HOUSEBOAT REMODEL DIY

By Captain Jack

Have you ever wanted to redo a floating tiny house?  Just look at our before, during and after photos of a 1986 41 ft. houseboat we decided to remodel.

This is a photo of our houseboat the day they put it on the trailer to move it to the lake near our home.  What were we thinking???!!!???-

The motor, plumbing and electrical where in good shape.  The boat needed mostly cosmetic improvements both inside and out.  

The previous owners were worried about safety...think they have enough bumpers/fenders???-

Top deck of boat-

Aft deck...it did include a nice Weber Genesis Grill! -

During Painting of Exterior-I think it took us at least 3 coats of exterior paint to finally cover the heart and ugly sunset.-

This was the top deck before and after.  It is amazing what a power washer can do!-

Once the exterior was painted, we started on the flooring.  It had moldy blue carpet inside and out so we ripped it all out. 

This is the exterior sides of the boat.  We used marine decking called SeaDek in gray and it looked really nice and was soft under foot.-

 

Some interior before photos-

Living Room area with the dark wood paneling, ugly blue carpet and 20 pounds of drapes!!-

 

Bathroom-

 

Kitchen- The boat came with a small built-in fridge and a full size fridge.  We removed the mini fridge and the counter above it so we could fit the full size fridge in it's place which was on the other side of the room (see dining room photo).  It fit nicely under the cabinets.  Also under the mats on the counters above the mini fridge was hiding a hole in the counter top so it needed to go anyway.-

 

Old carpet on front deck with just a little snow too!-

Now for some after photos-
 

We installed Acacia Wood Squares on the front deck.  We receive lots of  complements on how nice it turned out!  It was beautiful! -

This was the underside of the awning on the front deck.  It was old vinyl and falling down.  We replaced it with 4 x 8 plastic sheeting.-

Now for the interior.  First the flooring-

After pulling the carpet back, we found some rotting flooring in the living room corners and in the bathroom... can we all say ewwwww!  We replaced the plywood decking before we put down the new flooring.

All the interior was replaced with vinyl plank.  Loved it, easy to cut, install and clean!-

 

Around the window is vinyl tile that looks like real tile.  We were able to unscrew the window trim and tuck it under the window and it was awesome!  It is a little pricey but self-sticking and great to work with when you can't use real tile.  It was easy to install and keep clean! -

 

Living area and helm on the left.  Full size black fridge on the right with the TV sitting on top.  When we moved the fridge we mounted the TV to the wall.-

We started painting the dark wood paneling a light gray in the interior.-

This was the bedroom before with the dark paneling.  At one point in it's life it had bunk beds on one side instead of the 2 full size beds.  It also had 2 nice size closets on each side of the sliding glass door back exit.-

We did replace the aft deck blue carpeting with new dark gray indoor/outdoor carpeting.  Since it had 2 hatches on the aft deck, we cut the carpet around the hatches to access the motor and storage compartments.-

The generator was under the white dock box.  It was a good idea of the previous owners as it was a great place to put the generator plus added a little more seating.-

Eating area with IKEA Fold Down Table.  This table has storage drawers in the middle.  With both sides up we could seat 6 adults for dinner!  TV was mounted -under the TV was where the full size fridge was located.-

Eating area - notice the Top Down Bottom Up Shades on the right.  They were really handy! -

Another IKEA fold down wall mount table at counter height.

It had a nice size pantry in the kitchen with added door storage! -

  

Bathroom-

     

Bedroom with 2 full size beds.  We added doors to the under the bed storage.  With new paint, curtains and bedding, it became comfortable and bright!  We didn't even know the black shelves were between the upper and lower windows on both sides because the old drapes covered the entire wall! -

To hold the bedroom door open, we installed the magnetic door stops and they worked great! -

Since the ceilings are low in a houseboat, instead of drapes we used fabric shower curtains and we didn't have to hem them!  The added bonus is they are water proof which is great on a boat!!  Living room area - Convertible Sofa Sleeper and Foldable Ottomans with Storage.  The end tables were from Lakeside.com and had nice storage.

Helm and living space-

Sofa and kitchen area-

Kitchen with new vinyl tile and stemware rack.-

After photos of exterior-

This boat was a good investment as we were able to flip it and invest in another boat.  Listed her on a Friday in August and she was sold by Monday!  I suggest to try and sell a boat a few weeks before a holiday like Memorial Day, July 4th or Labor Day because people want a boat for the long weekend!

Top Deck with plastic chairs and dock boxes-

Blue rope lights on our dock made her look pretty at night!  If we had kept her we were thinking about adding some stripes on each side.-