Planning to build a houseboat.

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by birddseedd, May 2, 2016.

  1. kerosene
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    kerosene Senior Member

    why do you insist on reinventing the wheel?
     
  2. kerosene
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    kerosene Senior Member

    cop mat - the random direction strand mess? AFAIK you will pay more for the epoxy. If using epoxy you should be using cloth.

    The shapes you propose are not smart. There is no reason to create a shape that requires bends you can't make out of dry 1/2" Plywood. The sharpened pencil shape is not efficient nor easy to make.

    If you can make a 8.5ft by 28ft hull for 3 grand then good on you. Please report back when you are done.
     
  3. birddseedd
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    birddseedd Junior Member

    Höw am I doing that?
     
  4. birddseedd
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    birddseedd Junior Member

    I pretty much have to use epoxy because fiberglass is not waterproof. I will be using the job might as well as woven cloth. One layer of each
     
  5. Stumble
    Joined: Oct 2008
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    Stumble Senior Member

    Buy a set of plans please.

    But the build cost is nowhere close to what you are expecting.
     
  6. gonzo
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    gonzo Senior Member

    birddseedd: Fiberglass is made of thin strands of glass. It can be random direction mat, cloth, etc. It is used with resin as a matrix to create a composite laminate. The glass is waterproof. Epoxy is one of the resins used, but like other polymers, it will absorb some water. Usually up to 2.5% or so.
     
  7. birddseedd
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    birddseedd Junior Member

    I don't really know what all resins ect there are. All I know for sure is epoxy isn't subjective to osmosis
     
  8. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    For the best room to material ratio for the cheapest price and simplest construction for an amatuer, its hard to go back past the GT28 from Bateau.

    It will also do 15 mph+ with a decent outboard

    http://bateau.com/proddetail.php?prod=GT27
     

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  9. kerosene
    Joined: Jul 2006
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    kerosene Senior Member

    By re-inventing I meant not following advise such as given by rwatson above and other posters earlier. You think that there is a shortcut and solutions nobody has thought about. ALso you insist on designing on your own hull when its obvious that you do know have the knowledge for it. Your sample illustrations show lines that are hard to build, inefficient and unlikely to perform to your expectations.

    we see this here all the time. People who 'know better' pseudo ask for advise but are really looking for confirmation to their already existing ideas. Good used boat is always cheaper than a new build. Emphasis on good because if you buy a cheap bad used boat it will be more expensive than the good one.

    btw. that bateu boat materials kits (fiberglass, epoxy and plywood) come to $12,000. Are you sure you can make your more complex hull shape for $3,000. And mind you hull is generally considered to be 30% of the total cost. If you choose to use overly optimistic assumptions you are bound to be disappointed. I bet projects going over budget by factor of 2 or 3 are more common than ones coming under (even a little) budget.

    read this chapter:
    https://books.google.fi/books?id=Ai...page&q=economics of home boatbuilding&f=false

    its old numbers and he talks about sailboats but it pretty much applies here. Going for work boat finish will save some but not a huge percentage.
     

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  10. birddseedd
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    birddseedd Junior Member

    I was given great advice. I looked around and found some good boats i can rebuild. Iv got another thread here about a jamestown with a steel hull and carpet that needs replaced.

    but i'm not prepared to move a 30,000 lb boat. I can get a semi, I can get permits. But I can't get a trailer. And thinking about this, My wife and I prefer to have a boat that we can haul with my truck to the great lakes and use from time to time vs paying to store it on the shoreline and only getting to use it once a year. Renting a semi, trailer and permits would be a lot to do every couple weekends.

    While there are companies that build smaller, trailer able, lighter weight houseboats, there did not seem to be any, that i saw, going for cheap needing repair. That leaves building one my only option. I agree with the advice that repairing one is cheaper and better, there just isn't any out there that fit my needs.

    As far as the hull, I did not design it, it was designed by someone with a 25 year career building boats and a masters in engineering.
     
  11. birddseedd
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    birddseedd Junior Member

    looks nice, but isn't seaworthy
     
  12. Rurudyne
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    Rurudyne Senior Member

    Houseboats tend not to be. Yet many are perfectly fine for coastal and intercostal use or a good weather dash to the Bahamas or what not.

    Are you intending to use as blue water passagemaker?
     
  13. Sammik
    Joined: Jun 2016
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    Sammik New Member

    You have got an awesome trip planned. It's better to make aluminium frames with iron clamps to built the cabin. Insulate the cabin well with Styrofoams and plastic.
     
  14. birddseedd
    Joined: May 2016
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    birddseedd Junior Member

    At this point I'm not sure. I didn't realize how much epoxy I'll need. 110 gallons at 3k bucks. And to cross the Atlantic to Australia will take up to 2500 gal of fuel. I don't think a boat this small would even hold that much fuel

    And frankly, I'm too cheap to pay for it.

    I would be happy staying around the coast. But even that seemingly is going to be an expensive trip. So if I'm going to just stick to the great lakes or whatever I drive to. I can do that in a 6k yacht

    Either that or make this thing out of cheaper materials and stay out of deep waters. Perhaps that would be light enough to run slow on solar.
     

  15. Rurudyne
    Joined: Mar 2014
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    Location: North Texas

    Rurudyne Senior Member

    Then a motor sailer is the way to go. Sure, wind won't get you anywhere fast, but it is cheap.
     
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