DIY Renovation

[Slim]

3 hours ago, Murflynn said:

come on guys, it's no more difficult than trying to renovate a neglected Victorian terraced house in central London in a no parking zone. 

 

it only requires stripping out all the internal fitting out, excavation and repairs to the foundations including installing a DPC, removing all the damaged or failing plaster and lath, replacing all the rotten floor timbers and staircase, removing the roof tiles, replacing all the rotten roof timbers, installing underfelt and tiles, replastering walls and ceilings throughout, replacing the plumbing and wiring and then adding the finishing touches such as fitted furniture and storage, painting ..........

 

......................  well you know the rest ..................  😉 

Or nip down to B & Q and price up a tin of white paint.  😶

[blackrose]

5 hours ago, Awayonmyboat said:

I suggest the following You tube channels: 

- The Nomadic Crobot,

- The boat that James built.

Both channels will give you a reasonably unvarnished view of how much work and cost is actually involved in restoring a "project" boat.

 

 

I've seen both of those YouTube channels and none of the participants seem to have any idea what they're doing or how to do it. They seem much more interested in making YouTube videos. So I'm not sure if it's a realistic view? I suppose it could be for some like-minded young people who are more interested in working on their laptops and have poor practical knowledge or skills.

Edited December 14, 2022 by blackrose

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

 

I've seen both of those YouTube channels and none of the participants seem to have any idea what they're doing or how to do it. They seem much more interested in making YouTube videos. So I'm not sure if it's a realistic view? I suppose it could be for some like-minded young people who are more interested in working on their laptops and have poor practical knowledge or skills.

Agree about James,. a lot of waffle, I suspect there is someone else actually doing the tricky stuff.

Not seen the other.

[MrFish]

If you are doing you're own carpentry such as making internal doors, take a look at this fella.

 does some nice work and explains how he is doing things well. Also make sure you always have the right tool/machine for the job. Skimping on tools is a recipe for disaster.

[Bee]

If I start watching these videos I shall start planning another boat but this time it won't have any problems and everything will work and it will be really pretty and it won't take years and I really should stop thinking about it RIGHT NOW.

[PCSB]

8 hours ago, Awayonmyboat said:

I'll try and be a bit more positive! Many people do successfully restore / renovate narrow boats but it is also true many (more) never complete the journey having not realised the amount of work and cost involved.

 

You are doing the right thing, asking now for info before you have a project or even solid ideas. If you follow this through and remain questioning you raise your chances of success.

 

I suggest the following You tube channels: 

- The Nomadic Crobot,

- The boat that James built.

Both channels will give you a reasonably unvarnished view of how much work and cost is actually involved in restoring a "project" boat.

 

This site. Just continuously browse it for a few months. You will begin to pick up good info and more importantly start to recognise bad info. There are also some wonderfully experienced people on this site but they are often somewhat understandably frustrated at having the same questions asked - so learn to use the search function.

 

Tony Brookes training notes on plumbing, electrical and the like. Search here on this site for links.

 

Hope this is good for a starter.

 

Not watched the nomadic one but have the other and I'm not convinced by it. Agree about Tony's site here "Tony Brooks' marine courses and advice" (tb-training.co.uk) 

 

This guy is renovating an older boat so maybe worth taking a look, he seems competent in most things (not all, no-one is). 

 

 

 

 

[dmr]

All the advice here is true, but there is a boat opposite me now, a rusted through homemade shell purchased for less than scrap value by a bloke who had never really welded. 3 years on its a solid boat (including rebuilt cabin) with a rebuilt  engine and a fit out totally in recycled materials. Not a Hudson but an attractive and nicely eccentric boat. It can be done. 

[Alan de Enfield]

12 minutes ago, dmr said:

All the advice here is true, but there is a boat opposite me now, a rusted through homemade shell purchased for less than scrap value by a bloke who had never really welded. 3 years on its a solid boat (including rebuilt cabin) with a rebuilt  engine and a fit out totally in recycled materials. Not a Hudson but an attractive and nicely eccentric boat. It can be done. 

 

And if you really put your mind to it you can even manage without an engine >

 

Meet the man who has 25 years to pull his PIANO on a BOAT from Liverpool to London

A FORMER university lecturer has been pulling his own boat along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal for the past five years as part of an epic journey to reach London by the year 2037.

 

 

The craft is made of items including wooden planks, freezer doors, disused drawers and is kept afloat by a dozen 55-gallon industry standard blue plastic barrels.

[harrybsmith]

Do you like fixing things? If not, don't do it. A project, certainly a first project, will always be more money to do than one that's already done. I've got a massive boat project at the moment (replating and cabin work) and i'm loving it, but that's because I love building things. Despite getting everything that has gone into it at bargain prices and not paying any tradespeople it's also consuming budget at a fair rate, I could have had 3 really decent holidays instead of an empty rusty box with big holes in. If you think you will like it though then it's immensely rewarding and the opportunity to build exactly what you want from a boat 

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, PCSB said:

Agree about Tony's site here "Tony Brooks' marine courses and advice" (tb-training.co.uk) 

 

 

I don't really think my site will be much help to the OP  with refitting out a boat. In fact I think it may scare and confuse if read without much prior experience of a boat.  It is more aimed at helping boaters to get to grips withe the system they have, so they can start to fault find if needed rather than saying how to install the systems. It certainly does not cover woodwork etc and the RCD/RCR requirements if they  are to apply to  the project.

