We sometimes receive some correspondence from our readers about how to approach obtaining plans for building a suitable cabin or enclosure for their own pontoon houseboat. I also like to read and follow a few boating forums when I have the time and opportunity so I'm aware there is an interest in this subject. As such and because It is definitely critical that all important design elements be thoroughly considered and thought out and decided upon before acquisitions of any materials or supplies can begin the best potential house boat build. Realizing that actual houseboat plans and information is something that is limited and hard to actually obtain, which I learned the hard way even in this day and age on the internet. When I ran into these plans the other day I realized they may be helpful or useful to some of our viewers here. Some of you may even choose to purchase copies of them to make designing and building your pontoon houseboat a somewhat less complicated experience.

At one time I didn't believe it would be possible to actually design and build a workable cabin for even a small pontoon houseboat as small as 8x8ft. But after looking over the plan thoroughly it appears that though it would be cozy it could and would work. If the materials were followed or carefully chosen for both structural soundness and weight a nice weekend warrior could be built with rather common and pretty easily obtained twenty four foot pontoons as a platform for the build. This alone could make for a huge savings in the total overall cost of the project. The only real downside besides being small of course is that this design is only sleeping for two and even at that the arrangement is quite cozy. But if you have any kids you'll come up a bit short on your sleeping arrangements.

At first glance it would appear that the 12 by 8 foot plan would or maybe could be perfect for a small pontoon houseboat. But at least in my opinion it is really lacking on some serious points that I'd back away from myself. First is the dinette and bed located directly behind the helm. One of the advantages of houseboats is that you can utilize them in relative comfort even in cooler weather. With such a seating arrangement as in this plan the passengers view of the scenery would be severely restricted by design. Moving the dinette front forward like on the other plans would be the best option, but that would also involve moving the settee berth in the rear of the plan. The plan designer only allowed 6'3" for the sleeping berths which is actually a bit short for my height anyway. But since we are working within a twelve foot cabin there is no way to install sleeping berths back to back anyway.

But I can see the physical aspects of the overall design actually working within the confines of the cabin, but actually making it work would involve redrawing the entire plan to make it a truly functional workable arrangement. The overall principals and practically of the plan is actually good for the space, sleeping for four, small bath with wardrobe, and a small kitchen. This cabin unit also would probably work fine on some larger diameter twenty four foot pontoons, but I'd give careful thought to overall materials weight of the structure if I were attempting to build it.

My choice of offering is the 16X8ft. plans offered by this designer. The design seems practical for family use with sleeping provisions for six. The actual floor-plan also seems realistic for both design and functionality. The only thing a bit short with this one IMHO will maybe be actual storage availability. You have to remember that realistically boats themselves require quite a bit of "baggage" that must be stowed on board as required by law. Life jackets, lines, and anchors, etc. will themselves consume a considerable amount of available storage space.

Realizing that for some people the actual drawing of viable working plans for your build could maybe be your biggest challenge I thought the inclusion of these potential plans and ideas could be extremely beneficial to some of you. Fact is if I'd have encounters them when I was looking for plans and ideas for my boat build I'd have given serious consideration of purchasing a set for my pontoon houseboat build. You can purchase the plans shown in the pictures above here at BoatDesigns.Com and it actually save you a considerable amount of time and aggravation and could actually be considered a bargain at their relatively small costs to purchase or buy them. The source of the plans actually markets the cabin plans as an extension to plans they also sell for building the pontoons themselves which they refer to as a "pontoon and deck kit" which you can or may also purchase if you feel that inclined or energetic. But I'm thinking that for most of you at least reading my material on this site are actually looking for insight and ideas of how to design and build a cabin on traditional aluminum pontoons you may be re-purposing for your pontoon houseboat project.