100ft static converted house boat: leaks, concreate and advice!

[Jaycey001]

Hello

I am in the process of buying a few acres of land with river frontage, however as part of the deal I also have to take on a static 100ft converted ammunitions barge.

I have some experience with boats having lived, converted and fitted out a few over the last 10 years BUT I have never taken on such an old boat with such issues....

Firstly she is on a mud berth on tidal water in Suffolk (U.K) and has been painted every two years down to the mud level but due to her size and lack of an engine has never been out of the water. About 3 years ago she sprung a leak which was repaired by cementing the inside of the hull, which was advised by a surveyor, since then the whole bilge up to the water line has also been cemented. I have never come across this method of repairing a hull, is it standard practice on older boats?

What is the longevity of this method and is it likely to cause problems later on in her life?

if anyone has any information on the pros and cons of cementing a barge hull I would be very grateful.

Many thanks
James

 

[prv]

Cement certainly was used on old iron and even some wooden vessels, so it's not automatically a total bodge. Supposedly if well-adhered it actually acts as a preservative; I've heard of people chipping it out of the bilges of old boats and finding the structure like new underneath, even though it was rusting or rotting higher up. I'm certainly no expert though, and of course it's hard to comment on a boat without seeing it.

Pete

 

[MinorSwing]

... if anyone has any information on the pros and cons of cementing a barge hull I would be very grateful.

Many thanks
James

Any internal repair with cement has got to be suspect because of the potential for water pressure to force the repair away from the hull. It's unlikely that they would have used only cement because that would break down quickly so it would have some sort of aggregate in it. Even then an internal plug would be very inefficient. Concrete has sometimes been used as ballast simply by pouring it directly into the bilge, but that is a different issue not a repair.

 

[deourino]

I know that pretty much all the static houseboats at Shoreham have had this done at one time or another - they're all of a similar size and many are getting really old now. People still live on them full time so I'm guessing it can work...seems to go against logic though doesn't it!

 

[Sniper]

Most of the houseboats at Pin Mill have had this done too. It's a standard fix and as long as you don't intend to take the boat to sea should last a good few years - probably as long as the rest of the boat. The leaks usually start with the boat wriggling around a bit on the abrasive mud as they lift and take the ground on each tide. Twice a day for twenty years and you eventually wear through. The old Thames lighters are notorious for springing leaks just on the turn of the swim.