Sleeper House Wish List (Let's be practical though!)

[hanson]

Alright guys, hardwater season is winding down for me. Well, to be honest, its finished. Its a sad day.

Anyways, this was my first winter running a sleeper house. The plan for me was to build a fishable & sleepable shell and use the house this winter to find out what I needed and didn't need. The plan is to finish tweaking out the interior now this summer so I can fish in style next winter.

So my question to everybody is, what are some things that I should include in my house for next winter??

There are a number of things that come to mind already.

-Cabinets or shelves

-12v Fans

-Coat Hooks

-Multi-rod holder/rack for the wall

-Built in & hard lined propane burner

-Marine Carpet

The house already has paneled interior w/ 4 bunks, 3 dome lights, catch covers, and an Empire Furnace.

I will not be adding TV, Stereo, Satellite, Generator or any of that 'stuff' at this time.

[Kidd]

One of the coolist things I've seen in a sleeper is flexible lights mounted right down next to the hole. When you get a fish on a night, bend the light over the hole, turn it on and the light really lights up the hole so you can see the fish while it's still in the water.

[JollyT]

Magnet on a rope to catch objects dropped down the hole!

[bobberal]

I would suggest your 12 volt fans be computer fans. The 4" type are the best and use very little energy.

I would also hook up a few yellow LED lights under the bunks as night lights, it helps when you get up in the middle of the night and chase the rattle reels. I used a couple of trailer running lights. They cost about $7.00 each.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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Magnet on a rope to catch objects dropped down the hole!

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Never leave home with out it...

Excellent idea on the computer fan Boberal.

This year I added 2 new windows which made a big difference and steel L shaped brackets attached too my Oak runners so I can jack/block the house up easier.

[Ole1855]

hanson, is your floor insulated?? If not, that would be the first thing I'd do, before putting carpet down.

This summer my fishing buddy and I are going to remodel our house, here's a few things we're going to do.

Take the roof off and replace with scissor trusses to add more ceiling space, add cupboards with latching doors, knock one end out of the house and extend it 4' creating an alcove for a biffy and turning one set of bunks 90 deg. to fit into the additional space, reside, add a couple more windows, hardwire in some 12v fans, take the bunks out of the opposite end of the house and build a dinette that will convert to a bunk, reskid. I think that's about it for now, unless I hear some really good ideas here that I can add to the list.

Ole

[mudman]

One of the best things I ever did was take an old stove/oven out of an RV (small 3'x 3') and put it in!

Nothing like a frozen pizza when fishing!!

[hanson]

Ole-

The floor is insulated. I sandwiched 1 1/2" pink rigid in between 1/2" plywood. There are 2x4 'joists' within the insulation space every 24" O.C. that span from side to side.

We used it with the bare plywood this winter and it worked well. The carpet would really be nice though.

Even with an insulated floor, the floor stays cool. I hope that adding the fans will blow the heat down. Right now, it is very hot near the ceiling and cold near the floor.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Hanson, I had the same problem. I used a couple of computer fans to move air around and, voila, problem solved.

You can't have too many cupboards. They are like electrical outlets in the garage. No such thing as too many.

One idea for ya that I did and I think it's cool. There is a table in my fish house. I burned in the shape of a big fish and drilled out holes. Built in cribbage board.

[hoggs222]

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[Crow Hunter]

Using pvc pipe, run a fresh air vent from outside (through the wall) to near the bottom of your heater. Outside the house it should be in the shape of an upside down U to keep precipitation and wind out; have a threaded end on it outside so you can screw a cap on when you are not there. The furnace will draw fresh air from the pipe instead of your fishholes, and the floor will be warmer. The pipe should be the same size as the heater's exhaust pipe, ideally, if it has one. This will help even if you have a direct vent heater.

[hawkeye43]

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[DCON]

I built a 10 x 20 sleeper house this past summer/fall and the best thing i put in it was a 42" dc ceiling fan, draws very little juice, 1/2 watt on low. Worked very nice to keep the air circulating and the holes open. I ran it on a deep cycle battery along with my dome lights and porch light and never drained the battery even halfway down. I ran the fan on a vex battery for 3 days straight. The guy on the top bunk will appreciate it too.

