Since shipping containers are designed to be stacked on ships, it stands to reason that they could be good building blocks for floating houses and houseboats. As an architect, I design buildings that are built on land and not so much on water. So, I did some research and found some very interesting things about using shipping containers that are on floating catamarans and barges.
Shipping Containers used as houseboats and floating houses are an excellent set of building blocks because they are designed to be stacked on ships while having the same spatial qualities when used for building homes on land. But, there are special considerations to consider such as marina maintenance costs, anchoring to the floating deck, tax considerations, utility hook ups, and whether it will be mobile or stationary.
While studying how shipping containers can be used on a floating foundation, I designed a simple two story floating home with two 20 foot shipping containers stacked on top of each other and set upon a barge that I found being sold on Ebay for around $25,000.00 US. The cost of building the home on the barge could be as low as $75,000.00.
You might be surprised, as I was, at how living on a floating home or houseboat could be a sensible dwelling option.
The Design of a Two Story Shipping Container Floating House
Two 20 Foot High Cube Shipping Containers on a Barge
Two 20’-0” high cube shipping containers are stacked upon each other. Therefore, the house is 320 square feet.
The shipping containers are already designed to be stacked on top of each other with the use of special turn key connectors. So, it makes for a perfect start of a multi-story home.
Since the barge that was found on Ebay is 30 feet long x 16 feet wide x 4 feet deep, I couldn’t fit any 40 foot long shipping containers on it.
Be sure to consider adding counterweights if you stack the containers on one side of the barge. You don’t want it to tip over on the water.
The double swinging doors from the container were removed and replaced with a 6 foot sliding glass door as the main entrance to the home.
Vinyl plank tile that looks like wooden floors are throughout the house except for the ceramic tile floor in the bathroom.
The Living Room
A living room with a sleeper sofa and a flat screen TV is the first area that one passes through when entering the home.
Using a sleeper sofa will allow the home owners to use this space as an extra guest room when they have overnight visitors.
The coffee tables are two cubes with tops that can be rotated. One side of the cube’s top is a cushion that makes for a comfortable ottoman or a stool.
When the top is flipped over, the lid because a wooden tray that serves as a dining surface. Go here for my product review page about this type of coffee table.
The Kitchen
I have included hyperlinks to Amazon to see the suggested kitchen appliances right here: A small kitchenette is placed on this floor with a mini-fridge, two burner propane stove, kitchen sink, microwave, and some cabinets for storage. Or, install a premanufactured kitchenette like the one at this Amazon link.
The Bathroom
The bathroom is placed on the 1st floor so it can be best accessed from the residents when they are watching TV or entertaining. As discussed more below, the toilet is a compost toilet. If the bathroom was on the 2nd floor, it could be a marine flush toilet.
To drain the shower, the shower floor would need to be raised so the drain piping can fit under the shower floor pan. A holding tank and pump would be needed and it could be placed in the cabinets of the kitchenette.
Sliding doors that go into a pocket inside the walls are very common in floating houses and houseboats. This is because they take a lot less room than swinging doors. The sliding door to the bathroom is the only interior door in the house.
The Stairs to the Second Floor
In order to get up to the 2nd floor, one needs to climb up a ship’s ladder. Building codes sometimes do not allow ship’s ladders to be used as the main access in dwelling units. So, check with your local authorities about this.
To install a stair that would meet the International Building Code (IBC) or the International Residential Code (IRC), the risers would need to be between 4” to around 7”. The treads would have to be no less than 10” (IRC) or 11” (IBC).
So, with the floor to floor height as around 10’-0”, the stairs would require almost 16’-0” in plan dimension plus landings on the top and bottom of the stairs. In a 20’-0” long shipping container, there simply is not enough room to fit a full stair inside them while having room for all the other comforts of home to fit.
Clothes and Books Storage
There is room for a couple of bookshelves and an armoire at the 2nd floor landing to fit most hanging clothes. More storage space could be placed in boxes under the 2nd floor and access through doors that are flush to the finished floor of the 2nd floor.
