I ordered the windows today for the living area, we should have them in about three weeks!!  We are leaving for Cancun on Halloween day so want to get them installed before we leave!!  Also boxed up and sent the inside window trim pieces for the rest of the windows and a screen frame sample to have made.  Due to us adding 1/4 of real knotty pine the inside trim pieces are not the right size.  I was going to caulk the center but decided to go for broke (lol) and buy new ones.  Also the window company said they thought they could make new screen frames.  Luckily we had one for a sample!!

We have a couple of people following our blog one is Chad.  I don't know who he is but would like to talk to him!!  He sent us a link here http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z114/healing33/?start=200 to access pics of his Houseboat refurb!  Looks like they did an AWESOME job!!  I was looking at his pics and came accross a Tankless Water Heater.  It is exactly what we want so I ordered one!!  Thanks Chad...

Sprayed.....

Well it took two weekends to finish all of the wood install and spray the interior with clearcoat.  We finished it yesterday but still have all the new cabinet doors to spray, we are going to sand the existing interior doors and restain/spray them.  The doors will be done in the shop,  I am hoping to do this during the week in the evenings.   I also removed the steering hydraulic pump and shipped it to Florida for a rebuild last week.  I found an online houseboating forum that has provided me with tons of information.  It was were I got the link for rebuilding the steering and found the place that builds rv / houseboat windows!!!

Here is the link for the houseboat forums if anyone is interested to check it out.  http://www.houseboatmagazine.com/fusetalk/forum/index.cfm?forumid=1

We are going to order windows for the 4 largest in the living room.  They really needed to be replaced and the new ones will be tinted dark so should help with the sun and heat.  The same place we are getting the windows can provide new screen frames for the rest of the windows, this will be a must!! 

We ordered and picked up the rock for the backsplash on the kitchen sink this week.  It is a 12 x 12 square with mesh back that has different colored river rocks.  I will take a pic and post in the next few days.  I think it is going to look very cool!!  I cut out a bunch of dry rot that was below the water heater.  I need to reframe it and repair prior to doing the backsplash.

We also ordered a new kitchen window, it should be in this week, it is in the same area as the dry rot so will need to complete that repair and reframe the window before I can install.

Still haven't decided what to do in the bathroom.  Any suggestions speak up!!  The fellow that we bought the boat from had primed all of the walls in the bathroom, they are paneling.  So.....  not sure weather to just try and paint over the top or what...   I think that is the plan right now.  We shall see.

We are having second thoughts about putting the boat in the Delta.  The cost is pretty high and we aren't sure that is what we want.  So I checked with Lake Comanche and New Melonies.  The price is much more reasonable and Comanche is so close we may decide to try it for a year or two there.  I contacted the mover to get some pricing from our place to the lake.  And then a price from the lake to the Delta if we change our mind later.  We will have to take all of this into consideration and decide.

Well that is all for now!!!  Thanks for following along with us!!!

Ahhh it's Friday!!   I had a big week, working everyday and coming home every afternoon and working on the boat!!  Chad (one of my son in laws) brought over two of his friends last night.  One is a welder and one is a painter!!   I need to buy some 10 ga metal and the welder friend is going to weld up a big patch for the front of the left pontoon.  He is also going to weld up the small holes we have.  So problem solved!!!

The painter friend is going to help us pains, actually we have several painters.  Donovan (another son in law) and Poop are willing and experinced.  So painting shouldn't be an issue.  I need to purchase a sandblaster so we can remove all of the rust on the deck steel and the pontoons.

Tomorrow I am hoping to get the interior wood sprayed, at least a portion of it and start reinstalling windows.

Houston We Have A Problem!!!

Well I finished pressure testing the Pontoons today.  There are 10 compartments and 3 are leakers!!  The front one on the left side (port?) and the front and rear on the right side (starboard?) .  The left one is really bad, I cut a hole big enough for my head to look in.  The rust was about an inch deep and the metal is very very thin.  I am going to have my friend redo the entire bottom of this one.  The right side doesn't seem near as bad, the front is a couple of cracks which we will weld up.  I need to cut a piece out of the rear one and we will see how the metal looks.  The rest all held 4 PSI no problem and when you hit them on the bottom with a hammer they sound solid and nothing loose.

So hopefully not too big of deal!!!

I will take some pics and post them of the damage in the next day or two!!

Here is Michelle cutting!!  She was a HUGE help also.  She has been a great helper and is with me almost every time I am working!!!

Another picture of the wall in the back bed room.  We reinstalled one window to see how it was going to look.  We need to spray a clear coat on all of the wood before we put the FRP on the ceiling.  Hopefully we can get that done this week.

Before and after pics looking from the back bedroom down the hall towards the helm.

