How to Make a Shanty

Construct 12 laminated panels. Known in the industry as SIPS, structural insulated panels are made of polyurethane or urethane foam board panels sandwiched between sheets of plywood or paneling. Use foam board adhesive to bond the foam board to the panels. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for the brand of adhesive chosen. Loctite makes an adhesive that bonds to wood and meets State and Federal VOC regulations. Make 10 SIPS for wall and ceiling sandwich panels using the luan sheets or paneling. Make two SIPS for the floor, each using marine-grade plywood on one side and luan or paneling on the other side.

Attach two floor SIPS together lengthwise with four door hinges, spaced evenly. The plywood side of the SIP should be on the inside when the hinges are closed. Cut holes in one of the floor SIPS for ice hole openings.

Hinge five sets of wall/ ceiling SIPS together using four hinges on each set of panels, spaced evenly. Two panel sets are used as opposite sidewalls. Using four hinges, attach one SIP of a two-panel set to the luan or paneling side of a floor SIP. Attach another two-panel set to the other floor SIP in the same manner. To include windows in your shanty, cut holes in one panel of your side set. Cut the holes in the panel that is not attached to the floor.

Install thermal windows or attach transparent acrylic panels to cover the holes if you cut window openings in one or both sidewalls. If installing thermal windows, follow manufacturer's instructions. If installing acrylic panels, drill holes and attach the acrylic with screws. Caulk around the edges of the acrylic to form a seal.

Drill six bolt holes, evenly spaced, in an 8-foot-long 2-by-2 board. Turn the board one rotation and drill another six bolt holes, spaced evenly between the first bolt holes. Repeat this process for a total of four boards.

Stand one SIP pair up on the narrow ends of panels to make an end wall. Cut a hole in one of the panels to allow installation of a camper trailer door. Begin the cut 5 inches from the bottom of the panel for greater stability. Install the camper door, following manufacturer's instructions. To have two doors in your shanty, install a door in the opposite end wall.

Attach one bolt-hole-drilled board to each of the lengthwise, outside edges of an end-wall SIP pair by drilling through the SIP and fastening with bolts. Repeat on the other end-wall SIP pair.

Attach sidewall SIP panels to the floor SIP panels in accordion style. The floor folds up with the bottom, plywood side, of the floor on the inside. Each sidewall panel folds with the window panel on top. Sidewall sections are placed so that they fold in toward the floor when attached to the floor. After attaching one sidewall panel, turn all panels over and attach the other sidewall to the other side of the floor in the same manner.

Folding panel sets that are not hinged together are attached to each other and stabilized by use of the bolt-hole-drilled boards. These boards are used in all four corners of the shanty and at the tops of the walls so the ceiling panel set may be attached to the walls. Drill holes in the walls and ceiling to match the holes in the drilled boards. Use bolts to attach the panels and boards together.

Set up the shanty on site by placing three 8-foot-long 4-by-4 posts on the ice, with one post along each outside edge of the floor panels and one post lengthwise along the hinged center of the floor panels. Bolt the walls and the roof in place. Seal cracks with duct tape or caulking.