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Fitting out a widebeam


Pippa91

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Hi there, I am thinking of buying a widebeam narrowboat (60ft) sailaway lined and completing the fit out myself. I have very limited experience so I just wanted to get advice on how much a fit out would cost? I'm aware that this is hard to answer, but just a ball park figure would be useful - it wouldn't be done to a crazy high spec. Thank you for any incoming advice!

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Working on your own, about 3 to 10 years.

Really if you have no experience and limited knowledge, it will break you and it will become another unfinished project.

 

Consider that average fitted widebeams are around £180K  towards £260K and materials are getting dearer by the day.

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1 minute ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Working on your own, about 3 to 10 years.

Really if you have no experience and limited knowledge, it will break you and it will become another unfinished project.

 

Consider that average fitted widebeams are around £180K  towards £260K and materials are getting dearer by the day.

 

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It took one of my neighbours 2-3 years full time and he was highly skilled ex-college lecturer in the skills required. He did work part time at the super-market to give himself some breaks but other than that full time living aboard. He was skilled in all aspects needed.

 

Took me about 3-4 months just to move things around in my narrowboat and I'm also skilled already with a lot of recent experience making fit-out for campers + ex-engineer. TD is right, it will break you if your ideas are based on house DIY - if so assume you know nothing.

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Having fitted out a nb albeit from a bare shell, I  would agree fully with T Ds timescale. It's a long, long job. As for costs it's anyone's guess. Mind you when you've finished you'll end up when a shed full of leftover bits either through bulk buying, a change of direction or items being superceded by new technology.

 

Previous post a result of big fingers 

Edited by Slim
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Fitting out a boat IMO takes supreme organisation and planning skills, you need the whole thing planned in detail from start to finish before you start. If you're hoping to  work it out as you go along you will end up doing it all at least twice, there isn't much scope for adding things as after thoughts. Just the wiring and electricals is enough to put me off!

 

Having said all that I reckon a wide boat would be easier than a narrowboat to do in a marina simply because there is more room to work. If you've ever had to cut up a sheet of ply in a narrowboat you'll know what I mean! Material storage and working around those materials is like one of these games.

Sliding Tile Puzzle Game - NFTS! - Rarible | OpenSea

 

Edited by Slow and Steady
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The answer will vary hugely depending on the finish you require, your ability to find bargains and be flexible in your design, and your ability to carry out the work, also you have to factor in the cost of tools, and the cost of where you are going to keep the boat while fitting it out.

 

If it was me I'd start by drawing a plan of how I wanted the boat to look and then write a list of materials needed, remember to include everything, every screw, every inch of cable or pipe, every electrical fitting, every pipe connector, all the big items (appliances, heaters, mattress, curtains etc) every piece of timber, paint (primer, undercoat, topcoat), brushes, white spirit. And so much more that I haven't listed.

Once you have the list of everything you need, use the Internet to get prices for all of it.

Then double that figure to account for everything you forgot, the bits you need to redo because they went wrong, and inflation(unless you have a barn to store it in you can't buy it all at todays prices)

 

Doing the above will take days if not weeks, if you haven't got time to do it, you definitely don't have time to fit out a boat.

 

Fitting out your boat will not save you money, you could buy a good second hand one for less. 

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Graham Booth's Narrowboat Biulders Book includes a record of his time and expenses in fitting out a 50ish foot narrowboat to a good DIY standard. That'll be in 1993 prices so you'll need to index it up, but will give you an idea. The book also shows the range of activities you will need to address, although it is now rather dated in some areas (e.g. no 240V electrics, no solar, doesn't reflect current RCR and BSS requirements).

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I'm in the process of a major refurb, full wiring, plumbing, walls, floor, windows, ceiling, engine & gearbox.  I thought it would take me 2 years to do properly so far it's been 4... but we did have lockdown in the middle of it.  I've been working on it nearly every weekend... and I recon I have another year till its done....

 

The big problems I've encountered are working space, deliveries not turning up on time and the really annoying way that plans morph and change as you go on...

 

Costs.... well don't even go there, everything marine is expensive, marine plywood, marine paints, stainless screws, stainless p clips, stainless pipe clamps, adhesives & sealants, tinned cable, fuseboards, breakers, chargers, batteries, water pumps, bilge pumps, fixtures & fittings, fridges, cookers, tools & more tools.... the list is endless....

 

If you want to do it yourself fair play but bare in mind you're taking on the job of every trade!  I'm not trying to pit you off just want you to know what you're getting in to... The sense of achievement at the end it's awesome, when some one says 'oh wow that looks great  where did you get it / who did it? You can reply 'Me, I made it...'

Edited by Quattrodave
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2 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Working on your own, about 3 to 10 years.

Really if you have no experience and limited knowledge, it will break you and it will become another unfinished project.

