"can't use it nine mos. out of the year"? what do you mean? mine comes off the ice in March and is used for temporary storage until I put all the winter stuff away and get out summer stuff. In May it becomes a playhouse for the kids through the summer, and in the early fall it moves down to the woods to become a deer hunting blind, then in mid December it comes home for any repairs and cleaning, then back onto the hardwater in Jan.