Pontoon to houseboat conversion

Hello I want to find a 18" to 25" pontoon and convert it into a house boat. I am just curious what to look for in a eligible used pontoon boat and how I could make this a successful build. I want a nice deck area to put a chair and I would like a queen sized mattress probably. Any help is great. I saw an old thread on here where busman1965 commented and I would like an end result similar to his but with a different roof and a littlebit less of a deck.

 

Start with a prioritized list of what you want and expect from such a vessel and then let us know.

-Tom

 

Well I am used to small spaces being that my current bedroom is only 13 ft by 7 ft so I would want the cabin to be similar in space to this. I would build as light as possible. I would want my deck area with a chair to fish from. Possibe deck roof. Should I raise the floor off of the deck to help with possible water? How should the roof be placed to help with rain? Flat or pointed? As for a prioritized list I just need to have a bed preferably near queen sized. I would want my 10 gallon dart tank to be able to be in the room. Somesort of small shower (I have heard of people having removable toilet areas in the shower if this is needed). A minni fridge. the foam like bed would be designed to double as seats. No more than 5-6 people ever on at once if that is possible. For any other storage I would have plastic drawers with locks on the wall near the bed.This would be a summer home thing. small but livable.

 

So a small trailer on a float should do it.

-Tom

 

? Did you see busman1965's picture? Similar to that except with a small shower I can have a Porto potty in.

 

Most pontoon boats don't carry much weight. What I'm trying to say is, the wise approach is to do a careful weight estimate, then use the size and arrangement of pontoons you need to support this target, of course with a reasonable safety factor built in.

In other words, count the number of studs and multiply by the weight of one, ditto with sheets of plywood (or what ever), count the engine, fuel tanks, water tanks, hardware, equipment, etc., not to mention crew and guests. Calculate for the worst case situation (the whole of your in-law's family show up unexpectedly one morning, with beer and donuts for example).

Lastly, maybe a sketch or two to help with visualization of your concept.

 

Thank you for your help. Also are you saying it will be very difficult to do what I am saying? How is busman1965 and the other guy doing it in this post? Also I viewed a website doing it to and they had the same size with 9 people and a similar plan to what I want. http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/pontoon-houseboat-conversion-18963.html

 

What I'm saying is you have a considerable amount of research you need to preform before a viable design can be fostered. Again, it all starts with a reasonable weight estimate, of course after you establish what the design is supposed to do (an SOR). With target weight estimates, you then know how much you have to float.

 

Thank you for your help