Anyone still following? Final lap.

Completion of the cantilever roof section of the all new shed.

A room with a view.

GOING LIVE...

After a tricky gestation period the all new FLOATHOUSE will be available for B&B bookings from January 2016. See more on Airbnb soon.

Floathouse gutted by fire.

In July the floathouse caught fire from an overheated task light and burnt out. What wasn’t actually burnt inside was irrevocably damaged by acidic smoke from the fire which pervaded every corner, crevice and void, coating everything in it's path. We were in the last throws of plumbing and electrics and due to move on for the summer three days later. Game over – or nearly, but we had huge support from many friends who were there when it counted and helped to clear up and even provided a boat to live on for the summer. A huge and heart-felt thank you to everyone. But it's not over yet. Completely gutted, shot blasted and painted, the new floathouse is well and truly underway. Watch this space.

Floating stairs...

Fantastic boost with help from the multi-talented Alan. Cantilevered stairs in place now. They bear an uncanny - and quite unintentional - resemblance to the scene of my narrow escape, when I fell through the partly modified stairs carrying some huge clamps which landed around my head. So now I have a copy of that stair to remind me. Nice.

Next week connection of the thermal store, radiators and hot water picks up pace with the return of Bill the plumbing guru. Cupboards continue along with preparation for our cruise round to Cockwells floating dry dock at Tregatreath boat yard for grit blasting and painting. (Thanks to Shane for that idea - much the best solution by far). This week I'll be mostly... finalising the design for the new super-insulated roof. Computer cut and pre-assembled cassettes, complete with insulation, ceiling finish and rafter ends, will support a simple covering of corrugated aluminium sheeting. This will overhang the new walkways at the sides and provide outside shelter and more roof area for the rainwater harvesting. The theory's all good. Huge relief from gaining some momentum again. Thanks to all involved.

Lost some time but back on track now. Heating and hot water kicking off. Thermal store arrived yesterday. This works like a huge heat battery and will do instant hot water and space heating with the wood pellet boiler, solar thermal panels and photovoltaic as energy inputs. Hope it works! Starting to get a good little team going - Bill plumbing - nothing a problem: 'Yes, we can do that'; Miles making electrical connections; Jane tiling the shower and wearing the adhesive to prove it; Dave hanging doors and correcting my earlier transgressions in the squareness department (and to think that my business used to be measurement). Looking for a keen, practical assistant for a few months, a student perhaps. Trying to get Corten steel rolled into a corrugated ('wrinkly') profile for roof and cladding, Fantastic material but not readily available in the UK. I feel like we've turned a corner - although I'm sure there may be a few more bends in the road. Mornings like this one help. Such a great spot.- just love it. Lettings planned from September. By the way - a belated thank you to Terry. You were hugely encouraging and positive at a time when everything seemed very uncertain. We look forward to having you and Jan to stay on the floathouse.

Plumbing in the shower. Making holes in the meticulously insulated floor today felt like a bit of a step backwards but the shower waste had to be lowered to compensate for the relatively low ceiling in the bathroom. The shower, bath, basin and washing machine all have wastes which discharge below the water line and so have to be routed to a sump and then automatically pumped overboard.

Finished putting up shiny galvanised guttering yesterday ready for collecting rainwater when the rest of the bits come. Lindab stuff - really easy to put together. Surprisingly complicated making rainwater safe to drink, cook and wash with. It's pretty clean as it falls out if the sky but then gets contaminated by dirt from the roof - mostly from birds - but also leaves and other debris blowing around. We're fitting a clever German filter (Wisy) in the down pipe which stops the big stuff getting into the tank (which is one of those big plastic cubes on a pallet squeezed under two of the bunks downstairs). Between the tank and the taps there are two very fine filters and a UV treatment unit which nobbles any bacteria by stuffing up their DNA or something, which apparently stops them multiplying. Well, I suppose it would. So all that means we can safely use rainwater for everything and we have a big hole in the budget - the UV unit alone was over £700, but then no water rates, ever, which is nice. We don't use water to flush the toilet (which is composting) and the shower flow is restricted, but it'll be interesting to see if the 1000 litre tank is big enough.