[blackrose]

38 minutes ago, harrybsmith said:

Do you like fixing things? If not, don't do it. 

 

This is true. I've fitted out my sailaway 18 years ago but there are always things that need fixing. Sometimes I enjoy it especially if things go well and I get a sense of satisfaction, but often it's frustrating and annoying and I wonder why I'm not doing something more enjoyable with my free time.

[ditchcrawler]

I would also ask, How much knowledge of Narrowboats have you got? Its a lot harder if you don't know what you are trying to achieve 

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

I don't really think my site will be much help to the OP  with refitting out a boat. In fact I think it may scare and confuse if read without much prior experience of a boat. 

 

I agree. I still find it scary but then I've only bin boating for 45 years, on and off.

 

Ok, 46. 

 

 

[AndrewIC]

2 hours ago, harrybsmith said:

Do you like fixing things? If not, don't do it. A project, certainly a first project, will always be more money to do than one that's already done. I've got a massive boat project at the moment (replating and cabin work) and i'm loving it, but that's because I love building things. Despite getting everything that has gone into it at bargain prices and not paying any tradespeople it's also consuming budget at a fair rate, I could have had 3 really decent holidays instead of an empty rusty box with big holes in. If you think you will like it though then it's immensely rewarding and the opportunity to build exactly what you want from a boat 

I’m pretty much with Harry on this… The first owner of my boat fitted out the (new) bare shell from scratch on an offside mooring with no facilities apart from mains electricity. It can be done, he had the practical skills (from a non-boaty background), it took him three years, he made a reasonable job of it, and for him I think the enjoyment of the fitting out was a big part of the pleasure he got from his boat. (I think he found that he didn’t enjoy cruising as much, as another three years later he sold it to me!).

 

I also like fixing things and tinkering. My own MO for bits of renovation and refitting (on a much smaller scale) has been to try to prepare as much as possible at home, then install or reinstall the prepared parts on the boat. Doesn’t work for everything of course, but it can save a lot of travelling time back and forth. If I was going to attempt a bigger fit out or refit, I’d look to make as much of the interior as possible in modular form from the outset, so that it could be worked on at home.
 

 

[Tony Brooks]

2 minutes ago, AndrewIC said:

I’m pretty much with Harry on this… The first owner of my boat fitted out the (new) bare shell from scratch on an offside mooring with no facilities apart from mains electricity. It can be done, he had the practical skills (from a non-boaty background), it took him three years, he made a reasonable job of it, and for him I think the enjoyment of the fitting out was a big part of the pleasure he got from his boat. (I think he found that he didn’t enjoy cruising as much, as another three years later he sold it to me!).

 

I also like fixing things and tinkering. My own MO for bits of renovation and refitting (on a much smaller scale) has been to try to prepare as much as possible at home, then install or reinstall the prepared parts on the boat. Doesn’t work for everything of course, but it can save a lot of travelling time back and forth. If I was going to attempt a bigger fit out or refit, I’d look to make as much of the interior as possible in modular form from the outset, so that it could be worked on at home.
 

 

 

I made the almost full height broom cupboard for the back cabin, cupboards for either side of the front steps, a tall and shorter box to form the front steps, another for the lower back steps, shelves to form a partial side for the airing cupboard cum side of the Alde area, and a big box as the base of the modified Dinette at home. Including six cupboard doors. Also made the new pairs front and back doors at home. I also carefully measured and cut the ceiling and cabin side panes at home. I dread to think how long it would have taken trying to do it without a mains supply for power tools in a variety on the boat. However that was over several winters.

[manxmike]

There's an old adage - measure twice and cut once.

If you're actually going to manufacture items at home, then take them to the boat for fitting I think it should be measure a dozen times and prepare to cut and re-cut when it still doesn't fit through the rear door or the bow doors.

I re-fitted a fair amount of my boat whilst cruising. I also manufactured a variety of items using recycled materials - pallets can be a great source of useful timber. My daughter has just built a double bed for her house out of pallets - it looks great and apparently is really comfy.

My idea was to keep the boat useable whilst doing things to it. I did re-fit a boat for a friend in under a week - stripping most of the interior, then re-fitting it. All done on an in-line mooring with no mains power and hand tools. It was in summer, I started when the sun came up and stopped when it got dark, sometimes I even stopped to eat! To be fair I was a lot younger then (and fitter).

Simply keep in mind that it should be fun, if it isn't, then don't bother starting.

[AndrewIC]

10 hours ago, manxmike said:

There's an old adage - measure twice and cut once.

If you're actually going to manufacture items at home, then take them to the boat for fitting I think it should be measure a dozen times and prepare to cut and re-cut when it still doesn't fit through the rear door or the bow doors.

Templates are your friends

[Sea Dog]

10 hours ago, manxmike said:

Simply keep in mind that it should be fun, if it isn't, then don't bother starting.

Ah, but the OP hasn't done it before, so they won't know until after starting. Hence the abundance of unfinished projects.

[Tony Brooks]

23 minutes ago, AndrewIC said:

Templates are your friends

 

And on narrow boats spirit levels are all too often the enemy unless you are happy with a semi-drunk looking fit out.