Bali or Thai style houseboat

Brian:
I really think the idea of using steel tubes for the floats structure makes sense. Also, it becomes more like a cat or a tri or whatever. This would lighten the structure and make it more durable... particularly for land transport... or rough and ready moving.

I have never liked the idea of concrete for boats and suppose that carries over to floating houses. Yes, high strength concrete is waterproof but it can have cracks and fissures which allow corrosion of the reinforcing. Now you can use epoxy coated reinforcing steel but still you get any corrosion of the steel reinforcement the rust expands and breaks up the concrete. Now I suppose you could use fiber reinforcement. Also, the concrete can be lightened with ceramic micro-gallons substituting for sand... and not lose strength. Aerated concrete loses lots of strength and can water log but is more crack resistive.

The floating house does make a lot of sense too. I really enjoyed your comment about the property problem in Thailand. Foreclose the property and the house moves away! Its like the European tradition of taking the kitchen with the tenant... I think in some places that started when landlords put in expensive kitchens and the tenants took them with them... ruining it ever after... I have suspicions where that started but keeping my mum so not to anger someone.

Thai houseboat

My friend and I have been kicking around almost exactly what your thinking for about 6 months. We live in Phuket, are both boat captains, and know our way around the industry. We are finally getting serious about it now, and are just getting to the drawing board. The goal is a very sturdy structure camouflaged with a Thai look.

Houseboat

Hi Brian. I am a member of a couple of those forums also and vaguely remember the discussions. Maybe we could move this to just a 3 way discussion, possibly Facebook. Until we have something interesting to ask or add. You can find me there at Dan Black in Phuket. We need to hear about each other's qualifications, ideas, goals, etc. not something everybody wants/needs to know