Floating houses

Thehardway · July 24, 2013, 09:06:33 AM

I live on a lake and I am contemplating building a small floating house or cabin. I would use a small boat to push it around the lake and spend the weekends on it fishing and relaxing :D I know this has been done in many areas but just wondering if any of you have any first hand knowledge of it and some of the difficulties I may face. I am thinking of 55gal plastic drums as the float base or possible large blocks of foam. Would need a cheap source for these. I can cut my own lumber for framing it up. Power would be by PV cells on roof and the whole thing would be wired as a 12V system to avoid inverter losses and use LED lighting. I could use propane for grilling and cooking purposes. Lake water would serve fine for showering and a rainwater catchment through UV and filtration for drinking water. I would use an incinerator toilet. I would not live on it for extended periods. The idea of not being permanently attached to anything is appealing, every weekend a new veiw.

Leigh Family Farm · July 24, 2013, 10:45:20 AM

TheHardWay,
I gotta ask a couple of questions first. Have you ever built a boat before? What are the regulations for the lake about houseboats? Do you get storms on the lake? Does the lake freeze during the winter?

Now for my opinion:

Since you want to move the house around the lake, its not a house...its a boat. A houseboat is not meant to be moved around a lot. Google Saulsalito, CA house boats. There is a whole town that is house boats but they never move. I would design the boat portion first as a large barge on top of plastic barrells/foam block pontoons. A pram design pontoon would give you the maximum weight support with the minimum amount of material (Think catameran. Also, Google the America's Cup boats...they're cats as well). A Cat would also allow you to fish from inside the cabin if its bad weather outside, because the pontoons would raise the cabin floor off the water.

Next I would design the cabin portion like a dorsal fin so that if you do have storms the boat would turn naturally into the wind. The bow would be for sleeping and storage, the midship would be the lounge & dining, and aft would be the galley and engine. You could comfortably sleep 4, with seating, bath, and a small kitchen in a 20 ft. x 10 ft. space.

A small generator will give you all the power you need. Also, a 25hp outboard will be ample in getting the boat around. Plan on having water tanks on board as well, 30 gallons should be good for a week if you bath in the lake. I would look into a gravity filter for cleaning the rain water ($45 from REI, Platypus) so you can make your 30 gallons go longer. For a toilet, just get a composting portable one. They last a decent amount of time, and you can easily clean them out.

To build this boat, I would expect it to take me 6 months working on weekends and about $5000 in marine supplies. Building material, such as wood, glass, and screws, are not included in the $5000. Epoxy, fiberglass, and resin is not cheap and I wouldn't build a boat with out them.

I hope this helps and good luck.

Thehardway · July 24, 2013, 11:53:59 AM

Kilgrosh,

I have some boat building experience. I just found a source for good plastic barrels that are used for shipping olives. They are about the same dia. as pontoons on a pontoon boat (not as large as 55gal drums) and the ends are somewhat rounded and tapered which should be good.

I am thinking about building it like a trimaran in 8'X12' (3 rows of barrels 4' OC) modular sections that can be easily launched from our boat ramp and then bolted/screwed together once floating to form a continuous platform/structure using aluminum C channel. One 8X12 end will be main bedroom with full bed, then another 8'X12 kitchen/galley, 8X12 living/lounge area and another 8X12 bunk room at opposite end for kids/guests, I will likely add a fifth 8X12 deck area at the aft end for fishing and outdoor recreational activity like grilling and swimming or just sitting outside. This gives me a LOA of 40' and a beam of 12'. The deck itself will be pressure treated lumber or composite decking, the cottage conventionally framed from pine and sided. Roof will be galvalume and arched or gabled with a raised deck on one end. I like your idea of being able to fish from inside during foul weather! I will incorporate a well or hatch in the living area for that purpose. I should be able to use the food grade barrels for fresh water storage as well and black ones on the roof should provide capability to take a hot shower on sunny days. Your capacity and filter reccommendations are helpful.

I expect it to take me over a year to build as I will be scavenging materials as I go. Much of it will be used or surplus building materials.

The dorsal design is a nice idea but I think I will be forced to anchor from 4 corners to avoid swinging into the main channel and becoming a navigation hazard to other boats, especially at night. We really don't get that much wind and storm like conditions

In my state, I am not required to register any watercraft that is not mechanically propelled (attached gas, diesel or electric motor), therefore this floating structure will not have a propulsion motor of any sort attached to it as I do not wish to register and pay tax on it as a houseboat. I will use a tender craft with 40hp outboard to push it when I want to move it, and also to ferry myself and passengers back and forthfrom shore to it wherever I anchor it. The lake is a 3,200 AC and approx 17 mi. long. It does not receive high wind due to mountain protection and never freezes over due to water level fluctuation. The waves never exceed 2' in the main channel and are less in protected coves. There are currently no houseboats on the lake but there are no prohibitions against them to my knowledge. There are only two marinas on the lake and neither provide electric/sewage connections so this is likely why. A sister lake has houseboats.

