Building your own small house barge is a good weekend pastime that will encourage you to take advantage of the outdoor and aquatic scenery. A house barge is a small, family or single-person boat that is equipped for traveling short distances and living. Some people decide to live on their house barges permanently, while others use them as weekend or holiday getaways.
Use marine-grade hardware (bolts, nuts, screws and washers) to construct a fitted wooden frame using the 2-by-4-inch pieces of wood. The frame must fit snugly and be flush with the deck. The frame should wrap around the entire deck.
Build the Living Quarters - Decide how large you would like your living quarters to be. House barges are not intended to be luxury accommodations, and it is important to keep in mind that the larger the living quarters, the less room there will be for the deck. Cut the sheets of galvanied aluminum to the specifications that you would like. Leave enough room for an entrance way.
Weld together the corrugated steel panels until you have a rectangular sheet that is larger than the circumference of the living quarters by 6 inches. This is your roof. Attach the corrugated roof onto the living quarters frame by screwing the corrugated roof onto the upper T-joints.