Building a fishhouse....

[woodyjdh]

I have been a member of this site for some time, and have taken in alot of info, and forgotten some. It is my hope to build a fishhouse this summer to be ready when the water gets hard. Being as I am a welder building aluminum utility and snowmobile trailers, I'd like to take advantage of this and build it (trailer frame, and house frame) out of aluminum. My concerns are the walls sweating (this may not be helped?), and can I cut one of our torsion axles up to use on this (it will be a crank down style). For the wheel assembly, I plan on making an all steel setup, and bolting it to the aluminum frame. And since I am here asking for advice, good or bad; is there someone out there that makes LED lights for lighting a fishhouse? Also what size generator would I need to power....lights, car radio, fan(s), tv/vcr and anything else I might want to pack in it. I forgot to mention, the fishhouse will be 8x14 when completed. Thanks in advance for any help. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected], and please put "building a fishhouse" in the subject line.

[psegriz]

I myself prefer gas lights over the electric ones, just because then I don't need to haul around batteries. If you have a generater running all the time I guess it wouldn't matter. The size a generator just figure the wattage of items needed for plus a little extra. The more quiet a generator is the more it costs from what I've seen.

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GRIZ

[hawkeye43]

i use a wind generator to charge my house, works great. also i put welder plugs on the outside of the house. its nice that they maked red and black so they dont get them crossed. i have a 02 chevy that is hard to hook jumpers to so i wired a quick-connect that they use for winches, one set of cables have the quick-connect and the welder plugs and the other set has the quick-connect and jumper clamps, work very well for jumpstarting or charging the house. The LED lights can be found at most truck shops, like catco, they are costly little units though. i think we need to talk, i think an aluminum frame is the way to go. i have run hyd lift on all of my houses I builted and like that. the wheels come up inside the house, makes it very hard to steal. I better get back to work later

[hawkeye43]

It has a startup speed of 7 mph and 25 watts, 28 mph puts out 400 watts. it has an autobrake that slows the blades to a silent spin when the battery is full, also if the wind gets wild it slows down too. only weights 13 lbs. it about 5 bills is the only draw back, but then again I am taking it off the old fishhouse and putting it on the new one, should last a long time

[hawkeye43]

woodyjdh, do you have to put exter bracing in to stop the flex of aluminum and do you tubing or what is the frame made of??? As far as the walls sweating you could strip then with 1x2 to nail the inside to and use that blow-in insulation that sets up hard. later

[woodyjdh]

The base frame will be made from some rejected dock sections...all aluminum tubing. What I had in mind for the wall and roof framing was 1 x 1 tubing, with 1 x 2 furring strips added as a nailer for the interior finish--most likely paneling. I have some leftover fanfold insulation I'd like to use up on the exterior, as for primary ins. I have been thinking 1 or 1-1/2" (if there is such a thing) ridgid insulation (pink). I am on a limited budget with this, as I plan to buy my first boat next spring. The wind gen. would be sweet, but I bet they don't come cheap. Maybe something to add in a few years. Thank you. And thanks to those who have replied.

[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 06-14-2004).]

[psegriz]

hawkeye

Have been thinking about wind generator on fish house for awhile, just wondering what kind of wattage they put out. What's the wind speed needed to get them to start producing juice. Price tag on a unit for it, any kind of overload for to high of wind etc.

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GRIZ

[Ultra2349]

I have a cutom made house thats all aluminum frame. It has to date "never" shown any signs of sweating under any conditions.
I know while in the production area it was noticed a "pink" insulation was "glued" to the exterior of the framing with a "vapor barrier as well. I believe the same process was repeated on the inner walls but not totally sure as to exact method of attatching paneling. It's stapeled to something on underside.

House stays dry and very warm but it has rather high end vinyl windows which is a factor I believe along with a direct vent Empire heater.

[psegriz]

Ultra 2349

I built a house about 8-9 yrs. ago out of wood "studs and rafters". I still have problems w/sweating and frost by studs, wondering if vapor barrier is to be put on inside or outside of studs? Is it neccessary on both? You or anyone know the answer let us know.

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GRIZ

[hanson]

Griz,
In any type of construction, the vapor barrier is supposed to go on the warm side of the insulation. In a fish house, I don't know if it will really make a difference. Doing everything possible to keep the moisture out of the house would make the biggest difference.

[Ultra2349]

The "inside" vapor barrier on my unit is glued to the back of the paneling and glued to the frame.
The outside I know has "pink" insulation board glued to the "outside" of the frame.
Then the siding is installed and all trim areas are caulked with RV grade caulking.