First Wheel House Construction (Advice Please?)

[crappiekid]

REALLY good buy on hsolist right now for sheet alum 25.00 sheet 48"wide 10' tall search fish house sheet steel

[Big Buck Buster]

REALLY good buy on hsolist right now for sheet alum 25.00 sheet 48"wide 10' tall search fish house sheet steel

I saw that add also. I never tried to contact the person. I haven't had much luck on c-list lately. Seems like when I do find something I would like to purchase, I either never get a reply back about it, or it is already sold. Just my luck, I guess.

[Fuzzbient]

REALLY good buy on hsolist right now for sheet alum 25.00 sheet 48"wide 10' tall search fish house sheet steel

Is it the brown/tan stuff?

[bassislife]

You might only have $3000 into the material, but what about the hours of building it, running around to get your steel, aluminum, lumber, getting it insulated etc.?? wear and tear on tools and equipment??

I would rather buy the shell for $5000-$6000 , get a warranty for a year and finish off the rest myself!

[Big Buck Buster]

You might only have $3000 into the material, but what about the hours of building it, running around to get your steel, aluminum, lumber, getting it insulated etc.?? wear and tear on tools and equipment??

I would rather buy the shell for $5000-$6000 , get a warranty for a year and finish off the rest myself!

I guess that I enjoy doing things for a friend! What are my tools for, if I'm not using them? Maybe they look nice just sitting on a shelf, or behind some glass so they don't get used or dirty. I guess that some people have enough money to just throw around, and others have to stretch it as far as it will go. As for the one year warranty, I will warranty it for him, and won't charge him any extra for it.

[Fuzzbient]

You might only have $3000 into the material, but what about the hours of building it, running around to get your steel, aluminum, lumber, getting it insulated etc.?? wear and tear on tools and equipment??

I would rather buy the shell for $5000-$6000 , get a warranty for a year and finish off the rest myself!

Hey, you need an excuse to buy new power tools! I love this kind of stuff. The labor part is actually play time for me.

[Jim Uran]

Hey I commend what you are doing, after all is said and done, you know you built this thing from the ground up. Thanks for sharing your process, it will help a lot of us when we decide to take this route. I'm a year or two from tackling this myself..

[iafish4fun]

You might only have $3000 into the material, but what about the hours of building it, running around to get your steel, aluminum, lumber, getting it insulated etc.?? wear and tear on tools and equipment??

I would rather buy the shell for $5000-$6000 , get a warranty for a year and finish off the rest myself!

The time spent is rewarded when you catch fish and sleep in something that you made yourself. JMO

[ndsufootball]

Just keep at it, mine looks alot like big buck buster's minus the wheel wells. If you have any other questions let me know I uilt mine in about 4 months start to finish. Used aluminum siding. The white actually looks sharp, have the metal plating like big's rubber roof is the way to go. The only other tough decision you might have to make if you haven't is what kind of heater you will install. Empire direct vent or one with a blower pros and cons to both. I went with the Empire heater my personal opinion, i don't like the blower. Good idea but sucks alot of juice. I only need one battery to run everything. Just my opinion. Let me know if you need any other advice. It's nice to get advice from different angles on here.

[hawkeye43]

I built a wheel house over 30 years ago, I had very few to look at to see if I was doing it right or wrong. But I did the best I could, learned alot each time. I have changed everyone of them after that to make them better. I for one don't like a house that looks like everyone else house. I have been thought the houses with the wheel on the outside of the frame, they are a bear to drag thought 2' to 3' of snow with out plowing a road first, then everyone can follow you. What ever works for you I guess.

I have bent a few axles because they where to light, now I have over kill them but haven't bent one since. What good is a light weight house if it falls apart on the lake. We as fisherman have changed the way we fish now in the last 30 years. There are so many new products out there that we didn't have even 10 years ago.

As far as what it cost, its what you what to spend. I can't see me having a $45,000 boat at this stage in my life, if ever. But I have friends that spend more than that on their boats. But I could see spending $10,000 on a house in a heart beat. Some people enjoy building their own, just a pride thing, what ever makes you happy right??

[bassislife]

I have built a few myself over the years! I didn't mean what you were doing was not a good thing, I'm just saying that the hours involved with running and gunning all over town to get the steel for the frame, hauling it to a shop, welding it up, painting it etc. takes more time and effort then if a guy just bought a trailer and built off that or bought a shell and then finished it off.

Next one I build will be with a already shelled unit, only finished off on the exterior. Then I will finish off the inside as I have the time.

I will still be able to smile when I'm catching fish and sleeping in something that I part in building!

[Fuzzbient]

Finally back working on the shack. Got the windows and door from Menards and part of the frame is completed. Should have some more pics soon.

[Fuzzbient]

I put three coats of spar urethane on the floor to protect it from the water it's going to get exposed to.

I've framed up the wall sections but don't have them attached yet.

I've picked up a 30,000 btu LP heater for it too but decided it's too much for it and will get something smaller.

I'll be working on the rafters next.

[Fuzzbient]

Got the rafters done.

[NAG]

Looks good. Are those 2x2 walls and 2x3 ceiling?

[Fuzzbient]

Thanks! Yes, 2x2 walls with 2x4 corners and 2x3 rafters.

[Fuzzbient]

What thickness decking would you all recommend for the roof? I'll be covering it with a rubber roof and am leaning towards 1/4 inch or 3/8 plywood to keep it light. Would OSB be better?

[NAG]

The 19' v-nose I built 2 years ago I used 1/2" OSB with a rubber roof. Worked perfect.

[motley man]

Try to keep it LIGHT, so it pulls easy in deeper snow on lakes.

[Fuzzbient]

Got the walls up, the roof on, and a rubber roof membrane glued down. Time to order up the siding.

[NAG]

Where did you get your trailer? Also, are you going to add any type of metal strapping to tighten up your walls?

[Fuzzbient]

I got the trailer at Brinkman's in Forest Lake. I do have some metal straps to add as cross braces once the shell is insulated.

[Bothun]

I do spray foam insulation. PM the total square footage and the wall depth and I can shoot you a price.

[Fuzzbient]

Walls 2x2 ~210 sq ft (after taking out door and windows)

Ceiling 2x3 72 sq ft

shoot foam price to -> fishhouse [remove] at gmail [this] dot [for spam bot protection] com

Thanks!

[bassislife]

Looking good!! but one thing....... You better have a retractable roof because your going to need it with that 30,000 BTU ventless. That is way to large and it is going to cook you out of there on low. Better off hooking it up in your garage and finding a smaller one!