How light is to light when building a permanant?

[Gus]

I plan on building a permanant shack and want to make it as light as I can so it can be easily moved. It will be on skids. My plan is to make the floor out of 2x4 and plywood. 2x2 wall studs and maybe roof. I plan to use vinyl roofing panels for siding and the roof with the white styrafoam insulation. No plywood on walls. House will be about 5x6 or maybe slightly larger. Is this house going to blow away? It needs to be able to be completely moved by a female. (not that I'm saying anything about females here), but the current house she has is to heavy for her too place on blocks and move from blocks.

Thanks for advise.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Doesn't sound to me like it will be too light.

Be careful, however. I've never had to deal with this but I've heard vinyl cracks and breaks real bad when it's cold. If you move the house and it wants to twist a bit, I'm thinking you may run into cracking issues.

Just my $.02

[korn_fish]

Gus - Is the weight factor just for lifting up or off of blocks? How about for pulling across the lake. If it is just for blocking and un-blocking, I would think some removable jacks that you find at norther tool or tractor supply for around $40 would be cheaper than building another shack.

[Gus]

Pulling across the lake does have some to do with the weight as well. It really needs to be able to be moved easily. Right now the one I am replacing this with has wheels, but not drop down type. you have to tip it back and push the wheels into/out of the axles underneath and that is too much for one person to do. It will be pulled by a vehicle except for early ice.

[Finlander]

I had my 8'x8'permanent blow away to the other side of the lake!

And it was heavy. So if there is no snow on the ice, you better anchor it to the ice because of the hurricane winds we've been having you need to anchor it!

[JIGLFIN]

Gus;

Speaken about light, I built a hardside portable, with

a 2x2 floor and 1x2 sides and its 5 ft tall at ctr.

I would think height as much as weight would determine

how wind will affect it.

How would it work to run a 2 x over the skids, with

a hole in it, drill a partial hole in the ice and

drop a rod or pipe thru the 2x into the hole, for a anchor?

Than finish drill the hole, when you move the house.

If wind is a concern.

[Surface Tension]

No such thing as too light. Too flimsy is an other story.

The vinyl siding won't give any support, lateral or structurally, all it is a cosmetic covering with weather proof qualities and is added weight. If you want light weight that'll give you strength and weather tight qualities use a sheet good like the corrugated aluminum roofing. The 2x4s on the floor will be fine but use a treated plywood there. Once you get that light weight shack on the ice block it up and anchor it so it won't blow away.

[Gus]

Thanks guys. Sounds like I should re-think the vinyl.

[phishandpheasant]

I would suggest using plywood underneath if you are going with the vinyl. The plywood will give you the support/stability you need and the vinyl will keep the elements out. You will not add an excessive amount of weight to the house. How big is the house going to be???

[Gus]

Right now I'm leaning on just going with plywood walls and painting them. Cost is a factor for the siding. The vinyl stuff was about 9-10 dollars a 4x8 sheet. Alum or steel is almost doulbe that. Wood is just a couple dollars more. Size will be 5x6 up to 6x8 still to be determined.

Keep the good comments coming.

[phishandpheasant]

Gus, I have an abundance of unused vinyl siding available in numerous colors that I would sell cheaply. I have all necessary trim pieces for corners, channels, and edges also. You could even do each side of your house in a different color if you wanted Let me know if you are interested. ssnobl at canby dot mntm dot org

[setterguy]

If you really want to be lite, what about steel studs? More expensive but certianly much lighter.

[Gus]

I have thought about steel studs, but because of price reasons and I'm not quite sure how I would work with steel studs, I have ruled them out.

Thanks for the offer on cheap siding.... I might be emailing you next week...

[phishandpheasant]

My shack is a 4x6 that slides to 6x6 and your holes are in the slide out. It is a great house for 2 people and only weighs about 375 pounds. It moves easily(I push it around by hand) on the ice and the best part is you cut all of your holes outside of the house. No auger exhaust inside and no ice mess either. My house is plenty sturdy and has held up in winds in excess of 50 mph. I call it my portable permanent.