We've decided to build a small houseboat. Lots of reading and prep have gone into it, thus far. We located a platform of the size we wanted, and got started. A lot of thought has to go into things like bouyancy, load distribution, the weight of all materials, efficient layout, waste water storage, electrical requirements, and more. Once we got the platform, we began working on the interior design. We're going to use a lightweight exterior structure, reinforced with metal studs and closed cell foam. We visited a couple of camper dealers to get some ideas...
Click HERE to see all of the postings about our Houseboat ...
Here's a few pics...
The two pics above are of the platform. It's a 1990 Lowe Sunbird. This one was especially heavy in it's original condition, with lots of wooden furniture and a full-size hard top. This is perfect, because they designed it to handle all that weight plus an additional 3000 lbs of load. Since the original decking and furniture is gone, that now gives us about 4500 lbs of capacity. Next, we're adding additional dock-style floats down the center to add another 2500 lbs of bouyancy, bringing us up to about 7000 lbs of "play room" for the build.
I pulled the platform over to the local weigh scales and got a total weight. My truck & trailer weighs 4880, so the platform weighs about 1000 lbs. I'll be weighing this during the build to keep tabs on the weight.
The pics above are of it, when I brought it home. I stuck it in the back yard for the build. I'll have to level it up in a bit, before I get started.
Below, we hit a couple of camper lots to get some ideas. These are pics of 16' used and new campers. We were surprised of the floor space waste we saw in them. I guess they're not as concerned about weight as we are...
Back at home, we now have the platform all level and ready to go. We're planning the primary structure to be 16' long x 8' wide. It'll have a 8' x 5' patio on the front, and space on the rear for a generator, fuel, and waste water connections. I'll post more as this project progresses.
Click HERE to see all of the postings about our Houseboat ...
