Help Me Design

I need help designing a houseboat I will end up living in. I plan to build it myself with the help of a few family members. I have never ever attempted to design anything myself, so I don't even know where to start on a boat. I have seen a few designs I like but the people selling the plans are wanting insane prices for plans. Why spend all that money on plans when I can use it to put into the boat I am building.

Any help would be appreciated, I can supply examples of boats I like and would like to design similar to.

 

plan

1: Figure out the weight of your floating house

2: Find 1:10 diameter:length ratio steel pipe with a volume that will support this weight underwater plus it's own mass and a little extra.

3: Take two of these tubes to your local welder to seal the ends and connect them with a steel frame (ask welder for dimensions) that will support your house.

4: Build house

 

I was told I need something with a Vee Hull since I will be using it in the ocean. I could have been told wrong, but I don't know. I'm need more helping than just "get steel pipes then build house" I need help designing an actual houseboat similar to the one below, I appreciate the help though.

I am willing to pay for help designing, just don't want to fork out $400 for plans when I could use it to buy Lumber.

I want something similar to this.

 

ocean going houseboat

What is the required maximum speed?

 

The plans at any price are a bargin, and $400 is cheap. Compare that to building a mistake. Are you willing to spend all that time and money on materials, and end up with something unsuitable, unstable, or even unsafe? Than have at it. But I hope not. Shop around, you can find older designs done by professionals available for a resonable price. You do not need custom plans by a big name desigener, only something that will do the job designed compatentaly.

There are many older suitable plans that can be had for little or no money. There is a website with free plans of old designs pulished in Popular Mechanics, Mechanix illustrated, etc. All have been built and proof tested (though there are a few details I might beef-up or do differently on these kinds of plans, use modern finishes and adheasives, etc.).

You are better off starting with something that has been properly designed, and been built before, and then tayloring the interior to suit your needs. Even if it is not exactly what your dream boat might be.

It also depends on your intended use. Is it something that is merely a floating platform with living quarters that will be permanantly moored on a small lake? Than simple pipe floats as suggested above would be fine. If you intend motor it around a bit, or use it in a large body of water that might develope waves, you are better off with a proven design, at least as far as the hull goes.

I am a Professional Engineer with decades of experiance in a number of different fields. I have designed and built 8 boats for myself (and have owned 14) over the years. I have studies 100's of boat designes and know a fair amount about both hull design and strutural analysis. I WOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO DO WHAT YOU ARE PROPOSING. I know the limits of my knowalge, and I know how much work it is to start from scratch with a new design. With even basic plans you will save time, you will save materials, and you will save frustration, mistakes, and hidden hazards that you could possibly not anticipate.

Though I am somewhat of a cheapskate when it comes to this sort of thing too, what I would do is find something about the size I want for free or cheap, and then modify it to suit my needs. It is a BIG time saver to start with plans for something that has already been built.

Another alternative is talk to several local Naval Aritechechs or marine engineering firms about stock plans, or take the cheap/free plans and have them looking it over for a fee to see if they have any suggestions.

If your intent is a low cost construction and are not too picky about the overall design something far less expensive than scratch building would be to find someone's else's project (either new construction or a rebuild/restoration) that they gave up on or ran out of money. These can usually be picked up for less than the raw material costs. I have even seem many projects that people are willing to give away to anyone who would be willing to complete it, such is someone who falls in love with a project but can not finish it. Shop around, that is by far the best way to go. Check craigs list, check your local boat yard for abandon projects, you can get them for back yard fees.

Good luck.

 

and range

Range?

 

What in the world makes you thinks that Not having professional plans will save you money?!?!?!?!

You have never done this before and right off the bat you take the most important step in building any boat and throw it out the window as too expensie?? You dont have a clue yet what it might even cost to build a boat.

I would suggest you buy a used houseboat, and convert it to your needs. In this way you wont need plans and you will spend about 1:100 the cost of building anything without proper plans.

K9

 

wow ok, I guess coming to a Boat Building forum looking for help on custom plans was just down right foolish of me. Did I say non-professional plans?? No, thats why I am at a forum of BOAT BUILDERS.