The Bedroom
The bedroom is on the 2nd floor for privacy. Some houseboats and floating houses have the bedroom on the lowest floor so the rocking of the house will not be as much as would be on the 2nd floor. I kind of like the rocking motion while I sleep though.
The headboard of the full size bed is placed against a wooden half wall that gives the bedroom visual privacy from the other areas of the house. Also, the home owners can enjoy the view of the waterways through the double glass doors to their own private balcony.
Bringing the Natural Sunlight into the Home
To bring more natural light into the entire house, a skylight is placed over the stairs with a large window on the side of the stairs.
The glass guardrail between the stairwell and the 2nd floor helps make the 2nd floor larger than it is.
Keeping the Indoors Comfortable All Year
The entire house is heated and cooled with a split AC/Heat system. Some floating houses and houseboats use fans, shading, and operable windows and doors for cooling in the warm seasons while heating the home with a propane heater during cold times.
The walls, roof, and the first floor would be insulated with closed cell spray-on insulation.
What is the Difference Between a Houseboat, Boat House, and a Floating House?
A houseboat is a house that is built on a floating platform that has motors and a captain’s cockpit that would be where one can steer the houseboat when traveling from one port to another.
Houseboats are usually built on top of pontoons, commonly 3 pontoons that run from bow to stern. This gives it some advantages over floating homes on barges that I will share later in this article.
Because houseboats on the water are like RV campers on the road, they can be looked at by municipalities as a non-taxable entity. Therefore, no property taxes in many cases. But, check with your own municipality for their tax codes for your area.
People really like living in houseboats because they can go on “stay-cations” by traveling to different parts of the waterways without leaving their home.
A boat house is simply a building on the water that is to store boats. It is not to be confused with the term houseboat. Because a boat house is not something that people can live in and that is what we are focusing on in the article, we will not explore further about boat houses in this article.
A floating house is usually a home that does not have motors to propel it from one place to another. They are stationary. Usually parked permanently at a marina’s slip until it is moved by a tug boat or similar vessels.
Because floating houses are stationary, they are sometimes looked at by the municipalities as a taxable piece of property. Be sure to check your municipality to learn about their property tax codes that may apply to your area.
Since floating houses are semi-permanent structures, the people living in them seem to have a unique bond with their neighbors in the floating house community.
The design that I created is a floating house. It seemed to be the best choice when using an existing barge that does not have built-in motors or a captain’s cockpit.
Is it Cheaper to Live on the Water than on Land?
Many people find that living on the water is a lot cheaper than living on the land.
I found that many of the people who live on the water are senior citizens with a fixed income. They love it because the only costs of living are less expensive than if they lived in a house or condo. The cost could be as low as $700.00 per month. Here is a breakdown of possible costs of living in a houseboat (ofcourse, they can vary greatly depending on where you want to live):
- the electric service (maybe around $100.00 US per month)
- and the slip rental (often around $300.00 US per month).
- There might also be a maintenance fee, also called a moorage fee that would help pay for the cost of the drinking water supply, waste disposal, and marina upkeep. (estimated at around $300.00 US per month). That’s about all.
Houseboats are often not viewed as a taxable property in some municipalities. So, you might not need to pay a property tax if you lived in a houseboat.
What Codes are Enforced with Building a Houseboat or a Floating House?
The codes that your municipalities will vary from one to another. But, here are some general code issues you might encounter in your area.
Some municipalities have a “Moorages and Floating Structures Code.” It covers the construction, location, relocation, use and occupancy of all floating structures.
Local city, county, state, and federal governments may also have codes that you will need to follow.
Construction permits will probably be required to begin the construction of your houseboat or floating house.
