Fish House Build!

[Rouney725110]

This has been a long process in the making. We started last December from the VERY bottom!

As you can see we've put in a lot of time. The plan was to get it spray foamed before I left for basic training. And that's what we did!! No that I've gotten out of training and had more time to think about it, I need to start planning the inside.

[Rouney725110]

I made up this model over the last few days and am wondering what you all think. Do's and Don'ts. The house is 8'4" by 20' long. With a 4' V in front.

Let me know what you think! Thanks!!

[leech~~]

Wow, I have always admired guys that could put all that together, or at least had the space, time and tools to put it all together!

Since you spent the time and money in hole saws to make lighter boards. Did you by chance weight them before and after boring to see what your weight savings was?

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Wow! Nice work!

Did you drill those holes yourself, or is there a product out there I don't know about? That must have made wiring really easy.

Layout looks good. The only thing you may find is that the upper cabinets in the middle are unnecessary. If you have storage under the bunks, the kitchen area, and throw hooks in the bathroom area for your clothes, I don't think you'd need those. Unless you haul around more stuff than me, which seems impossible!

[BartmanMN]

Looking really, really nice. Great work.

[MuskieJunkie]

Holy shirt that thing is insane. Thanks for posting

[Rouney725110]

Thanks for all the support! Yes, we did weigh all the boards. On average, the holes took anywhere from 2-3 pounds out of every board. Considering we had roughly 45 studs with holes in them, that would mean anywhere from 90-135 pounds lost just by doing that. It doesn't sound like a lot but when building something like this, every pound counts. We figured that by drilling the holes we made up for all of the spray foam we put in.

And yes! I drilled every one of those holes!! It was very time consuming... It helped that I had a woodworking class in school and had nothing to do! So every day I got a couple of buddies to help me drill holes. We drilled a 2" hole every 2" in the boards and I think it took us about a week to finish. We just used a drill press and a fancy 3 sided Irwin Self-Drilling Forstner Bit. That thing worked miracles!

[SnowGuy73]

That thing is sweet!

[Rouney725110]

Also one other thing we were thinking about is a live well. Any thoughts? We thought it'd be something neat because not too many people have done it. Has anyone been there done that?

[S.D. Ice Angular]

I did not see your lifting / lowering method, it looks like your tongue is controlled by an electric screw jack.

Also at some point in the pictures it looks like there is a door on the rear. (Which, personally I would never build or buy a house without one. But it does not look like you pursued that option. I also disagree with a previous comment about cabinets / storage in the middle are unnecessary. Any and all storage is great plus.

Keep up the great work

[eagle_3464]

very nice, lots of thought and work going into your build. Can't wait to see the finished product. What do you expect the overall to weigh?

[Rouney725110]

The house is lifted by 3 electric screw jacks. We're trying to figure out a way to get the back two jacks to work together while still being able to use them individually if needed but at this point we will have to run one at a time. Also if you get a chance, look at the way the axles tip. The release pins are right next to each other between the axles so we don't have to reach around the tire when we want to drop the house. The wheels move away from each other when the house is dropping.

There is a small door in the back for a four-wheeler. I believe it's 54"x64". We plan on swinging it sideways so that we can put a window in it.

Before we sent it to spray foam it was 3660 pounds. I'll have to check again on the weight after spray foam. We were told to plan around 33 pounds a square foot. That puts us at about 5800. To me that sounds a little on the light side. I'd say were shooting more towards the 6000-6500 pound range.

[Rouney725110]

I don't know if everyone has been seeing the other pictures in the first post. But there are more pictures of it all the way up to spray foam in links at the bottom of the post. I didn't know the site was going to do that when I uploaded them.

[David Anderson]

The house is lifted by 3 electric screw jacks. We're trying to figure out a way to get the back two jacks to work together while still being able to use them individually if needed but at this point we will have to run one at a time.

My Salem Ice Cabin has 2 switches inside by the door which are next to each other. They control the jacks on the side. You can push both switches at the same time and lower both jacks yet each jack also has it's own switch at the jack and can be operated individually. I lower both at the same time then individually when pulling the shackle pin. Then you can go back in and let both down at the same time.

[jsr426hemi]

Very nice build! I decided to take off all three toggle switches and mount them together so I could use them all together or individually. I just had to run some wire and it worked out well. I like being able to stand inside to raise and lower the shack.

[Rouney725110]

jsr426hemi: Did you have any trouble putting the shackle pins in? We thought about putting them inside like that so we could get out of the cold but we thought it would be a hassle trying to get the pins in because we would have to run in and out of the house to make little adjustments to them.

