Suggestions for new construction boat shed

If you were building a new floating boat shed, are there any must or nice do's?

I'm thinking of power, water, walk around decks, maybe a mezzanine for storage (?), washer/drier. Remote control entry curtain.

Any other thoughts?

You are on the west coast, so I guess hurricanes won't be an issue. How will it be built to float- like a u shaped floating dock with sides and a roof? I just googled floating boat shed pics and found some that look like they are installed on a lake with no tide variation. But the west coast has significant tides, right?

It will hold a Fleming? That is one heck of a shed- at least 70' long x 25' width x 18' opening with roof peaking at 25'.

I am a little puzzled why you want to enclose a Fleming in a shed. I would want it out in the open so I could see and be seen.

David

DavidM said:

You are on the west coast, so I guess hurricanes won't be an issue. How will it be built to float- like a u shaped floating dock with sides and a roof? I just googled floating boat shed pics and found some that look like they are installed on a lake with no tide variation. But the west coast has significant tides, right?

It will hold a Fleming? That is one heck of a shed- at least 70' long x 25' width x 18' opening with roof peaking at 25'.

I am a little puzzled why you want to enclose a Fleming in a shed. I would want it out in the open so I could see and be seen.

David

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Very good guesses on the dimensions. It actually would be 75' long.

Yes, tidal and with floats.

I know, I know The big disappointment is no hanging out at the marina as no views. But the teak will be happier.

You might not want what I want but it’s more fun to say I don’t need it than to wish you had thought of it ahead of time.

I would want a gantry system of some kind. This would make it easy to do maintenance on the hard to reach areas like tHe eyebrow of the fly bridge.

I would like a compressor and some built in airlines. I would like a ramp that can be lowered across garage doorway.

I would love a pump out but if the marina isn’t plumbed the idea is worthless.

Who builds these. I would want a marine structural engineer to approve the design. The wind loads on that shed are huge and have to be handled by floating decks on piles. Or maybe your site has enough width to use cables tied to underwater anchors.

David

Thinking of a shed using similar construction to these. Different builder and location.

Having spent some time in two different Ladysmith boatsheds in our prior boat I agree they are really nice sheds. The remote control door curtain is great - no more struggling with the curtain just a garage door opener remote when you leave and when you come back. No leaving the curtain open while you are away on the boat. A mezzanine for extra storage is handy, leaving room on the main walk around deck for a work bench or?. Really good overhead lighting would be recommended as well. And you are right your teak will be very happy.

Make multilevel walkways so you can access sides and bimini. Could be on one side and rotate boat. Real low level so you can polish hull.

Have seen floating sheds and fixed sheds with floating docks inside.

Build a nice bar, BBQ pit, etc.

I’d suggest you visit Tacoma, Seattle and Everett., WA. There are probably the largest number of boat sheds within a close proximity. Portland, OR should also work. Lots of private boathouses that should give you lots ideas.

Here’s a 70’ shed that just sold. No mezzanine.

Ugly as s%$#.

David

DavidM said:

Ugly as s%$#.

David

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As the saying goes, a lid for every pot.

Personally I like the aesthetics, but it’s rightfully function over looks. I mean, it’s a floating barn so not sure how you would make it “prettier” and still have it be strong and float.

I need to see one in person.

I love the translucent side walls, the issue with a lot of sheds is the cave syndrome when the door is down. It looks really well put together. For the couple years we had a boat in the Portland ore. we had our boat under cover a year , then moved outside for the second year. I thought the shed would be the end all. I never thought of the issue with spider poop and how the shed would stay the temp of the water year round. It was like a refrigerator with the close to freezing Columbia river water. If I had the choice the only way I would go inside is if the boat was a varnish heavy boat and if it was a private shed so I could spray toxic death inside to control the damn spiders. Who knew spiders could poop so much it was as tough as cleaning up sea gull crap!
HOLLYWOOD

Before buying a boathouse, it would take a couple days in the spring to clean the exterior of the boat. A lot of green and black stuff to wash off with bleach.

With boathouse storage, spring cleaning is done with a leaf blower for the accumulated dust.

Since purchasing the boathouse, the roofs been raised 4 feet, house widened 2 feet and lengthened 10 feet.

Additionally, new roof and side sheet metal plus new flotation.

And no, an engineer is not required to design boathouses. Knowledge of construction and examining existing boathouses is helpful.

Transluscent side panels is not a good idea. Boathouses on either side will obstruct sunlight and most marinas and Yacht Clubs discourage clear plastic panels because the plastic will melt or burn during fires. The thin steel siding supposedly slows the fire traveling to adjacent boathouses.

The boathouse above has metal siding. The reflections make it look translucent.

Comments from a boat house owner of 6 years on the Columbia River in Portland, Or.

Construction of the house depends on your location. A protected area can have floatation like in Bowball’s picture, hopefully not much boat wake or wind waves. (Have seen Boat houses in protected coves up in Sidney BC are built like that.) On the Columbia we have both in our location as we are exposed to the main channel so most use a log raft with foam flotation to suite. Most also have a heavy duty 6’ deep steel yoke at the garage door end so you have no issues with your door tracks. If you use bug bombs at least once a year, then the spider poop is non existent. Also, the less ambient daylight in the house, the less bugs inside and then less spiders. The boat does get dusty but with hose bibs on each side of the boat well, it is easy to wash the boat.

Here is the NW, it rains a lot so if you can keep your boat covered in a boat house it cuts down on maintenance and makes it easy to do maintenance year round. If we want to stay overnight, we leave the garage door open and get a great sunset with a nice view. But most times we will just run upstream a couple of miles for a week end getaway. we have 9 8’ double tube LED lights inside the house so it is nice and bright. Moorage costs are in line with covered dock moorage in our area not counting the cost of the house.