Linda was a HUGE help.  She cut while I put the wood on the walls. 

Labor Day Weekend Progress

The top pic is Steve and I relaxing after a long weekends work!!  you can see we have all the windows removed and finished the walls except for the kitchen and bathroom.  I think we are going to do a natural rock backsplash in the kitchen, and I am unsure what we will do in the bathroom....

The Bottom pic is Michelle and I, I am practicing my Captains pose!!!

 Here is my To Do list!!  It is huge!!  LOL!!  In the Living room area there are two couches that pull out into beds.  If you are familar with an RV you know this is a common place for fresh water tanks.  There was nothing under the couches.  I found a RV junkyard in Sacramento www.rvdoctor.com and purchased two 47 gallon tanks.  I need to finish the plumbing but if I utilize the tank that was existing we will have about 150 gallons of fresh water!!  I am going to install a seperate water pump just for the head that draws river water to flush.  In the delta here you are not required to hold grey water.  So our shower, and sinks will dump to the river.  I am thinking of installing a small grey water tank so we can hold the water until we are in an are where we feel comfortable dumping.  Of course the sewage has it's own tank and will have to be pumped out occasionally.

Electrical
1 Remove old Generator
2 Install new ends on all battery cables and update
3 Repair control wiring on engines (needs wraped taped)
4 Redo insulation on main wiring from below deck to batteries
5 Cut deck and install battery box
6 Make battery box
7 ID where additional lights go and wire for them
8 Wiring for pump for head
9 Wiring for Nav lights
10 Wiring for speakers ID where speakers should go
11 Wiring for lights on top deck (rope lites??)

Plumbing
1 Install new water tanks
2 Connect water tanks to pump
3 Install pump for head
4 Check all plumbing fixtures
5 Remove old water heater
6 Install new water heater
7 Install accumalator at pump
8 Install second water pump for back up

Propane
1 Install Propane tank
2 Install Cook Stove
3 Test all gas lines for leaks
4 Hook up heaters and check
5 Install aux line for BBQ
6
Engines
1 Drain old fuel and freshen with new fuel
2 Check Compression Done
3 Try to start engines Done
4 Remove Calcium from bottom units
5 Repair seals in bottom units
6
Misc
1 Remove steering ram and repair seals
2 Fill steering system with oil and test

Hull
Sandblast and prime all rusted areas
Pressure check pontoon compartments DONE
Weld up steps on rear
Build swim platform on rear
Sandblast and paint pontoons

Living area
Pressure wash and paint exterior
R/R Windows Removed now have to replace!!
Repair replace paneling About 90% Done
Paint Bathroom
Install Kitchen stove
Install Fridge
Repair Kitchen Cabinets New doors made
Install Cabinet doors under couch
Install bed and bunk beds in rear bedroom
Repair cushions for bunk beds

In our yard!! It made it in one piece, this was August 19th. Since then we have removed all of the windows in preparation to reseal, we have installed 7/16 OSB on the ceiling to give us a good base to glue and install white textured FRP. We started in the rear bedroom installing 1/4 natural pine T&G over all the old wood paneling. We completed the back bedroom, the bunk area and are working on the living area. We started both of the Johnson 60 HP engines and checked compression, all is good there. We need to rebuild the carbs and I am going to take the lower drive apart for new seals, inspection and new water pump impellers. Hopefully we can finish the interior in the next couple of weeks and start on the exterior. We are planning a complete new paint job. Back to the original Blue over white and we will sandblast all of the rusted areas and recoat the pontoons with Coal Tar paint. We also need to pressure test each of the pontoon compartments and repair any leaks. My neighbor is a welder / fabricator and is going to build us a 4' x 14' swim platform off of the rear that swings up. I will post more as I have time. Thanks for looking!!!

Coming down our drive!!

A great Pic my of the boat going over the overpass headed to our place!!

Here is the boat on the freeway off ramp headed to our house!!! The fellow we purchased it from owns a trucking company so part of the purchase was the move to our property.

Back Bedroom

This is at the back door looking through the bedroom towards the hall and to the front. I will post the newest pics in the next couple of days. These walls are already covered with the Knotty Pine T & G. It is really looking sharp!!

Kitchen

This is a picture standing in the Living room area looking towards the kitchen. Yep it needs some work!! A very good "before" pic. It is already changing!! I removed all of the doors today and started cutting the new ones out of laminated knotty pine.

HouseBoat!!!

Early August 2009 we bought a Houseboat. We used to own a Pontoon boat and really enjoyed it. We decided it would be a ton of fun to have a Houseboat that the family could enjoy. I began looking and found a 1978 Kayot 14 x 55 boat. It is a fixer for sure, but nothing beyond our abilities. Here are some pics of it at the place where we bought it.