 

 

I thought the OP was asking about cost? Anyway, I had no experience and limited knowledge and I finished it.

 

It did take about 4 years and by the time I'd "finished" I was then onto the regular maintenance like deck painting, etc, etc. It's never really finished, so it's only worth doing if you like diy. 

 

Oh and I spent about £23K originally (57 x 12ft boat, not a high spec fit out)... But of course the costs never finish either! 

Edited by blackrose
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3 minutes ago, MtB said:

Seeing as no-one has been brave enough to answer your question, as opposed the the question they think you ought to have asked, I'll give you my ball park estimate figure:

£50,000.

Yeah, that's a fair figure...

Edited by Quattrodave
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Another way of guessing is to consider when doing some fitting out, it is a constant treadmill keeping yourself supplied with the materials needed. You'll spend as much time in B&Q and in chandleries as you'll spend in the shell actually doing fitting out. And I reckon you'll be spending perhaps £150 a day on the materials and gear you're fitting. 

 

I reckon if you work solo and spend four days a week at it full time, it will take you about three years. That works out at £90k you'll spend on materials.

 

 

 

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The OP did say that the sailaway being considered was already lined. This might mean that half the plumbing and most of the electrics are already in so the costs shouldn't be as high as some are predicting as long as the OP is doing it themselves. I added up every penny spent on a bag of screws, etc, for the first 4 years until I eventually stopped counting. I think it could be done for about £30K. Things haven't gone up that much. 

 

A lined sailaway does reduce the scale of the task significantly. I remember a neighbour asking me why my fit out had taken so long since the boat was already fitted when I bought it! 🤣

 

It was still a big job for me, but to be honest I took my time. I was studying for a PhD at the time and sometimes nothing happened on the fit out for weeks at a time.

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Starting in 2005 I fitted out a 10ft extension on Parglena doing 90% of the work myself, just using a carpenter to finish all the trim and fiddly wood bits.

It took 5 years because I was working at the same time. As for costs it was about £12k plus the steelwork  so multiply by 5 to give you 50ft of cabin that's £60k not allowing for the fact that it will be more expensive now.

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What I'd say to the OP is why do you want to do it? You'll learn a lot but the fit out will take over your life. Wouldn't you rather have a social life? 

 

When I bought my boat in 2005 there weren't that many second hand widebeams on the market. I did look at one in the UK but someone else got in before me, and I also went to France to look at Dutch barges but couldn't find anything with a decent hull. However, these days there are lots of widebeams for sale. So why not buy a used boat or someone's unfinished project (subject to survey)? It will probably be less work than fitting out yourself and will probably be cheaper too. Plus it's more environmentally sustainable to buy a boat that's already built. 

1 minute ago, Loddon said:

Starting in 2005 I fitted out a 10ft extension on Parglena doing 90% of the work myself, just using a carpenter to finish all the trim and fiddly wood bits.

It took 5 years because I was working at the same time. As for costs it was about £12k plus the steelwork  so multiply by 5 to give you 50ft of cabin that's £60k not allowing for the fact that it will be more expensive now.

 

But if the OP's boat is already lined I'm not sure that your costs x 5 is the way to calculate it? 

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1 hour ago, Quattrodave said:

I'm in the process of a major refurb, full wiring, plumbing, walls, floor, windows, ceiling, engine & gearbox.  I thought it would take me 2 years to do properly so far it's been 4... but we did have lockdown in the middle of it.  I've been working on it nearly every weekend... and I recon I have another year till its done....

 

The big problems I've encountered are working space, deliveries not turning up on time and the really annoying way that plans morph and change as you go on...

 

Costs.... well don't even go there, everything marine is expensive, marine plywood, marine paints, stainless screws, stainless p clips, stainless pipe clamps, adhesives & sealants, tinned cable, fuseboards, breakers, chargers, batteries, water pumps, bilge pumps, fixtures & fittings, fridges, cookers, tools & more tools.... the list is endless....

 

If you want to do it yourself fair play but bare in mind you're taking on the job of every trade!  I'm not trying to pit you off just want you to know what you're getting in to... The sense of achievement at the end it's awesome, when some one says 'oh wow that looks great  where did you get it / who did it? You can reply 'Me, I made it...'

I agree fully. As I type this 26 years and 3 weeks after I started I still get that "yes" feeling as I look around. To the OP I'll say do it if you want but expect it to take over your life for God knows how many years and don't expect it to be cheap or economic. It 'aint

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I fitted a narrowboat out in 99/2000. Costs are not relevant as today stuff is dearer. Mine took about 18 months ( very basic ) by todays standards. the shell was about one third of total cost as it cost 11k with complete build being anout 30k. A widebeam will take more work although such as engine fitting etc is the same amount of work.

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