I understand that a boat house is not for everyone, to each their own!

I think I would want a large vent fan in mine so I wouldn't have to worry about engine exhaust if I wanted to run my boat inside the building.

DavidM said:

Ugly as s%$#.

David

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Not nice!

That is one of the better built, better looking boathouses I've seen.

It features lots of lateral and diagonal braces that many builders do not incorporate.

The main issue in the PNW with boathouses is snow load on the roof.

Wind is not as crucial since most boathouses reside in marinas with breakwaters and floating docks secured with numerous pilings. The houses are secured to the floating docks with chains.

One issue with wind is that extremely strong storm winds (60+ MPH sustained wind) lift the boathouse structure and if the floatation is not secured to the bottom of the boathouse, the floatation comes loose and float away. When the boathouse is dropped by the wind, the house settles deeper in the water from no floatation and the house is held up by the boat. Smaller boats sink.

We have not had wind of 60+ MPH in a long time. Back in the 90's during a huge storm, many boathouses sank from wind and many boats were damaged from the house landing on them.

Most boathouses now have the floatation bolted to the underside of the boathouse floor.

Here is a pretty nice looking boathouse:

Water view- https://goo.gl/maps/mf5kTqzB93dbkQ2p6

Inside view- https://goo.gl/maps/Cf5Khwg4dJjBVuKY8

This of course is the former boat shed where wooden Trumpys were built in Annapolis before it was converted to a Chart House Restaurant. Still going strong 75 years later.

David

bowball said:

Here’s a 70’ shed that just sold. No mezzanine.

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Is that wood inside? If so, I can't imagine that boathouse passing the fire codes adopted in many places. Typically wood isn't allowed in enclosures like that and a vented roof is required. Now, I'm use to the codes on units for multiple boats and may be less for a single boat. I do know on the lake we were on in NC, that would not have been allowed.

The PNW has more boathouses than other areas, but also more boathouse fires.

Look at the boat sheds at Twin Bridges, near Anacortes, too.

Yes, the framing is definitely wood. It was built in 1947 and Trumpy closed it in the late 70s. Chart House converted it to a restaurant and opened in 1978, but you would expect that all construction codes would have to be met during the conversion.

It again went through an interior renovation in 2003 after Hurricane Isabel damaged it.

It is a magnificent place to dine. It is also a great place from which to watch the Annapolis Christmas boat parade.

David

BandB said:

Is that wood inside? If so, I can't imagine that boathouse passing the fire codes adopted in many places. Typically wood isn't allowed in enclosures like that and a vented roof is required. Now, I'm use to the codes on units for multiple boats and may be less for a single boat. I do know on the lake we were on in NC, that would not have been allowed.

The PNW has more boathouses than other areas, but also more boathouse fires.

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Pretty much all individual boathouses in the PNW are wood structures with sheet metal roof and sides.

Open boatsheds housing multiple boats are now constructed from steel framing. Many older ones have wood framing.

There are not many rules for boathouse construction here in the PNW. Permits are required but are mainly for revenue. Here in Port Orchard, WA, the city require a permit but does not perform inspections when the boathouse is finished.

Department of Fisheries require 25% of the roof be translucent to allow fish some daylight even though fish usually like shadowed areas.

The majority of covered moorage fires are under sheds housing multiple boats, with no walls between the boats. Not many fires with individual boathouses housing one boat each.

We had a multiple boathouse fire at our YC a few years ago. 5 or 6 boats in individual boathouses burned and sank. Fire Marshall said that if the boats had not been separated by the metal boathouse walls, more boats would have burned.

Just had my Tacoma boathouse (2X6 wood construction with plastic float tubs) inspected by my insurance carrier and he specifically counted the translucent panels in the roof to calculate the % of roof that had plastic panels .

He said most owners think these are there to let light in but he said they were, in reality, a fire code requirement and that 20/25% of the roof had to have panels that would melt from the heat of a fire - so that a fire would burn upward and not outward into other boathouses.

RedShield would not insure it without those "fire" panels...he also made sure there was a fire hydrant within 75' and, of course, a large commercial fire extinguisher and CO monitor. FWIW - my boathouse insurance is .4% of boathouse value per year.

StarBright said:

Just had my Tacoma boathouse (2X6 wood construction with plastic float tubs) inspected by my insurance carrier and he specifically counted the translucent panels in the roof to calculate the % of roof that had plastic panels .

He said most owners think these are there to let light in but he said they were, in reality, a fire code requirement and that 20/25% of the roof had to have panels that would melt from the heat of a fire - so that a fire would burn upward and not outward into other boathouses.

RedShield would not insure it without those "fire" panels...he also made sure there was a fire hydrant within 75' and, of course, a large commercial fire extinguisher and CO monitor. FWIW - my boathouse insurance is .4% of boathouse value per year.

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Our State Farm homeowners insurance covers the boathouse as an off site auxiliary structure on agreed value and the pemium is less than $100/year. Broker asked for pictures of the boathouse interior and exterior when we purchased the boathouse 20 years ago but no personal visit or inspections. The boathouse had a solid metal roof with no translucent panels when purchased. Since purchase, I've raised the roof, widened and lengthened the boathouse and installed a new roof with 25% translucent panels.

The 25% translucent panel was installed to satisfy Department of Fisheries regulations, though they have never come out to inspect it. There were no specific regulations from the City Fire Marshall for boathouses.

Stout said:

Comments from a boat house owner of 6 years on the Columbia River in Portland, Or.

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I have an off-topic Columbia River boathouse question, do you mind if I PM you? thank you