Permanent Fish House Floor Plans

[poutpro]

I will probably be making a fish house this summer with my dad, and have been looking over floor plans. It will probably be 6.5 x 18. Do any of you guys have floor plans that youd like to share or sites that have plans?

[koWALLEYEski]

Id make mine like brekkes.

[poutpro]

What would the price difference be for making an aluminum frame rather than a wood frame?

[riverrat56]

Well a I have a few thoughts on this,

To maxize space i would put stacked bunks in the front and back, running width wise. Then figure out where to mount your heater and if you will have a cook stove find a place for that. Don't go directly acrossed from heater as it will clog up space, right next to it might not be a bad idea though...

For holes i would put them in pairs of 2, alternating from side to side, offset so you have more room. I would go with 8 holes. Which probally just confused you more so...

I'll try to make an excuse for a layout plan:

BB oo H S oo BB

BB__oo__oo__BB

B-bunk

0-hole

H-heater

S-stove

w-window, put outside "sketch" because of lack of room

D-door

Every space equals a foot, so bunks are BB (2 ft)

I would put a window above each set of holes and also storage under the bunks as well as some cabinates above inbetween the holes opposite the heater, or possibly a table that folds up from the wall. Be sure to mount lights or some kind above each hole as well as plenty of options for lights in the house, a few gas operated ones areant a bad idea in the case a battery goes dead.

RR56

ok i think you get the idea, i can't get it any better than that.

[poutpro]

We had the same idea of 8 holes in 4 sets of 2. We also will probably put in a bathroom consisting of a 5 gallon bucket and TP that is accesed from the oustide so the smell wont get inside. What are opinions on V front vs flat front.

[woodyjdh]

To answer your question on price of aluminum vs. wood. Go with wood! Ever since the chinese started buying up all the scrap metal they can get their hands on, the price of metal (steel & aluminum) has skyrocketed! Aluminum has nearly doubled in the past 5 yrs. And if you are using a steel frame, you'd have to put some kind of barrier between the alum. and steel to prevent the alum. from corroding away. Sure Alum. would be lighter, but alot more work would go into it as well as cost! So go with wood!

*My name has no bearing on my opinion!

[poutpro]

Yeah i figured wed use wood, 2x2 i suppose. Would anyone suggest a 2x3? If so, why?

[woodyjdh]

I forgot to mention, from what I have read here go with the v-nose front. It cuts through the air better when you are cruising down the highway. And if you put the bathroom in the v portion of the house, then the inside wall will be flat for bunks!

[poutpro]

Thats what we planned to do make a little over half of the V for the bathroom and the other portion would be for storage compartments maybe for a generator or propane tanks.

[woodyjdh]

I would imagine that the 2x3 would be nearly as strong, but lighter in weight. In the corners I would suggest 2x4's though, then 2x3's for the studs. Or if you decided to use 2x2's rip your own from 2x4's...much cheaper, not to mention possibly straighter!

[poutpro]

I for sure wouldn't use 2x4s I think that would make it much too heavy. I'm sure we'll use 2x2s for the frame. Has anyone found any good links to floor plans or blueprints?

[hanson]

Not floor plans or blueprints but this is my 7'x12' under construction. It might give you some ideas.

A few of the tips that have been mentioned above are noticeable in the photos.

[poutpro]

looks like its coming along nicely. make sure to take some photos for me when you start working on the interior design.

[hanson]

poutpro-

Its done. I fished out of it all last winter. There are bunkbeds on each of the end walls. The Empire heater is opposite the door. I don't have any interior photos though. There are 8 holes in the house.

I'll see if I can' t draw up a floor plan. I'm an architect so that shouldn't be a problem, eh?

[poutpro]

I would hope not. Do you have any type of stove in there or did you leave that out?

[hanson]

Currently, there is no stove. We cooked with a Coleman camp stove this winter and that worked fairly well. I'm thinking about adding a single burner cooktop to the house. It will probably be to the left of the furnace underneath the window on the back wall. This will keep my propane lines all on one side of the house.

[riverrat56]

Hanson- looks alot like the house i built this year, except 2 ft longer. We made a big mistake on ours though and used 2by4's for the walls, way way to heavy and totally over kill. Wasn't my idea, it was them farm boys that were building it with me, think that every building hasta withstand a tornadeo, even when its only outside during the winter. Anyways how did you lay out your 8 holes? alternating? Thats what we are thinking of doing with are's this summer as we are redoing the floor plan. We only need 6 though so i think thats the way to go.

Also what did you use for the runners on your house?

[PierBridge]

I'm still on the fence whether to build a Retractable wheel house from scratch or have one made and do the interior myself.

I know I want a 14 footer extra wide "8 feet" with a 3 foot V, the V is a no brainer for towing, storage,Bathroom, extra hole.

Plus the rear double door is a must for the 4 wheeler,Snowmobile,portables.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Another idea, and I'll just throw this out cuz I've done them before, is to use 1x1x14 ga steel tubing instead of 2x2 wood to frame this puppy up. Yup, steel is gettin spensive, not as bad as aluminum, however.

Pound for pound, it's about the same. However, you need a welder and time to do this. Makes things a ton stronger, however.

[danny berg]

Hanson,

Is that the steel siding you get from Menards? If not where did you get that? I am in the process of building also.

Thanks,

Danny

[hanson]

This house is rock solid. No need for 2x4 walls. When you fit the pink rigid insulation into the stud cavities, it firms the house up real tight. This house is built for the next 15 years for sure.

The skids are 14' green treated 4x6 wood. I built the floor. Attached the skids to the floor. Flipped the entire thing over and wrapped valley flashing material around the skids and secured with nails. It then took a couple guys to flip it back over again.

It is Menards Pole Barn metal. It is kind of a pain in the arse to work with until you get used to it. Get a metal cutting circular saw blade to do most of the cutting and a sharp tin snips to do the finer stuff. When you put the siding up, metal doesn't lie and will show you 'how out of square' you are in a hurry.

Be patient, and I'll get my plan up soon.

[poutpro]

Hanson - did you have any problems with break ins last year? It looks like yours would be pretty tough to get into withthat door, but you never know with some people.

[danny berg]

Poutpro,

To add to woody's answer about using aluminum, if you use greentreated wood for the floor then aluminum would not be the way to go. The new AC2 treated plywood corrodes aluminum..

I just did a bunch of online research into this before I purchased my drop down frame. If you use steel frame and use the AC2 treated wood you also need to use 410 or better stainless steel, hot dipped galvinized or ITW Buildex TEKS coated self taping flathead screws, this new treated wood really does a corrosion number on most metals used today. Stainless steel is way to expensive, they don't make hot dipped galvenized self tappers. the Buildex TEKS are pretty cheap, 40-45 bucks for a box of 250. I bought the TEKS at Fastenal company, they have many locations around the state.

[PierBridge]

Danny where did you get your drop down frame can you give us some info on the quality/price of the frame.

Thanks.

[danny berg]

[please read forum policy]