I never said I didn't have the money, I said I would rather not spend the $400 on plans when I know I can find a boat designer to help me make custom plans for cheaper. The money I save can go right into building the boat.

Instead of some long drawn out post on why you personally won't do it, I would like actual designers to help me design plans on a CUSTOM BOAT, not one I can find on the net or some "free" plans from a 20 foot boat designed 30 years ago.

Since this place to be full of people to good to help, even though I offered to pay, I will go else where and look.

 

No you said and let me quote it here:...

"I have never ever attempted to design anything myself, so I don't even know where to start on a boat. I have seen a few designs I like but the people selling the plans are wanting insane prices for plans. Why spend all that money on plans when I can use it to put into the boat I am building."

I read that to mean, you want the designers here to help you design your boat for free.

Just who do you think these people are? They are boat designers. Its a boat design forum. They get paid to design boats.

Also this is NOT the boat builders forum. this is boatdesign.net.

 

If your going to quote me then read all of my posts, in the very next post I made I offered to pay. I never planned on getting them for free, you just assumed that. Just because I forgot to offer payment in the first post dosent mean I was looking for free, take your flaming elsewhere, this thread is for those actually willing to help.

 

OK im wrong..I missed that and I do apologize..We get a lot of that crap here.

Lets see if we cant get you on the path your looking for, give me a min or 2.

K9

 

Thats ok, I just seem to get flamed everywhere I go here lately and it gets frustrating. When it comes to the design I have no idea how to design a Hull, I have seen ideas for cabins I like and could just alter them.

 

This always amazes me. No one will buy a house that was built from a questionable set of plans, nor a car designed by the guy next door, but a boat seems fair game.

The boat you've shown JEMoerris1982, looks to be around 35' or so. this will be a substantial investment, tens of thousands in fact. Just for laughs, lets say you found those plans for $400 bucks and the low budget build for your ocean going houseboat (is that an oxymoron?) is say a conservative $40,000 (you'd be lucky to bring it in for that). The price of the plans equals just a measly 1% of the total cost for the project. So tell me how much more "stuff" could you equip your boat with if the plans where cheaper?

Taking a houseboat into open ocean is a very special breed of houseboat, of which there are extremely few choices. I wouldn't recommend doing so with any of the manufactured "houseboats" currently available. Ocean capable vessels usually cost two to three times as much as a river or harbor queen. The stresses they have to endure far exceeds what a pissed off river can toss at them, which requires stiffness and considerable design skill (just the place you don't want cut rate plans).

Below is one of my houseboat designs. No, it's not ocean capable, nor would you want it to be, though lazy cruising up a river is well suited to the design. She's a little bigger then your image above at 50', but it doesn't matter because you'll choke when you hear the cost of the plans.

 

The main reason I want one thats ocean worthy is because I want to do the great loop.

AND I will repeat again, I never said ANYTHING about "questionable" plans. That is the main reason I came to a BOAT DESIGN forum. Why spend $400 on plans when I KNOW I can get good plans cheaper?? When has there been anything wrong with shopping around and going cheaper when you can??

Also did I say anything about "low budget build for your ocean going houseboat"??? No, I don't believe I mention ANYTHING about my budget other than I would rather not pay the $400 for the plans. Don't you worry one bit about my budget, that has nothing to do with me coming here and wanting plans.

Please if you don't have anything useful to say, no need to flame someone looking for help, just keep your mouth shut instead.

 

Ok here are some sites to try:

http://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=HouseBoats/BayouBelle

http://www.svensons.com/boat/

Some woftware you might want to look at:

http://home.clara.net/gmatkin/softwr.htm

More houseboat plans:

http://www.buysellcommunity.com/sale/CHOUYAAS/

http://www.devlinboat.com/dcmilliehill.htm

http://www.mkt-info.com/fairhavens/

Mark V Designs.

http://markvdesigns.tripod.com/boatbuilding/

Quest houseboat:

http://www.boatdesigns.com/products.asp?dept=173


Maby that will get you started. However I dont think the price they are asking for the boatplans you want is all that bad. Remember after you get the plans you are either going to have to learn how to loft the plans yourself or get someone to do it for you so you will have patterns. I would think that some plans would not need lofting but most will.

K9