Houseboat Raft Materials

Hi all, I have many questions I'll surely follow up with, but to start, I'm looking to build a floating home for my wife and I to settle on to avoid exorbitant rent in NYC. We'll be tweaking a lot of things with the design as we get closer to realizing it (need to save up some money and will likely ride out this lease until next spring) but my idea at the moment is to make it on a pontoon raft with plastic barrel floats and then a single-story house of approx 500ft2 on top with a "crow's nest" single room above and an extra 76ft2 in the front for a porch.

I'm thinking of using extruded aluminum for its modularity and weather resistance, however it is likely to be more expensive, even if salvaged. Is this necessary or is wood good enough?

The proposed size is 36x16. Is it enough reinforcement to have a 3x4 lattice running across the bottom, that is, every 3' lengthwise and 4' widthwise there is a beam?

If I use extruded aluminum, what width of beam is optimal? Or is it better to use rectangular aluminum tubing?

Are 55-gallon plastic barrels a viable long-term option, should I replace them after some time with professional floats, or just bite the bullet on the floats to begin with?

We are on a working-class budget. I play and teach music for a living and she is looking for a job as an editor.

Thanks in advance,

J

 

Hi, my first thoughts are: marinas don't let just anything floating to reside there, and also often require insurance. They don't want their high class marina with million dollar yachts to end up looking like an old trailer park. Insurance companies don't insure just anything floating, and will probably require a marine survey. So see what you will be required to do, to comply with both, before thinking of any construction.
If two peoples entire belongings and life's 'worth' are to be floating permanently, plastic drums aren't an optimum choice. Don't forget that marina fees always go up, and new regulations can be applied at any time, eg. lengths and widths, so what you make may become ineligible to stay at your chosen marina or mooring. Haul outs for hull maintenance and inspections can be very expensive. Shore connections to water, power, sewage, etc. can be very complicated, and expensive, so research those as well.
Good luck with your 'sea change', but I don't think it will be as easy or as cheap as you imagine. Maybe see what is for sale already in position, and requiring some upgrades, to get a good idea of what you're up against.

 

From a technical point of view you can build a wood deck over plastic drums. How much wood and where, and how many barrels depends on the total weight of the completed structure (including everything you have in the house).

From a practical point of view it isn't even worth considering doing basic math on this.
You won't have to worry about the years long waiting lists for a livaboard marina space, nobody is going to insure a homebuilt for any reasonable amount of money. One floating on plastic barrels is not even worth the time calling a broker for a liability only quote.

The truth is that even if you buy a brand new houseboat from a manufacturer or any old big motoryacht the bottleneck in the plan is finding a spot to put it legally. As for squatting, it's way easier on land.
The practicalities of living are way different on water, especially in a place that gets cold, even in a marina.

 

If you are staying at a marina, there are other options. The easiest is to buy a cabin cruiser with bad motors and a fairly nice interior. Throw the motor out and make it look clean. You will only need to get it towed once. Also, there are moorings available if you don't mind taking a dinghy back and forth to shore.