Walls on a fish house

[R_B]

Can you simply use siding or sheeting then foam and paneling for walls, no ply wood? A friend told me this might be the way to go but it doesn't seem like much. What have you used or seen for walls on fish houses?

[FullTilt]

I was also thinking about using pole barn steel sheeting on my house. I have a question about running the sheeting horizontal. How do you seal the corners where the siding comes together? Also, is there a huge weight difference between this and aluminum? The other option I was looking at was rolled aluminum. Menards has it in 20"x50' rolls and I figure I can run a roll all the way around my 16' house starting at the bottom and working up. Has anyone used this before?

[R_B]

The rolled aluminum sounds like a good idea. What was the price per roll?

[GoodToGo]

I used Great Stuff expanding foam to seal the gaps in the steel. If doing again I would put some type of sealant between the steel and the stud, then sealed the gaps with foam. A trim piece then covered the edges, but doesn't seal anything.

[FullTilt]

The rolled aluminum was $32 a roll. I figure 5 rolls should do it, about $160 for the whole deal. This is the best option I've come up with but I'd like to hear other suggestions.

[jt24]

Steel will be heavier than aluminum but both will make your house durable if installed right. I went with aluminum sheets because of weight. Rolls of aluminum IMO could get wavy. It depends on the thickness and how it is applied. Its harder i think to keep 20" stripes straight versus a 4ft piece.

[R_B]

What about fastening your walls and floor to the frame? What would be the best thing to use (bolts, screws)and where might you find them?

[beer batter]

For fastening floors and walls to the from I used self tapping lag bolts and lots of them. The floor can be done with some relatively short ones found at Menards. For the walls, I went through the base sil, through the floor boards and into the frame with some 6 inch self tapping bolts purchased at Fastenol. Those babies costed nearly $2 a pop.

[GoodToGo]

I framed my walls with 2" steel studs (actually 1 5/8"). Slid sheets of pink foam into them and made panels, then tipped them up and screwed to the wooden floor. Pole barn steel on the outside, cheap paneling on the inside.

[hanson]

R_B-

I must have missed whether you are building a house on skids or a house on a trailer. What material is the frame you are talking about fastening the walls down to?

My house is built with a sandwich type floor- 1/2" plywood, 1-1/2" pink rigid insulation with 2x4 running across every 2', and 1/2" plywood on top. The floor sits on (2) 4"x6" runners. I attached the walls to the floor with hex headed bolts & nuts every 2' or so around the house.

To answer the question about pole barn steel and how the corners were handled. I put 1x4 trim boards at the corners. The pole barn steel butts up against the trim board. I then shot spray foam into the voids on the back and caulked the exterior joint between the pole barn steel and the trim board.

[McGurk]

I'Ve ripped about 50 2x4's to 2x2's, It's not too tough with a good table saw and fence.

1) Get a good blade for ripping.

2) Get straight Lumber; Check the pile for true, straight, knot-free 2x4's and you'll appreciate it later.

3) Set up your blade and fence using a scrap piece of 2x4 and LOCK that baby down.

4) run it about halfway through, tilt it up out of the blade, flip it over the long way so the same side is touching the fence, and run the remainder through.

5) take your time, don't bind the blade and burn out your motor.

Remember if you are going off of plans; the finished 2x2 will measure 1 1/2" by 1 3/4" and WILL make a difference when assembling walls if you do not align them all the same way. Also, Use them pretty quickly after ripping them; they tend to get pretty squirrelly after about a week if just stacked. They also make for good firring strips if you are finishing off a basement. Good Luck!

[R_B]

My house is going on a dropdown trailer. We are finnaly getting started tonight. I did find some screws for the floor.

beer batter...

Would you just happen to have the part number to the bolts you used to go through the walls and into the trailer? How many did you use? What size is your house?

[FullTilt]

Has anyone used aluminum soffit for siding a fish house? I'm wondering if it locks together or would need to be over lapped from the botom up? Does it come in 16' long pieces?

[iffwalleyes]

Wow,

Sounds to me like there are alot of people trying to build houses that shouldn't be . To answer a few questions first the reason most guys rip 2X4 down is that they are cheaper than buying 2X2 and like mentioned it is easier to find straight ones although that is even getting tough. Second the best way to "rip" like mentioned will be on a table saw and make sure to have a ripping or combination blade on your saw. If you have a cross cut blade you will swear the blade is dull and this also is very dangerous because you are pushing so hard thinks can slip rather quickly on a table saw. No use in building a fish house and loosing a hand over it. Also it sounds like you guys are finding out the joys of condensation. You need a vapor barrier of some type I would recommend poly it is the easiest and cheapest. Put it behind your steel or alum. sheeting and you should be set. The other option would be to put the poly on the inside behind the paneling if you are going that route. My dad had his custom alum. house completely paneled with no vapor barrier and within a year we took it back and had the house manufacture redo it. They put up vapor barrier and then they used plastic coated paneling and attached it with plastic head rivits. Well good luck to everyone with your adventers and remember get the house sealed up tight once you have that then put in some vents for fresh air I don't think that you can have to many of these.

[psegriz]

The first house I built I never used any vapor barrier. I ended up putting it in and ended up repairing a few leaks. If you do not make repairs to your house just as in anything it's lifespan is limited. It's easier to do it right the first time than it is to fix it later. If you are unsure ask someone who know's. A vapor barrier will also cut down on the drafts that you never intended to be there anyhow. It still needs to havce ventilation though.

[minneman]

you guys having problems with the panneling rotting because of moisture, a vapor barior will do nothing but excel the rotting process in a fish house. there are only 3 ways to keep this from happening or slow it down.

1 dont use panneling made of wood/paper unless its been sealed both sides and edges- still iffy

2 vent the moisture out, its not coming in from outside. still some what iffy since you'll be losing heat at the same time and likely close down the vent..?

3 the corrugated plastic sheating would be a good choise, instead of paneling, keep it away from your heater tho.

[PikeTipper]

2 questions

1) Does anyone know of a specific place to pick up a couple of the plastic sheets in the metro area? Sounds lik good material to make inserts with for my portable.

2) When spacing your studs 2' apart are you leaving a 2' gap for the isulation or are the studs every 2' so the gap is actually a little less than 2'?

Ok just one more. How tall are you making your houses?

[honda400ex_treme]

we used 2x3's turned sideways so the walls are still 2" but there is 3" to screw into for the siding on the outside and paneling on the inside 2' on center.