With minimal expense it is possible to begin immediate construction of a 8' by 8' small (tiny) house that pays no taxes, needs no building permit and uses no land to stand. It provides shelter from the storm and lasts longer than a cardboard box hovering over a subway train vent grate in New York or Montreal. Best of all there will never be a home mortgage loan.
One misconception that keeps people from building boats or houseboats is the idea that everything must be watertight. But no boat built before the 20th century was watertight. All builders expected leaks and prepared to deal with them. Another misconception comes from thinking your materials must be new to be strong. Most boats built before 1945 were made with found wire, homemade rivets and whatever else came to hand. Finally, you do not need to buy nails, bolts and other stainless steel fittings. Glues are stronger and longer lasting than metal fasteners.
Most locals have rules about the materials that can be used to make a home. Some of the rules make good sense, others tend to legalize only the type of construction now common. They prohibit innovation simply because there is no long record of successful usage. local governments hate the idea of a house falling down or burning up, injuring people and leaving a heap of junk behind on a building lot. But the water, especially waters that can be used by boats, do not have such rules. The Coast Guard and the state fishing people are going to ask that your boat not sink easily and that the people aboard have approved flotation gear available. The unskilled houseboat builder can achieve both of these things easily.
I started building my home this way. Please don't use this method. I was just learning and there are all sorts of things I changed later on. I just want you to know how easy it was to build my first raft-house-boat, with no experience whatsoever.
I started with 5 sheets of plywood, exterior grade 1/4 inch thick. They cost $32 dollars each in Charleston, WV, actually Hurricane, in 2013. I had the store cut each sheet lengthwise twice to give me three 16 inch wide pieces 8 feet long, per sheet. I glued scrap 2" by 3" pieces of wood along both long edges of four boards. When I removed the rocks holding the scrap in place, I could not pry the scraps from the plywood. I could peel off a layer of plywood, however. So I glued that layer back on to the core again. I am using Weldwood waterproof adhesive.
Next I glued two of the long cut pieces to the first piece edge to edge. I made sure the edges were even and that the scraps had plenty of glue to hold these sides. This gave me a long trough-shape with open ends.
Now I'm changing the original journal entry here, to reflect the changes I made later. When I first built these pontoons I wanted them to be watertight, even though I should have known better. I glued scrap to the ends of the trough so I could glue One of the cut pieces to the end of each trough, cut the piece flush and then use the remainder to seal the other end of each trough. This proved to be a waste of time. I was going for a tight edge. Later as the wood swelled water leaked slowly into the pontoons. I then spent a whole lot of time and money figuring out how to drain these puppies. None of that work was necessary. I'll tell you why at the end of the journal entry. ---resuming journal as written ---
now, glue three of these pieces together and reinforce them with glued scrap lumber to make strong corners. I used little blocks of wood nailed to some other scraps to make temporary clamps to hold the sides on as I glued up four long troughs. Wedges tapped into place completed the clamps holding.
Then take another piece of the plywood and put it on one end and scribe it to fit. inside the trough. Cut it with a saw. Now, back it with glued scrap lumber and then glue it inside the trough, Repeat for the other end and you have a box open at the top. That's an almost finished pontoon.
I sealed the edges all around each box with window caulking. This did not work well, so I repeated the job with fiberglass tape and epoxy resin. I used the 3M type from Lowes Hardware. When this cured (which took some time because it rained and rained during construction) I painted the whole of each pontoon inside and out with white house paint.
Lay the remaining pieces of plywood across the pontoons to make a deck. I found I had to use heavier plywood eventually. I left a small gap between the deck boards so water would not pool on the deck. It comes in and goes right back out again. A 6' by 8' deck will let a tall person sleep on it diagonally. 8x8 lets two people sleep together.
With the raft in the water I filled it with discarded plastic bottles of all types. I used anything that could hold air inside it. I put tops on the troughs as I filled them with trash plastic. I then had to make a pump to bail them out as the tiny holes let water in. It is much easier to not worry about having watertight joints. Let it leak. The bottles eventually provide all the flotation.
If you would like to stay dry in rain or snow, add a rain cover to your raft. Mine used welded wire cattle panels covered with plastic drop cloths. I stapled one narrow end of the panels to the deck and then lifted the wire up into an inverted letter "U". I covered this with plastic. after I stapled down the other end. It looked like a covered wagon and sheds water very well.
Ramps made from boards, a steering oar and chunks of railroad track flange are all useful additions to my cheap house.
I built the whole raft for $280. That's less than the cost of 7 cartons of cigarettes. The rain shelter, roof and walls together cost 65 dollars more. Ropes for landing and anchoring, solar lawn lights for night-time markers, and a propane burner brought my cost to just under 400 dollars. (I lived and moved down rivers on this boat for 5 months. Thanks really cheap rent.)