Building officials will also want to inspect the structure to make sure that various items are code compliant. These items would include:
- Building or construction inspection: the structure is sound, safe, and the sanitation is in good condition. The inspector will also want to see that there are proper egress paths out from the house away from fire and smoke. Smoke and carbon dioxide detectors will also need to be properly located and installed. Some codes require a 2’-0” walkway to be on all sides of the floating home. Fire hydrants or a dry standpipe system may also be required within certain feet from the floating home or houseboat. There will also need to be a certain number of fire extinguishers in and around the house.
- Mechanical inspection: some municipalities will want to see that the house has the proper air flow (both from outdoor air and from conditioned air). The connections of all of the parts also would be inspected. They also may want to see that there are proper maintenance procedures in place so the required air quality inside your home is ever present.
- Electrical inspection: connections to electric sources, ground fault interrupters are installed near wet areas (like kitchen sinks and bathroom fixtures). Generators, solar panels, electrical panels and transformers are some other items that they may want to inspect.
- Plumbing Inspection: the size of the piping, the pitch of the waste pipes, proper access to all of the plumbing fixtures are provided, water storage is properly sized and located and waste water management is in place are some of the important things that the plumbing inspector will look for.
There are also emissions standards that houseboats must comply with. In the US, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has guidelines to follow.
The Coast Guard also regulates the building and manufacturing of houseboats. They have requirements about the electrical and fuel systems, ventilation, loading capacity, and floatation requirements. Like the EPA, the Coast Guard also issues rules for the proper handling of sewage and waste from the vessels.
Where do Floating Houses and Houseboats Get their Electricity?
There are three main ways that electricity is delivered to a home on the water. They include:
- Connecting with an electricity hook-up on the dock of the marina. Often, each slip has a kiosk where vessels can get their electricity and potable water.
- The use of a generator that might be connected to a storage battery on the vessel. Most vessels have a generator to be used during an emergency or when they are away from any fixed source like from a marina.
- “Green Sources”: The use of solar panels are also very common. They can also be connected to a storage battery. Although wind generators are used a lot in yachts, I have not seen them being used much in houseboats or floating homes.
How is the Toilet Water Managed in a Floating House or Houseboat?
The water closet (toilet or commode) used in houseboats and floating homes are usually one of two types:
- Compost toilet: This type of toilet is a self-contained system. It turns the solid waste into compost by having bacteria break down the waste quickly and without odor. This is the type of toilet that I have in the design in this article. It was selected because there was no space below the floor of the floating house for a black water storage tank. Here is a link to a Compost Toilet at Amazon.
- Marine flush toilet: This looks like a toilet that is in most “land-lubber’s” homes. But, it has a device built into it that prevents the toilet water from spilling out of the bowl when the house is rockin’ and rolling on a stormy sea. It is hooked up to a vacuum generator and piped to a holding tank. The holding tank can be located below the finished floor of the houseboat if there is room between the pontoons. (The design in this article uses a barge that does not have pontoons or any void to install this black water holding tank. That is why it has a compost toilet.) The black water is discharged with a pump usually at the marina. There also needs to be proper venting from the black holding tank to the outdoors. Here is a link to a Marine Flush Toilet on Amazon.
Where to Live in a Floating House or a Houseboat
- Hudson River in New York City, NY
- Sea Village Marina, Jersey Shore of New Jersey
- The Great Lakes of Michigan.
- Scarboraough Bluffs in Ontario, Canada
- Union Lake in Seattle, Washington
- Tagg’s Island in London, UK
- Stony Lake in Ontario, Canada
- Fraser River in Ladner, British Cloumbia
- Sausalito, California
- Tomahawk Island in Portland, Oregon
- The Ijburg District in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Lake Austin, Austin, Texas
Lifestyles For the Floating Home Owners
To see a walk-thru and fly over of this houseboat, go the my YouTube channel and take an open house tour at Container House Boat Video.
f living in a tight knit community, being rocked to sleep every night, staying close to nature (including the rocking seas during raging storms), living in a tiny home with a comparably lower cost of living are quality of life goals for you, then living in a floating house or houseboat maybe a great option for you.