No posts for a while but things have been happening on the floathouse and lots more imminent. Insulation, reclaimed maple flooring, metal stud framing, recycled plasterboard walls and lining, beds  all done. Thousand litre rainwater tank in place. Next: wood pellet boiler, solar thermal panels, composting toilet and water saving shower (all here and ready to be installed). Services planned and specified after endless internet trawling and discussion. Pumps and sumps on their way. Time for another big push. 

    

First constructive progress. Until now it's all been stripping and clearing out but yesterday I collected the CNC (computer) cut frames from Jake at TranzCNC and started to fit the lining. We need 200mm of spray foam to achieve the Passivhaus u-values with thermal bridging eliminated as far as possible. Hence the fancy frames which form the basis of a second skin inside the hull which only connects directly at the birch ply frames. I designed these from a laser-scanned section of the hull. All quite hi-tec but still a great relief when they fit. They get screwed directly to the steel with common sense defying self-drilling fixings and are connected together with 50mm square section timber stringers which fit in the cut-outs and run the entire length of the barge. Feels great to be actually building something after weeks of planning and preparation. First fix services and dry insulated floor next.

A preliminary concept sketch.

This is how the first floathouse will look. Lots of space. Generating all it's own energy from wind generators, photovoltaics and solar thermal panels. Coming soon to a creek of your choice.

This is pretty much what we're aiming for upstairs, but that part comes later, starting in the Autumn.

Getting all technical this week. Drawings for the CNC (computer cutting) of birch ply frames for the hull lining this morning, Vectorworks (drawing programme) training in Ilfracombe tomorrow, seeing Passivhaus consultants in Plymouth later in the week. Things seem to be coming together. Must be deluded. Photo is on the river yesterday morning just before dawn. Best time of the day.

WORLD'S FIRST PASSIVE HOUSE BOAT?

04 May 2013. Well it would have been amazing to achieve Passivhaus - high aspirations indeed - but it proved to be totally beyond the budget. The design takes some of the principles appropriate to a low budget self build.

Things have moved on considerably since my last post. Time to nail my colours to the mast, put my money where my mouth is and trot out a few metaphors. Amelie will now be certified to the german Passivhaus standards, which I'm told will be a world first for a houseboat. Without getting too buried in the techers this focuses on retaining energy by exceptionally high levels of insulation, air tightness and recovering heat from extracted air. Put simply: Use less. How incredibly sensible. The spray men are coming on the 23rd to super-insulate the steel hull structure with foam which will also prevent condensation forming on the inside of the hull (which is a bad, leading to sinking thing). So all go here. Very clever laser scanner and setting out toy arrived yesterday. More on that very soon.

Going backwards to move forwards now. Stripping out for foam.

I definitely left it here..

All those essential possessions. MOSTLY JUNK!

Oooooh that's better. Empty (almost) space. Pregnant with possibilities. Three bunk rooms (small double and single above in each), a double room, bathroom (with ebay bath), loo and lots of storage. The workshop stays at the other end for the moment, but now gets squeezed into a corner with the engine. Think boat instead of house and it's enormous.

The stack in the middle (next to the rowing machine - don't ask) is maple tongue and groove flooring reclaimed from a gym in Nottingham, complete with court markings.

Spot the mackerel.

Progress!

Next job: This needs to be completely emptied and stripped out so that the polyeurathane foam insulation guys can do their spraying.  

Matchboarding on the ceiling completed yesterday: 

Jig to make up the curved ribs. Straight lines from now on.

Lovely rockwool. Still itchy. 

Lunch. Jane has the bread, I have the soup. Have to think about the budget.

More chance of avoiding hypothermia now.

It IS a good idea... It IS a good idea.. It IS...

This is the warts and all account of the fit-out of this big steel floating box. In nine weeks it becomes home for the summer while we holiday let our house to make some much needed wonga. The budget is tight, so is the programme - no false deadlines here, we'll be homeless and I'll be a little bit unpopular. I've been a bit slow getting going - that would read "the design and planning phase is almost complete" but this is the honest version and I've had my head where the sun don't shine thinking about other things. There is mains electricity - which is a head start. There is also half a kitchen - a sink (no waste, there's a window for that - tap but no water as yet, still walking to the tap), a gas hob (unconnected, this sits alongside the camping stove which does for soup at lunchtime at the moment). The stove looks the part but lacks some essential innards. So just the rest of the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms to build, heating, plumbing, electrics. Where's my Gannt chart? Better put the kettle on. I know this a good idea...