[jsr426hemi]

I thought about making a door in the side of the wheel well for the same reason u mentioned. I eventually decided not to. I typically don't have a problem raising the shack up from the inside and getting the leaf spring in line with the shackle on the first try. If I am fishing with a buddy I make him go outside and watch and put the pins in lol.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

The house is lifted by 3 electric screw jacks. We're trying to figure out a way to get the back two jacks to work together while still being able to use them individually if needed but at this point we will have to run one at a time. Also if you get a chance, look at the way the axles tip. The release pins are right next to each other between the axles so we don't have to reach around the tire when we want to drop the house. The wheels move away from each other when the house is dropping.

There is a small door in the back for a four-wheeler. I believe it's 54"x64". We plan on swinging it sideways so that we can put a window in it.

Before we sent it to spray foam it was 3660 pounds. I'll have to check again on the weight after spray foam. We were told to plan around 33 pounds a square foot. That puts us at about 5800. To me that sounds a little on the light side. I'd say were shooting more towards the 6000-6500 pound range.

I'm not sure what kind of spray foam you used, or who gave you 33 pounds per square foot. Closed cell (what should be used on a fish house) is 1.7-2.0# per CUBIC foot. I can guarantee you didn't add 2,200 pounds to your fish house with spray foam.

[leech~~]

I'm not sure what kind of spray foam you used, or who gave you 33 pounds per square foot. Closed cell (what should be used on a fish house) is 1.7-2.0# per CUBIC foot. I can guarantee you didn't add 2,200 pounds to your fish house with spray foam.

Maybe he was thinking 3.3 lbs at the high end or his guy used the very higher density which wouldn't have been needed for an ice house? Here's some good info.

What is the Difference between Open-cell and Closed-cell Polyurethane Foams?

This may be one of the most important pages on the HSOforum if your interest is in spray foam insulation. When it comes time to actually put the foam product in your home or commercial building structure, you must identify whether you will use 0.5 lb./cu. ft., open cell foam, or 2.0 lb./cu. ft. closed cell foam. This makes a big difference in cost, application methods, and performance.

With the open-cell vs. closed-cell issue, there are two major factors to understand and consider. The first is the nature of the foam. It is either open-cell foam, where the tiny cells of the foam are not completely closed. They are broken and air fills all of the “open” space inside the material. This makes the foam weaker or softer feeling than closed-cell foam.

Closed-cell foam differs in that all of its tiny foam cells are closed and packed together. They are filled with a gas that helps the foam rise and expand and become a greater insulator. These cells can be formulated to obtain many characteristics, the most common being size and density.

Density is measured by weighing one solid cubic foot of foam material. Open cell foams typically weigh in at 0.4 to 0.5 lb./cu. ft. Closed cell foam for insulation applications range in density from 1.7 lb./cu. ft. to 2.0 lb./cu. ft. Roofing applications typically use a 2.8 to 3.0+ lb./cu. ft. to support traffic and loads better. The higher the density the foam, the heavier, or stronger it becomes. Some polyurethane foams are molded into decorative interior molding and painted or stained for a simulated wood effect. These “higher density” foams are typically in the 30 lb./cu. ft. to 40 lb./cu. ft. density range.

The advantages of closed-cell foam compared to open-cell foam include its strength, higher R-value, and its greater resistance to the leakage of air or water vapor. The disadvantage of the closed-cell foam is that it is denser, requires more material, and therefore, is more expensive. Even though it has a better R-value, typically the cost per R is still higher than open-cell foam. The choice of foam can also be based on the requirements for the other performance or application specific characteristics such as strength, vapor control, available space, etc. Open-cell SPF has an R-value around 3.5 per inch and typically uses water as the blowing agent. Closed-cell SPF has an R-value of around 6.0 per inch (aged R-value) and uses high R-value blowing agents.

Both types of foam are commonly used in most building applications and the choice for which to use can depend on many of the factors discussed above. Some foams are inappropriate in specific applications. For example, you typically would not use open-cell foam below grade or in flotation applications where it could absorb water; this would negate its thermal performance because water is a poor insulator compared to air. Closed-cell foam would be a good choice where small framing sizes need the greatest R-value per inch possible. Closed-cell foam would be used for roofing applications.

Always contact your material supplier for performance and application data on their specific materials. What type of foam being used in your building or home is always a good issue to discuss with your spray foam contractor up front, before the job starts.

[Rouney725110]

Alright. Let me clarify that I did not mean the spray foam weighed 33 pounds a square foot. The weight after spray foam was 3980. So about 320 pounds of foam. We got a little extra than we wanted!

What I meant to say was 33 pounds a square foot is what the total weight (in response to eagle_3464) would be after it was completely done with cabinets, and furniture at dry weight. Now that I went back and read it, my post didn't make any sense!

Sorry for the confusion!! Hopefully this clears things up!