Design
Platform Houseboat
Designed by Grandpa's Archive
PM's Platform Boat is a pontoon deck from Popular Mechanics, given as a base for whatever the owner wants to build on top: a picnic pavilion, a fishing dock with live wells, a swimming station with a slide. The article is frank that it plugs along at about 8 mph and is no boat for skiing or rough water, but calls the type practical for small lakes and rivers.
Two plywood pontoons on Douglas fir framing sit 48 in apart, a spacing chosen to suit stock 4 ft plywood; the magazine notes most pontoon trailers need 50 to 54 in and explains how to adapt it. Draft is about 4 in. Marine plywood is stronger but exterior grade will do. Ten pages, free.
What building a Platform Houseboat actually takes
Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate. Nobody has logged this boat here yet, so they are empty until the first builder does.
Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Builds of this boat
Nobody has logged a Platform Houseboat here yet.
If you are building one, yours becomes the reference: the page the next person building this boat finds when they search for it. One photo and one line is a valid first entry.
Start the first log of this boatBoats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caladesi Carolina Dory | Spira International | 20′ 0″ (6.1 m) | 2 |
| Squirt | Glen-L Marine | 10′ 0″ (3.05 m) | 2 |
| 1957 echocraft runabout | Echo-Craft | n/a | 1 |
| Cabin Skiff | Glen-L Marine | 16′ 3″ (4.95 m) | 1 |
| Flying Saucer | Glen-L Marine | 12′ 3″ (3.73 m) | 1 |
| Garvey Skiff | Daniel Berg | n/a | 1 |