Steel hull / Wood frame house boat

[Captain Coochie]

Ive been watching a house boat being built on the Thames and im wondering on the costs of building one . You know the type big steel bucket with a timber framed house on top . I can work the costings out for the house part but how much are the steel bits that float it all on the river ?

 

[roly_voya]

Concrete is cheaper and less problems of rust, the fact that it is heavier doesnt mater for such applications. The basic float is called a lighter and is just a box sometimes with a rudder but not always. The hard bit is getting a place to moor it. Like houses somtimes the ground it occupies costs more than the house - especially in the SE.

 

[PIGLETSDREAM]

I had 5 years of living on a 70ft narrow boat, I looked at a private mooring on the Thames at Addlestone, right by the M3 where it smells like a sewer when its raining, 65k was the asking price.
Because of the destruction of the basins in London, British waterways actively encourage boat owners to ask people with gardens that front the river or canal and with the help of waterways set up what is called an end of garden mooring agreement. I ended up on a private mooring paying £750 per year for my licence and £350 a month in rent, my current morgage on a house is a lot less.

 

[Captain Coochie]

So its a cheaper way to build a house but you pay it back over time in mooring costs . Is this right ?