diy solar

diy solar

Ok... I have a recovered house boat... fiberglass...

Supervstech

Supervstech

Administrator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Sep 21, 2019
Messages
11,688
Location
Belmont, NC
It’s got a nice sound bow... a rotted deck, front to rear... and the roof is crap.

I pumped the water out of it, and towed it to shore, emptied mud and rotted flooring out of it, and drug it onto a FAR TOO SHORT trailer, and drug it home...
I’ve contemplated gutting it, and installing electric drivetrain into it... I’ve contemplated cutting it into pieces and taking it to the dump...

It’s 37’ long... 11 feet wide deck, and has decent shape to it...

I will try and get some pics uploaded... I’ve had it 3 years now, I think... nothing done yet but move it around...
 
A couple from when I got it out of the water...
 

Attachments

  • 20171224_140620.jpg
    20171224_140620.jpg
    54.1 KB · Views: 52
  • 20171224_131953.jpg
    20171224_131953.jpg
    55.5 KB · Views: 53
Tires were fully inflated...
Boat had about 12" of mud in the bottom...
I dragged it to a parking spot, tore up the floor, and shoveled it all out...

Also positioned the axle as far rear as possible for more load on the hitch and towed it home...
 
Least ways that hull seems plenty strong if you moved it supported as the pictures show on that trailer and with 12 inches of mud inside. Actually that single axle trailer did remarkably well too. What is the brand of the boat? "CruiseAHome"?
 
I haven’t gotten that far into a restoration... the poor thing was submerged for 2 years... likely much longer before the last owner got it.
I love the boat, it was so great riding it down the river when I was recovering it. Smooth as glass... but the mud ballast likely was the reason for that.
It easily moved out of the lagoon with a 12v trolling motor, but I couldn’t control it when it hit open water in the breeze. I needed to tow it with my neighbors bass boat.
I have no dreams that the motor is salvageable... the old 4 banger mercruiser is surely junk... not to mention the stern drive is SOLID coated in carbuncles...

But it is mine... and I’d like to gut it and build a cool houseboat top on it.
 
I just avoid anything pre 90's with fiber glass as questionable resins...one of my first jobs was painting sailboat bottoms. F blisters....
 
Oooo boats! I've spent a large portion of my lifetime on/under/around boats, one of my favorite subjects!

That outdrive is unrecoverable junk. For that matter inboard/outboards have always been problematic at best. Sell it to somebody who believes in the fantasy that it's economically repairable. If it were my boat I'd rip it out, glass in the hole and glass in a transom you can hang an outboard on, it'll also give you a heck of lot more underdeck storage area.

A high pressure power wash, bit of sanding/filling/sanding and a barrier coat and it'll look like a new boat.

I bought a 28' fiberglass half completed project boat once and learned its easier by far to rip out whats there and start over than work around old crappy stuff. Almost cheaper too.

Gut it down to the stringers, penetrating epoxy any rotten wood hull structural elements and build to suit. If you have to contend with curves when building use 5mm layers of a marine grade (like meranti) plywood and glue them together w/ a marine glue, hold in place while curing with monel staples you countersink and leave in place. Can use plastic staples too but those dont penetrate far enough and have to be sanded off for the next layer. 3 layers is plenty for anything not the hull.

Don't put wood anywhere the weather can get to it, you'll either regret it, or spend way too much time maintaining it. Or both. A dense fiberglass cloth over a marine plywood deck and it'll last forever.

Anybody can learn to glass like a pro - just a little practice & learning from mistakes and you're an expert. Expect the first 3 or 4 times to look terrible though. Practice on some scrap and experiment with filet joints, use fumed silica and stay away from wood powder. Avoid the chopped fiber cloth crap, it's cheap for a reason.

Good quality acrylic latex house paint is awesome stuff, works great on a boat and about a quarter the cost of "boat paint" except for underwater.
 
Last edited:
Before doing too much work to it make sure you can get it titled and registered. Every state's salvage laws are different. I assume you already ripped out the underdeck foam? Once that stuff gets waterlogged it becomes a liability.

Those houseboats were/are very common in parts of Florida and once in a while I see extremely cheap or free ones on craigslist that haven't been sunk and just need motors/electronics or updating...so decide how bad you really want to go down this rabbit hole and be honest with yourself what it will cost to restore vs buying an already livable one. If you are restoring it to save money, think again, but if you are doing it for a rewarding project...it looks like fun!
 
Supervstech said:
It’s got a nice sound bow... a rotted deck, front to rear... and the roof is crap.

