Plastic Houseboat Pontoon Design - An Alternative to Steel or Aluminum

by Glenn Cook
(Queensland, Australia)

Looking at plastic houseboat pontoon design, I may have an alternative to steel or aluminum construction material?

I am just a new comer into construction of a houseboat, and I have been hiring (renting) houseboats for years and I thought it was time to build my own.

I am a carpenter by trade, and am confident of the construction from the deck up............ however deck down ......not as confident. I have spent 6 months doing countless hours of research about floatation etc.

I am a little concerned about the cost factor of steel or aluminium (and ongoing maintenance). I stumbled across a process that has been used with success.

What it basically consists of is a high quality polystyrene, which is then coated with what dries to, is a hardened plastic. There are several things that excite me (I know I get excited easy) about this idea... Easy maintenance, No painting.

One of the extra advantages is if I am unlucky enough to hit something, I will not take in water.

Just wondering if anyone has got any thought to this?

Cheers, Glenn (cookie)



Reply - Answer
Well Glenn, welcome to the forums, and congratulations on your decision to build a houseboat.

In response to your idea of using a plastic houseboat pontoon design, instead of choosing steel or aluminum as a base material sounds good to me.

Steel has it rust and painting issues, while aluminum costs more, yet may have corrosion or electrolysis issues. The system that you mentioned could very well be a great alternative.

If you do decide to get take system, do take some pictures and do come back to post a short story about your experience for others to benefit from.


Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their plastic houseboat pontoon experiences. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found near the bottom of this page.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN - from www.all-about-houseboats.com

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