The Pontoon Building Blocks

Having a time convincing my scanner to put the drawings of the houseboat pontoons and parts into this. The image is always small but maybe the next attempt will be better.

This is a bit better. The pontoon is made from exterior plywood 1/4 or 1/2 inches thick. I think I will use  3 sheets of 1/4 for the bottom and sides and 3 sheets of 1/2 for the ends and top. A single sheet of plywood is laid down for the bottom and then 2 sheets are reinforced with 1 inch board as in image "c". My ends will be cut out of 1/2 inch as in image "b" and reinforced with boarding as shown. It is fairly easy to tie the sides to the bottom with tape or wire snugged through small drilled holes. Tie the ends in place so all the reinforcements are to the inside of the pontoon as shown in image "a."
Leaving the top off for now make small fillets of resin glue along all seams and then spread resin wide enough to affix fiberglass tape over all inside seams. Put down tape and allow to harden. There are all sorts of tutorials on how to do this on You Tube. Find one you like and can follow and get to it.
It is also possible to use bias tape (seamstresses know what that is) and simply paint it over the edges with waterproof paint. This takes longer because more coats of paint are used, but it will work if you can get a hold of fiberglass tape.
 Paint the entire inside surface with waterproof paint.
Flip the pontoon over and using resin/fiberglass tape or paint/cloth tape seal all the outside seams. Again paint the whole outside surface, this time use several coats of paint.
Flip the pontoon right side up and put on the top two sheets of plywood. I am holding these down with removable screws for now as I will be living in the pontoon to begin my journey.