I pumped the water out of it, and towed it to shore, emptied mud and rotted flooring out of it, and drug it onto a FAR TOO SHORT trailer, and drug it home...
I’ve contemplated gutting it, and installing electric drivetrain into it... I’ve contemplated cutting it into pieces and taking it to the dump...

It’s 37’ long... 11 feet wide deck, and has decent shape to it...

I will try and get some pics uploaded... I’ve had it 3 years now, I think... nothing done yet but move it around...
Click to expand...
Always Remember, Never Forget that "A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into", (I believe that was a quote from Ferdinand Magellan). If you can accept the aforesaid and once you have determined that the hull is sound, put the thing on blocks out of public, (and your own), view and commence to stripping it down to the gunnels. If you are married, prepare to be divorced about mid project, but that's ok because when the project is completed you'll have a new place to live.
 
SolarRat said:
Before doing too much work to it make sure you can get it titled and registered. Every state's salvage laws are different. I assume you already ripped out the underdeck foam? Once that stuff gets waterlogged it becomes a liability.

Those houseboats were/are very common in parts of Florida and once in a while I see extremely cheap or free ones on craigslist that haven't been sunk and just need motors/electronics or updating...so decide how bad you really want to go down this rabbit hole and be honest with yourself what it will cost to restore vs buying an already livable one. If you are restoring it to save money, think again, but if you are doing it for a rewarding project...it looks like fun!
Click to expand...
I have it stripped out to the hull inside. No foam to be seen.
 
Maast said what my boat guys all said, inboard/outboard is the most expensive way to push a boat.

I've owned a couple, freshwater aluminum pontoons, and I've wired many more (on dry land) and that part isn't too difficult.

I have worked long fiberglass before, get the longest block sander you can find and a good air compressor.

It's a real undertaking you are headed into, take it in stride...
 
Lol this is all too funny. Step dad was given what looked to be a nice little 17" thing last year. All fiberglass. We dug into it and deck is rotted, prolly has that foam. Gen I mercruiser. Block JB welded, bad gimball, bellows, impeller, carb shot, fuel pump shot, etc. Poor bastard got more than he knew.
 
Ped said:
Lol this is all too funny. Step dad was given what looked to be a nice little 17" thing last year. All fiberglass. We dug into it and deck is rotted, prolly has that foam. Gen I mercruiser. Block JB welded, bad gimball, bellows, impeller, carb shot, fuel pump shot, etc. Poor bastard got more than he knew.
Click to expand...
Oh, I have no aspersions of an easy time.

The boat main deck is SHOT.
THE HULL IS VERY GOOD, AND THE CABIN WALLS ARE GREAT.
the bridge cabin is pristine, no issues roof or walls. I am planning to lift off the bridge, tear off the cabin roof, lift out the cabin walls, and finally rip up the deck, gut it completely.
The stringers and risers are marine plywood, but the deck is fastened with iron screws, and they are rusted badly.
I figure if I rip out the risers, and rebuild them itll be faster, but the plywood looks great. I might just drill out the rust, and build an aluminium deck support, then lay in sandwiched aluminum decking.

I'm not aware how to seal the bow to the deck though... I might have to build fiberglass from scratch.

Haven't gotten that far yet.
 
Check out several DIY boat building websites. C-FLEX and epoxy, with a clean hull to use as a master form, can have some interesting results. Unlike using just Glass Cloth with epoxy, C-FLEX works well on longer/bigger boats. Clean and rough up existing surfaces so you get a good bond.

Fiberglass and/or C-FLEX with epoxy is great for DIY projects. Think battery boxes or solar panels brackets.
 
Grumpy 49 said:
Check out several DIY boat building websites. C-FLEX and epoxy, with a clean hull to use as a master form, can have some interesting results. Unlike using just Glass Cloth with epoxy, C-FLEX works well on longer/bigger boats. Clean and rough up existing surfaces so you get a good bond.

Fiberglass and/or C-FLEX with epoxy is great for DIY projects. Think battery boxes or solar panels brackets.
Click to expand...
I will look into it...
It’s almost warm enough weather to start working on it...
 
Check out the C-FLEX build manual. You can download it on line. There is now two different versions (by weight) of C-FLEX planking. If you bond it to your existing hull, the lighter weight version should be OK. If you wax up the hull to use it as a male pattern, think that the heavier version would be better. Either way, the C-FLEX comes in 12" wide rolls, up to 250' long. Unroll it and let it sit flat to remove any curls
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top