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Hi guys, I’m just starting to explore the possibilities of building a floating home. Can anyone steer me towards some books or web sites or other sources of info that will tell me how, in terms simple enough for an idiot to follow, to build the actual barge the home would sit on?
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Sandra,
A structural steel fabrication shop could fab some pontoons or possibly a "barge type" substructure. It might be cheaper and easier to look first for a maritime salvage outfit. Whatever they have will already be in or next to the water, eliminating overland (expensive) transportation charges.
I grew up in a river town on the Mississippi and a local boilermaker fab shop used to make all sorts of oversize stuff. They'd tow it to the river and "launch" it and tow it up or down river to the port nearest to the destination.
A real barge would be difficult if not impossible to haul overland for any distance.
Why not just buy a houseboat?
EB
*Where are you doing this?If it is in places like the Pacific Northwest you may find local codes that must be satisfied. Find out what they are by talking to some of the folks who live on them and by talking to the local harbormaster, or equivalent. If not, you still will get a line on what works and what doesn't.Don't forget to check with the Coast Guard about their rules. I'm not sure just what they are. But you are building a vessel and it seems they would be involved somehow.
*See FHb # 12 p. 68. An article on building a house boat."Modern houseboats are built on floats built of large Styrofoam blocks encased in a reinforced concrete shell. Reinforcing mesh is stretched between foam blocks in the float formwork, which is erected on a barge. After the concrete has been poured over and around the blocks, the barge will be sunk to free the float." Not a DIY project in my opinion.The floats are designed for the load and balance of the structure to be built on them. The one in the above article was built to compensate for a hot tub and grand piano. If you decide to go this route have the float built and build the house on that. Throw away your levels and build square to the deck.
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Hi guys, I'm just starting to explore the possibilities of building a floating home. Can anyone steer me towards some books or web sites or other sources of info that will tell me how, in terms simple enough for an idiot to follow, to build the actual barge the home would sit on?