet, OK not really but it looks nice.

6. Plan where your going to put your holes. Then plan it again with a model. Make sure you have room for auger handles and such.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Chicks dig carpet.

[Hemlock]

Chicks dig carpet....Great idea!

Skids will be built into it, yes. The trailer I thought might come in to play, as we have a large island just south of here that needs to be portaged. It's not like Pine Island, it's a Canadian Shield island that the road pretty much has switch backs on it to get up and over it. I assumed pulling it over that on a trailer would be easier than skids. I think weather or not you took it off of the trailer after I crossed that island would depend on snow/ice conditions. The idea is to have someone plow me a road in advance to the spot of choice.

Now I'm really thinking...what about building a hitch into it that fastens to 2" reciever hitch? I'm such a rookie, and have not paid much attention to perm. houses. Now that I want to build one, it's obvious how ignorant I am!

[Gissert]

Hemlock -

Go as beefy on the skids as you can. I had an 8 x 12 a few years back that I modeled after the houses RC Carlson runs out of the Angle.

I had a local sawmill make me some 5 inch square skids, 16 feet long. It cost me 35 bucks for the pair.I beveled each end and then lag bolted the house to them with angle iron. I had attach points on the inside and outside of the house at all four corners, for a total of 8 spots where the house attached to the skids.

It held up very well, and I pulled it through some fairly deep snow. Slush, sucked, however.

You might think of screwing some UHMW type plastic to the bottom of your skids. This will make them slide really nice, and will keep the skids from wearing. This is the same stuff than snomobile hifax is made from. There are sources online to get manufacturers left overs for a decent price.

[Ishmel]

I have a house on skids, and I don't move it nearly as much as I should. Skids are a great way to go to save money, but forget about pulling through really deep snow, unless you have a tractor or a plow on the front of your truck.

I've been thinking about ways to put small inflatable tires on mine, If I could figure out a way to mount them on the INSIDE of the skids, maybe by jacking it up and slipping them into some kind of bushing built into the skids, it would make trailering it much much easier.

One problem I have with pulling up on the trailer is that I have a flat bed trailer and it has to be lined up perfectly to keep the skids from sliding off the sides when it's coming up. I put 2x4 sides on to help guide it, but they're not very sturdy when I'm winching that big house against them.

One more thing.... My trailer is 5'x10' so I built the house to 5 feet wide at the base then up 18 inches from the floor, then out 18 inches then up to the ceiling. It looks a little like a pickup camper, if you know what I mean. I've been meaning to take pictures to send to another guy who's building one, but keep forgetting the camera.

Feel free to email me if you'd like pictures (when I remember to take them) or have any questions about mine.

[email protected]

P.S. Chicks do dig carpet, no doubt about it.

[hanson]

Ishmel-

Thats whats wrong with my house!

Note to self- Install carpet in icehouse this summer!!

[ps70mlf]

If you put up paneling u gotta use the $ stuff otherwise the cheap stuff warps. i used milk board on it but its 20$ a sheet

[cheesehead]

{Intead of paneling use lauan plywood and varnish it.

[sdghsdgj]

i have no carpentry experience and was wondering if there was a site that had a documented step by step deal with pictures on how to do this? Like i said i have no experience so I'd need to see whats going on

[Ishmel]

Hanson - as long as you're upgrading to carpet, be sure to put in curtains too.... I'm just saying.

sdgh...etc....

I've looked for a long time and have never really seen step by steps. I'd be happy to walk you through some of the details of the carpentry, and I know there are tons of guys on this site that would be willing to contribute tips etc. The first step (and probably the biggest) is the budget. Once you know what you can spend you will have an idea where to start.

Cheesehead - I used luan paneling in mine too, and painted it a light color to help with lighting. I get a bit of moisture from my ventless heater but have never had a problem with the luan warping. I think that's a great tip.

[hawkeye43]

Thoes curtains will need to be winter camo,so that you fit in with the suroundings.

[hanson]

hawkeye-

Good tip on the winter camo curtains!!! Part of the fun of an icehouse is decorating the sucker to create an atmsophere. I've got a very small set of antlers, 6 points, that I plan on making into a hat rack for the inside of the shack. Anyone know where I can get winter camo fabric??? I really don't want to take a trip to Jo-Ann if I can order it online.

I saw an old camper trailer sometime this fall and they had camo blaze orange curtains in it. Of course they were going deer hunting but I thought that was a nice touch.

The 1/4" luaun is the way to go on a budget. It also gives you a ton of strength so you can go a little bit lighter on the siding materials if you wish. I got my 1/4" luaun at Menards for about $7 a sheet on sale. Thats about half the price of a sheet of paneling. Another good tip was to put Spar Varnish or outdoor polyurethane on the luaun as a finish.

[Hemlock]

Good thread, keep it coming...the carpet thing is making me laugh.

One thing that might make my project a little different is the fact that I'm going to use a wood stove. I know, I know I might never hear the end of it...but here in Canada (and MN for that matter), there's no shortage of wood. I will be driving to the house in my pickup and can bring wood everytime out, or a honkin' load once or twice out. Will this affect the moisture level that seems to be an issue? Seems to me wood heat would be drier than propane. I suppose the moisture is caused more from the drastic changes of temp more so than the heat source..? Anyone want to take a crack at that?

How about the hitch part of this? Build a hitch to hook up to my ball on the pickup? Any other ideas?

Sure enough as soon as I'm really getting into this, I find one for sale on the local swap shop for a pretty decent price....I think I'd have more fun putting one together myself though.

Hanson, are you available for interior decorating when I get this all done?