Houseboat Build - In Progress

[Jim Hawkins]

I didn't see a category for houseboats so since it began with the pontoons I'll put it here.

I've been building my houseboat, (in my head) for the last 20 years and am finally bring it to reality. I began with fiberglass pontoons and went with the only company I could find which also happened to be somewhat near me. A&M Pontoons out of Old Town, FL built the pontoons and mounted them to a deck overall 28' X 9' 6". These pontoons are big, at 4 feet wide and as it sits now it is only displacing about 2 or 3 inches. I need to add about 5000 lbs. to get it down where the waterline is near the top of the bottom paint.

The photo shows my temporary controls I used to get it from where it was delivered at a nearby marina to my canal.

Next I'll show the wall framing in progress one I figure out how to add pictures in the text instead of thumbnails...

 

[Jim Hawkins]

The walls are being laid up using 1"x4"PT for posts and 1"x8" PT for the beam and glued together glulam style for 4 layers of wood making a 3" thick wall. Here are the beginning 2 layers. The wood was bought months ago and has been dried and sanded before gluing. After all my research it was a tossup between epoxy or Titebond II glue. After doing tests, both bonded the wood so well the joints would not break, the wood next to it would so I went with the Titebond.

 

[HotTommy]

This is going to be fun to watch. Thanks for sharing.

 

[gm280]

I have no suggestions how to build such a boat, so I will just watch as you post new updates.

 

[Bayou Dave]

I will suggest that you use Titebond III as it is waterproof whereas II is water resistant.

 

[Jim Hawkins]

I will suggest that you use Titebond III as it is waterproof whereas II is water resistant.

Thanks for the advice Dave, for some reason I thought Titebond II was the better choice over III but I suppose I got it wrong. At any rate, as a further test I took one of the cutoff pieces and have it half submerged in water and it's holding up fine so I think whats done so far will be alright and I can still switch to TB III for the majority of work still unfinished.

 

[Jim Hawkins]

In addition to clamps I'm putting wood screws every foot or so. The 1 X 8 's were cupped as there apt to do so by layering them the opposite way, like this )( I could pull the edges down and re-square them. Before the next lamination goes on I will back out the screws so glue can go down into the screw holes and help strengthen the bond. But I gotta get more clamps. One or two boards a day is just too slow.

 

[Grub54891]

Following along myself. One thing I'd suggest, is to use stainless screws, and bolt's on all fasteners. Anything else will rust away, even in freshwater. And use nothing but marine grade wiring for all of it.

 

[redneck joe]

this will be fun, when are you planning on being complete?

 

[Jim Hawkins]

this will be fun, when are you planning on being complete?

I hope to start using it in a couple months, but complete? Probably never.

 

[redneck joe]

An a true boater you are....

 

[Jim Hawkins]

Continuing lamentations. Switched to Titebond III and laying it on in what I would hope Huckelberry Finn would refer to as "fairly slathered on".

 

[gm280]

Just wondering, have you planned out about how much the build will weigh? I mean you know the pontoons will carry a certain amount. So your build needs to work with that figure. Wood gets really heavy really quick. Just a thought...

 

[Jim Hawkins]

Just wondering, have you planned out about how much the build will weigh? I mean you know the pontoons will carry a certain amount. So your build needs to work with that figure. Wood gets really heavy really quick. Just a thought...

I spent a lot of time considering weight. That's the reason I got such big pontoons. They are 27' long and each one is 4' wide so using round numbers every 1000 pounds will submerge the hulls 1 inch. The hulls and deck are 2000 pounds or a little more so right now unloaded the hulls are submerged a little more than 2 inches. If I add another 5000 pounds it will bring my hulls down to where my bottom paint is and still leave me another 4 inches or 4000 pounds before my hulls are half submerged. I estimate the walls and roof of the cabin will weigh about 1500 pounds.and windows, doors and trim another 500, leaving me 3000 to 7000 max. more for tanks, galley, bedding, clothes, anchors, tools, solar,etc etc etc.

My concern is will I have enough weight? - so lockers will be built so that any unused space will be used for demijohns of fresh water to supplement the main water supply.

 

[gm280]

Sounds like you've done your homework. Okay... :yo:

 

[Jim Hawkins]

Almost done with the walls. I wasn't sure if my framing was a good idea until I got to this point. After laminating the last 1X4 to the wall post the post went from easily bending to very solid. I made a couple changes. First, I realized the top beam was way overkill so I eliminated the fourth 1X8. Being still overkill I cut the beam down lengthwise from 7 and 1/2 inches to an even six which further took weight off the top lowering my center of gravity.
Pictures are attached, including a sneak peak at what I'm aiming at.

 

[gm280]

Nice finished project to shoot for. Do they have detailed plans for that build? That would be nice to have. I have to follow along to see this to the completion.

 

[Jim Hawkins]

Nice finished project to shoot for. Do they have detailed plans for that build? That would be nice to have. I have to follow along to see this to the completion.

I found that picture online. No plans - don't need them. If you look, it's nothing more than a box, 4 walls with a flat roof that hangs over the front porch. The railings are what dress it up. The only interior walls / bulkhead will be an approx. 3' X 3' head located midway port side. From there it's your basic houseboat plan. Galley front, port side, Helm dining area opposite and stateroom in the rear.

 

[redneck joe]

What is your projected cost?

 

[Jim Hawkins]

What is your projected cost?

About $30,000 once it's completely fitted. It will have a Solar PV array of 1 to 1.5 kilowatt and in addition to the 60HP outboard will have 2 high thrust trolling motors and on one side a kicker motor on an extension bracket. I will be traveling long distances and have no desire to ever get stuck. Galley will have a compact refrigerator and 2 burner gas stove. I'll have a bank of 6 to 8 deep cycle batteries along with charge controller and inverter enough to power a small window unit AC. Most of this (PV, inverter, AC etc.) I already have and has been sized and tested. The hulls and deck will by far be the biggest cost.