Did you ever spend a week or two aboard a houseboat? Perhaps rented one of these floating homes and sailed slowly around a a gorgeously blue lake?
If you answered yes, then you already realize how fun and exciting it can be to live on the water. With the right DIY houseboat plans, you could make this a regular or even full-time way of life!
Believe it or not, you — yes, you — have the ability to construct your own houseboat. Many others have done it. One of the nice features of this type of boat is that, due to its mostly square shape, it can be much simpler to construct than other types of craft with their many curved lines.
This isn’t saying that your houseboat cannot be lovely to look at. Indeed, using a good houseboat floor plan as your starting point, you can customize your home-on-the-water to reflect your personality and aesthetic sense as well as your practical needs.
Some people build and outfit their houseboat to look as much as possible like an actual house that just happens to be sitting on the water. Still others would rather emphasize the nautical angle. A boat really must look like a boat, these people seem to be saying. It’s entirely up to you which way you want to go with your own waterborne dwelling.
You may be doubtful that building a houseboat from scratch is something that you can do. I urge you to have more faith in yourself.
I met a family recently who were living on a stunning, crystal-clear lake and enjoying their every moment, catching fish right from deck or scrambling down the swim ladder whenever the urge struck to take a dip. The man of the family built their wonderful house boat pretty much on his own – despite, as he said, never having completed anything before, except for a bird’s house he built as a youngster in summer camp!
Due the fact he worked from a set of clear and detailed houseboat plans, and made sure he thoroughly understood each construction step before proceeding, he was able to complete the project barely a problem. As for the cost of materials, he said it also ended up being much less expensive than he thought it would be.
A housboat — your floating palace — is within your reach. If building your own live-aboard boat is something you would like to do, just remember the following.
1. Read your boatbuilding plans from beginning to end before you proceed, then read them again.
2. Make sure you have all the tools you will need to do the best job possible of constructing your houseboat.
3. Carry your materials list to the store and price every single thing on it. You don’t need to buy everything at once, but you will want to have a general idea of what your total project cost will be.
4. Just get started. The sooner you start, the sooner that you and your family will be enjoying the fun of a lifetime, in a home afloat that you build yourself.