[nytelyter]

ok here is a twist dont carpet the floor i put down linolium a quick squeegie after holes are popped and its dry in no time

also all lights should be led they use very little juice to run

as for hole lights i found the crome add on liscense plate lights mounted in the corners with a angle cut block of wood keeps them out of the way when drillin and i have mine with a switch over each hole all wired into a master switch that willl turn them all on at once for late nite bell ringers

mount your better rattle reels on the cieling over each hole this again to keep them out of the way and the extra line hanging makes the rattles roll easier and with less resistance so inakey eaters bite better

i also have one of finicky's fish jiggers mounted for those lazy days

i have an insulated floorbetween two sheets of plywood but willl be insualteing the underside thes year as well for more warmth

i have found a place to get brand new rv cooktops or three burner stoves with a oven from jakes rv and salvage in farmington mn they have a HSOforum had to make the cabnit for it but i keep my batteries in the storage underneath it and it is next to the heater so batteries stay warm too my next investment is a wind powered generator so i dont have ti lug deep cells around ans i already have 45watts of solar panels onit

i have an alarm system init as well as motion dector lighting for the front side the computer fans are the bomb as welll little draw and lots of air movement find them at northern tool

i also have taken a 20 qt cooler and have installed some plumbing to it with a bilge pump and a drain for keeping the bait fresh again with little mess pump in drain out back into the hole works welll mills has kits for the pump part of it and drain stuff from the local hardware store

i outfited mine with a futon like bunk that has storage underneath itmy fishhouse has seen seven seasons now and i usually find a thing or two to tweek it each year i go from work at 530 to it each night all winter and head home about 530 am to shower and feed the critters basically it becomes my winter home thus the need for all the stuff and yes a have the dvd player and 13" remote color tv and runn a power inverter and here is another idea for you i have tahen some pvc parts and made rod holders for each end of the shack that uses and cap to set them up and hold the rods in place with tips over the holes for those times when you just have to jig a while but i am not much for that but i do have buddies that do to close make as nice as you can cause at$12 dollars for that kind of lakeshore property each season is priceless i am happily divorced and absolutely love to icefish and my gf is very comfy when she comes out and that is a bonus too makes her want to be there and also TWO MORE LINES DOWN heheheheh

[nytelyter]

i am not really for peaked roofs they hold heat up there slanted roofs create natural convection someting to think about

[GoodToGo]

DCON - Can you expand on your ceiling fan? I picked up a couple of computer fans to install, but your saying you have a full size ceiling fan that runs at 1/2 watt? And it's DC? Where did you get it? Do you ever feel a draft from it, or does it move slow enough.

[Walterwontfalter]

I still like propane lights. They provide heat as well as light. And the oven/cooktops are easy to come by on old campers. I've found that most of them are barely, if ever used and work really well in the fish house.

[Dave]

If you add fans on the ceiling to circulate warm air, wire in a thermostat near the ceiling also, so the fans will stop every once in awhile; saving some battery juice. And, there's no reason to manually turn on/off those fans since it's all automatic.

[korn_fish]

There are a couple places out there. Basically for 120 or something aroun that ballpark will get you a ceiling fan that they use in RV's. RV ceiling fans are 12 volt.

[findergameandfish]

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[PERCHJR]

This mite be just me, but I would leave room for a brass pole, just in case!!!! Those nights when the fish aren't biting get kindof long by yourself!!!

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD FISHING!!!

[walleyejon]

My remodelling over the summer on my house is going to include a biffie (sp?). I'm also going to rig up a bilge pump with a feed line around the inside wall. I'm going to branch off above each hole with a short section of pipe (or hose) and a ball valve.I can then heat a large pot of water, put the bilge pump in, flip it on, and open valves as needed to get rid of ice in the holes. I'm also going to have an extra branch and valve for washing dishes etc. I alsoplan on adding a second door, since I have a table in the middle of the house, it will be much easier to get in and out with a door on each end. And lastly, my carpet is coming out, and non-slip linoleum is going in. I caught too many hooks in the floor this year, which was really frustrating.

[hanson]

OK guys, here's a photo of the outside of my shack.

I won't let you inside until it gets tweaked out!

There are a number of great ideas here so far!! I think I will be using a few of them.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the deer antler hat rack and the FishingMinnesota.com logo for the outside!

Let's hear some more ideas.

[DCON]

The ceiling fan i have is a 12v 42" full size ceiling fan, with an infrared remote, it has 3 speeds and reverse, i run it on low, thats all that i need in my house. It draws 1/2 watt on low 1 watt on med. and 1 1/2 watt on high. If i run it on high it does make the gas lights flicker a little bit, and i dont like to feel the air moving around. E mail me and i will give you the name of the company where i purchased it.

[korn_fish]

dcon - what is the depth of the ceiling fan? All the ones I seen when building my shack were to deep for my ceiling height. Just barely though, so a few less inches and the ceiling fan is going in. I kinda wish I would have built the walls 4" higher now.