One misconception that keeps people from building boats or houseboats is the idea that everything must be watertight. But no boat built before the 20th century was watertight. All builders expected leaks and prepared to deal with them. Another misconception comes from thinking your materials must be new to be strong. Most boats built before 1945 were made with found wire, homemade rivets and whatever else came to hand. Finally, you do not need to buy nails, bolts and other stainless steel fittings. Glues are stronger and longer lasting than metal fasteners.
Most locals have rules about the materials that can be used to make a home. Some of the rules make good sense, others tend to legalize only the type of construction now common. They prohibit innovation simply because there is no long record of successful usage. local governments hate the idea of a house falling down or burning up, injuring people and leaving a heap of junk behind on a building lot. But the water, especially waters that can be used by boats, do not have such rules. The Coast Guard and the state fishing people are going to ask that your boat not sink easily and that the people aboard have approved flotation gear available. The unskilled houseboat builder can achieve both of these things easily.
I started building my home this way. Please don't use this method. I was just learning and there are all sorts of things I changed later on. I just want you to know how easy it was to build my first raft-house-boat, with no experience whatsoever.
I started with 5 sheets of plywood, exterior grade 1/4 inch thick. They cost $32 dollars each in Charleston, WV, actually Hurricane, in 2013. I had the store cut each sheet lengthwise twice to give me three 16 inch wide pieces 8 feet long, per sheet. I glued scrap 2" by 3" pieces of wood along both long edges of four boards. When I removed the rocks holding the scrap in place, I could not pry the scraps from the plywood. I could peel off a layer of plywood, however. So I glued that layer back on to the core again. I am using Weldwood waterproof adhesive.
Next I glued two of the long cut pieces to the first piece edge to edge. I made sure the edges were even and that the scraps had plenty of glue to hold these sides. This gave me a long trough-shape with open ends.
Now I'm changing the original journal entry here, to reflect the changes I made later. When I first built these pontoons I wanted them to be watertight, even though I should have known better. I glued scrap to the ends of the trough so I could glue One of the cut pieces to the end of each trough, cut the piece flush and then use the remainder to seal the other end of each trough. This proved to be a waste of time. I was going for a tight edge. Later as the wood swelled water leaked slowly into the pontoons. I then spent a whole lot of time and money figuring out how to drain these puppies. None of that work was necessary. I'll tell you why at the end of the journal entry. ---resuming journal as written ---
now, glue three of these pieces together and reinforce them with glued scrap lumber to make strong corners. I used little blocks of wood nailed to some other scraps to make temporary clamps to hold the sides on as I glued up four long troughs. Wedges tapped into place completed the clamps holding.
Then take another piece of the plywood and put it on one end and scribe it to fit. inside the trough. Cut it with a saw. Now, back it with glued scrap lumber and then glue it inside the trough, Repeat for the other end and you have a box open at the top. That's an almost finished pontoon.
I sealed the edges all around each box with window caulking. This did not work well, so I repeated the job with fiberglass tape and epoxy resin. I used the 3M type from Lowes Hardware. When this cured (which took some time because it rained and rained during construction) I painted the whole of each pontoon inside and out with white house paint.
Lay the remaining pieces of plywood across the pontoons to make a deck. I found I had to use heavier plywood eventually. I left a small gap between the deck boards so water would not pool on the deck. It comes in and goes right back out again. A 6' by 8' deck will let a tall person sleep on it diagonally. 8x8 lets two people sleep together.
With the raft in the water I filled it with discarded plastic bottles of all types. I used anything that could hold air inside it. I put tops on the troughs as I filled them with trash plastic. I then had to make a pump to bail them out as the tiny holes let water in. It is much easier to not worry about having watertight joints. Let it leak. The bottles eventually provide all the flotation.
If you would like to stay dry in rain or snow, add a rain cover to your raft. Mine used welded wire cattle panels covered with plastic drop cloths. I stapled one narrow end of the panels to the deck and then lifted the wire up into an inverted letter "U". I covered this with plastic. after I stapled down the other end. It looked like a covered wagon and sheds water very well.
Ramps made from boards, a steering oar and chunks of railroad track flange are all useful additions to my cheap house.
I built the whole raft for $280. That's less than the cost of 7 cartons of cigarettes. The rain shelter, roof and walls together cost 65 dollars more. Ropes for landing and anchoring, solar lawn lights for night-time markers, and a propane burner brought my cost to just under 400 dollars. (I lived and moved down rivers on this boat for 5 months. Thanks really cheap rent.)
No comments:
Post a Comment