I am familiar with the Sausalito floating homes. This will be much more like the floating homes at Port Clinton, OH on Lake Erie. A floating cabin/cottage.

Leigh Family Farm · July 25, 2013, 10:00:08 AM

Your idea is sound and has good potential. I would be concerned with the weight load and floatation capabilities of each section. You might try to build one 8'x12' section with just the barrels and a flat floor, then load it with weight until it sinks or starts to break apart. That would give you a good idea of how much you can load on each section.

The four corner anchor is a good idea as well. I would use two Danforth anchors off the bow and two off the stern. Make sure you have plenty of rode for each anchor to help with the 2' waves.

Are you going to drag or push the houseboat? If you drag, I would highly recommend a pram-style front end, like the WWII landing craft. It will keep your houseboat up out of the water as you pull it. If you push, I would still have a pram-style bow but have the weigh towards the back end. Also, I would put an insert for the push boat to fit into each section, kinda like a tug boat on the rivers. It will help in steering the houseboat around the lake.

For your pontoons, I would plan out the design so that if one barrel sprung a leak, I didn't need to change the entire pontoon. Also, look into emergency float bags strapped to the sides of each section. Just in case things go bad, you can inflate the bags with CO2 and not totally sink your houseboat.

Good Luck!

mad murdock · July 28, 2013, 04:28:03 PM

For your power needs, you could combine solar and wind power, a nice verticals axis wind turbine that you can build from plans is here http://www.lynxwind.com/seagull-75-diy.html
I am going to build one of these (maybe 2 o 3), and see what I can do.
Your floating boat sounds like it will be a popular spot to hang on the weekends!

irishcountry · July 29, 2013, 04:37:41 PM

Seen this awhile back on youtube . May give you some inspiration or ideas. I thought it was pretty neat ! --http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4suoDPC0ip8

Thehardway · July 30, 2013, 08:05:28 AM

Thanks Irish!
That's almost exactly what I want to do although it will not be permanently moored and it will just be for weekend living so no need for a lot of the "amenities" that they have. It's interesting to see how some people do alternative and off-grid energy. Lot's of pieced together nickel and dime stuff, or multiple dedicated use systems.

I guess a lot of these systems more or less grow organically with the occupants and before they know it they have all kinds of divergent systems and technologies.

I see two positive things to this approach:
1. No single point of failure
2. No large upfront costs or loan needed

There are multiple down sides:
1. Loss of efficiency
2. No uniformity of components means inability to stock basic spare/replacement parts
3. Lot's of time spent switching sources and checking multiple meters, chargers, batteries etc.
4. Lot's of wasted wire and extra connections and components to go bad
5. Inability of average person to understand and operate all the various systems in an emergency situation

Wind on my lake is not a real good resource due to the narrowness of the lake and sheltering by mountains on either side. Sun is a good resource. Another thought I had is a buoancy generator. This lake is a pumped storage facility. The lake water level can fluctuate up to 13 feet and averages about 5 ' per day during the week and up to 10' on the weekend drawdown. If an anchor point on the bottom was attached to a ratchet style recoil on a floating generator, and geared very low, the rising/falling water could generate a fair amount of power, enough I would think to keep a small battery bank charged for the weekend.

grweldon · July 30, 2013, 09:02:14 AM

Wow, the chain on that saw he uses to cut firewood sure is dull!

irishcountry · August 02, 2013, 12:40:01 PM

Glad you liked the video !! As far as power goes thats a tough one no single answer . I know alot of info out there on the 45 w kits your see at Harbor Freight and you can add on later . Not the best price per watt but people buy them to tinker and add a little power to a shed ect. Something to think about . Of course you always could run a generator also . I wonder if you could find a very small lister engine and rig something up for a backup ? They run off of all kinds of different oils and supposed to sip instead of suck fuel ??

irishcountry · August 02, 2013, 02:32:28 PM

Not sure if you will find this helpful in anyway but this guy has a few "workshops" he'd put up on youtube using the HF solar panels . Its a bit boring at times but he does a decent job showing what you can do with them and a battery or two ----http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AmROv5FX6w