Customer Reviews

Handmade Houseboats: Independent Living Afloat

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I enjoyed the book as it was very informative, but it needs revising in some important areas.

1. namely the barrels - never use steel as they will rust out in under a year. Furthermore, plastic barrels can be bought for under ${a few dollars} each. Black barrels are the best as they won't split under pressure like the blue ones sometimes do. All bungs must be siliconed on the thread and on top of the bung and under the bung. This is very important, as many bungs have a nodule in the middle which houses a pin-prick pressure release valve - which will blow under waves or pressure, letting water in. The silicon can be an expensive marine grade,(a cheaper waterproof silicon used in aquariums might be ok), but never use marine 'Sicaflex' as it's as good as using chewing-gum!

2. The flat-roof waterproofing ideas quoted have been superceded by fantastic super stretchy waterproof rubberised paint which has a 20 year guarantee. Available from building waterproof specialists.

I decided to build my own houseboat. I found little on the subject untill I read this book. It gives construction information, suggests floorplans, and is a great guide for the uninformed. It is filled with practical information about houseboats, electrical information (including 110 vac, 12 vdc, generators and even solar) plumbing, and waste disposal. All in all, the best book on the subject I've found to date. I just returned this book to the Library and have just bought it through Amazon.com. I think that says it all. A must have for anyone thinking about building a houseboat.

I read this book, and in August 2005 built a floating 10x12' shed housing a 12kw generator on a 12'x20' barge floating on 34 plastic 55 gallon drums using the methods described in this book. I bought those drums for $11 a piece, and found out later they can be had for $8 or maybe even for free. Yeah, the information may be old, but it's still good. It's a way to get yourself out on the water for pennies on the dollar of what you'd have to pay to buy a used commercially built houseboat, and it'll be new and things inside it will work, and not need constant fixing. I had the barge itself built in 3 days, helped mostly by an unruley 12 year old. It could have easily been 36 x 12' and had a nice little house on it. One caveat: You won't be able to insure a craft built using this method. Even if you don't build using the barrel raft method, there's lots of other good information in the book about houseboats, and I like the Jimmy Buffetesque attitude that the author seems to have.

First off, its important not to get the kind of boats this author is writing about mixed up with the strange beasts seen on Lake Powell - Conder is describing homes that float rather than those that move around at (relatively) high speed.

This is the best book I've come across if you are planning on building a houseboat. Some of the reviewers below criticize it for being dated. True: the prices of materials are off. But most of the information is right on and fairly timeless (Barron's comments [below] are simply not accurate - the book was first released in 1992 - not '53 as he states - he must be writing about another book).

The book is inspirational in that it serves to remind the reader that there's more to life than a house on a quarter acre with a mortgage.

The bottom line is that this book offers all the information needed to plan, build, launch and live in a floating home.

Handmade houseboats is a fun book, but if you really want to live on a boat and you don't have an extremely shletered bit of water that is shallow enough so that your boat can't sink, I would suggest looking elsewhere for actual plans. This guy talks about living on boats in all sorts of waters, but he seems to be thinking about living in a swamp.

On the other hand, he does have some pretty solid advice about the history of houseboats, and the domestic needs of houseboat dwellers. I particularly liked his advice on electrical systems.

This is a great armchair book.

Although this book is a little dated, it is the holy bible of "character" homemade houseboats. Some corrections include:

1. Steel barrels - they won't last 4 months in salt water.
2. Standard 220 litre plastic barrels are available at barrel recycling centres in most cities...75%-80% of the underside of your boat should contain barrels.
3. Most barrels (white, black or blue) are ok to use, but check the bung lid as some have pin-prick pressure release valves in the middle which will blow under pressure (and give you that "sinking" feeling!).
4. Seal the bungs with a thin coat of plumbers grade silicon, not too much or you will dislodge the rubber seal, and don't over-tighten the bung.
5. Never use fibreglass on flat roofs as it doesn't give and will split. Instead use plywood, which can nowadays be sealed with super-stretchy rubberised paint available at waterproof specialist shops.

The main problem with this book is that the author seems to love living in swamps - it doesn't have to be that way - have a look at my two boats on the Noosa River, Australia on my website www.wildgoat.net

One of those rare, wonderful books that sets My head dreaming ,and also gives me knowledge ,and the resources to do whats inside of it. Well written informative , and many useful ideas here too. Land , boy the stuff is expensive, who needs it anyway? That's one of the great things about this book it shows how just about anyone can bang together there very own houseboat and avoid a mortgage. HUH, live aboard a houseboat? Yep, that's the ticket, and the author shows You how to do just that. Utilities, no worries, woodstove for heating and cooking, solar power or a generator for recharging batteries, heck there is even the possibility of growing food hydroponically aboard.This book shows You how to do all this and more in a humorous , but always informative fashion.

Russell Conder's Handmade Houseboats is a definitive work on building your own houseboat. Granted some technology has improved over the years, but common sense would tell any reader to look into using updated materials.

Mr. Barron, btw, is most incorrect in stating that this book was first published in 1953. Russell is in his mid-fifties currently. If he had written this book in 1953, he would have been just a child.

The author seems to be a true original and obviously has a wealth of experience with houseboats.

Trouble is, most of the content of the book is over 40 years old. Since the book was originally copyrighted in 1953 materials and techniques have advanced by light years.

This book might be helpful if you're building your own boat on a really tight budget and and you think you can benefit from early 50's technology, or, you like reading about older boatbuilding techniques.

Never knew a thing about building a house boat. After reading this and, having it close by, I believe I could build one!