Today was fairly productive. Dad stopped in and we talked about the overall project, especially the plumbing design, and he had a great idea on how to maximize the 32 x 24 shower without it spraying water directly on the curtain or in the face of the person in the shower. More on that later, but I thought it was a great idea! Anyway, I removed all of the T-Bars from the logs that originally held the plywood flooring in place, trimmed the T-section away with the carbide saw, and reinstalled those. This will allow a solid metal skin to be attached to serve as a base for the foam insulation, once the floor structure is in place and ready to be sprayed in. Underlayment will then be installed for the vinyl flooring. I'll be foaming the entire structure inside...walls, ceiling, and floor...prior to the coverings being installed inside. A common complaint I've read about is a tiny-houseboat being cold or hot, due to people scrimping on insulation and using thin building materials.
Next, I removed the transom from the boat. I'll save it, but don't plan to use it. We aren't building this houseboat to travel the lake, we have other boats for that. We're just going to set it up with electric propulsion from a pontoon-style trolling motor on the front deck to move about the marina and out to spots in the clove close by. This frees up the rear of the boat for another flotation device between the pontoons, and allows us to build a small deck out back to support the generator, LP tanks, etc. It also saved a chunk of weight...the transom alone was over 60 lbs!
Worked wrapped up by getting all of the outside wall tracks installed, and the inside wall metal stud tracks installed. Next work day, the outside wall sections will begin to go up! I'll be leaving some panels out to be able to get the crane in and lift the pontoons up off the trailer, one at the time. I decided to put a coat of marine epoxy paint on these 32 year old pontoons to fill some minor pitting and protect them from the elements in the future. I wanted to get this done before I got to far along in the construction.
