How 'bout a house boat?

JIM MILLER · Joined: 25 May 2006 Posts: 15 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

I'm working on a design for a container-based houseboat. I want to use 3-40' containers and two 20' to build a two-story 1380 square ft. home on a 24' x 60' base. Does anyone on the list have any experience with floating homes?

David...Greg?

I'd post a drawing I've done, but I can't figure out how to do it. [/img]
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Jim Miller
Thousand Oaks, CA

dirtykj · Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 13

Here's how you post:

[ img ] http://.... [ /img ]

Remove the spaces between [ and img above

sailboatescape · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 35

I am presently working on one of the bayous in Louisiana. There are quite a few steel houseboats here--steel barges for the base and cabin tops built of steel. They could probably have saved a lot of money if they had thought of using containers.

modernlover · Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 293 Location: PHX

http://fabprefab.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=355&highlight=houseboat&sid=c1d665c6371cd14558076a6b6082605e
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Justin

dcross · Joined: 03 Jun 2004 Posts: 91 Location: SC, FL

Your boat layout is 8 TEU (Twentyfoot Equivalent Units). Rough order of Magnitude has your 3 x 40 creating a 960 sq ft foot print but 8 Teu of discplacement. Lets assume your containers after modification and upfits weigh in at 6000 lbs per TEU X 8 = 48000 lbs of displacement over 920 sq feet. Without pulling out any tables I think this is in the neighborhood of 750 cubic feet of displacement (750/920) = approx .78 feet of draft or call it 9.5" of draft. Ok, now you have to skin the bottoms on the underside which could be done with a formed steel panel that wraps the c-channel cross member then is seam weld to the next panel in line. Next you have to drill holes in the upper wood floors from the inside and pour in cement for ballasting this puppy (draft will increase probably to about 14 " at that point but you won't be so much like a cork in the water).

Or of course you could buy a spud barge (see boatsandharbors.com) and mount your system to that. But wheres the fun in that.
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David

modernlover · Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 293 Location: PHX

There's no site at www.boatsandharbors.com - it's only a parking page...... The correct address: www.boats-and-harbors.com
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Justin