If you are considering
fitting out a barge yourself, ask yourself these three key questions:-
1) Do you have the
time needed to complete the boat?
2) Are you capable
of completing the boat to a standard you are comfortable with?
3) Do you have
sufficient funding to complete the boat, to the level you expect?
1) Do you have the time
needed to complete the boat?
For a complete fit-out
you will need to allow around 2,000 hours work, but a sailaway with a few
options should be less. 1,000 hours equates to around a years weekends and
bank holiday working, or 2 ½ days per week. But for each day working you
will need to allow time for planning and preparation. A lot of reading may
be required beforehand to familiarise yourself with specialist equipment
installations, which can be done in the evenings. When we fitted out our
barge for each day we spent working on the boat we probably spent another 6
hrs during the week (evenings) in preparation, planning and buying materials
needed for the weekend. It is important to buy materials needed for working
time on the boat before hand, if left until the weekend it is all to easy to
spend half a day in B&Q, and not get started until late afternoon!
If you do not have this
time to spare, then you can always reduce the time spent on the boat by
getting other people to do some of the work, but unless you know some very
friendly helpful people there will likely be a monetary cost to this. You
also need to be sure that your friends / helpers are competent in whatever
jobs you ask them to do. If you are not sure on your competency to do some
of the jobs, you will also need to allow even more time, in reading up and
learning the skills.
We are both in full time
employment and estimated our 60ft barge fit-out would take around 3 years to
complete, but we subsequently had a few extra options fitted to reduce the
time to 2 years. We worked hard and within a year had completed around
80% of the work, sufficient for us to spend 3 months in the summer using /
cruising her. We completed around 98% in two years, but the last
few jobs took another couple of years.
2) Are you capable of
completing the boat to a standard you are comfortable with?
If you are an absolute
perfectionist, but have never cut a piece of wood in you life the answer is
most probably no. If you have done some home improvement works and satisfied
with the results then the answer is most probably yes. There are a number of
different skills needed, Woodwork, plumbing, electrical, painting and gas
are the key ones, but if you are lacking in one or two skills you can always
get professional help:-
Woodwork / Carpentry.
If you can cut a piece of wood with a normal saw, you will be surprised at
how accurately you can cut a piece of wood with a precision mitre saw. These
saws are available for around £10 from B&Q etc. They are fantastic,
indispensable. With this saw you will be able to cut any timber up to around
5” x 2” in size, square and true with an accuracy of less than 1mm,
including mitred frames like picture frames. 1mm accuracy is ample for most
tongue and groove roof and side claddings linings. My wife and daughter did
over 50% of all the side and roof Tongue & Groove linings on our narrowboat,
including some of the most difficult ones, and both had close to zero
woodworking experience beforehand. They found skills they did not realise
they had.
If you buy flat pack
kitchen cupboards and wall units from MFI or the like, you will have little
need of cabinet making skills. You will have to modify the carcases a
little, to make allowances for non-vertical boat sides etc. But generally if
you have done a little carpentry and made flat pack units you should be able
to do this. Making bed frames, partitions and simple cabinets is very easy,
again using the mitre saw, and buying ready made cabinet doors.
Plumbing.
If you can plumb in a washing machine, then you will probably be able to do
all the plumbing on a boat, with a little bedtime reading of some books and
magazines detailing pipe flow diagram’s etc. Using push fit plastic pipes
for all the hot and cold water supplies (available from B&Q, screw fix
direct etc). The fittings are a little more expensive than copper, but much
easier and quicker to install. They are also more resistant to bursting in
below freezing temperatures.
Electrical.
12v / 24v electrics.
Whilst in theory safer than 230v, with the amperage involved on today's boat
batteries, they are probably the second most dangerous hazard on board
(after Gas), many fires on board are started through poorly installed 12 /
24v electrics.
But if you have done some home wiring, or car electrical work, with
some extra studying on boat electrics within different boat books and
magazine articles you should have no problems if you keep the electrics
simple, and make all the cable sizes larger than probably needed. But it is
important to read up on the subject. From time to time the canal boat
magazines have good articles on boat electrics.
For 240v, either from a
generator or hook up it may be best to seek help and advice, especially if
you want automatic switch over controls. This can be dangerous and needs
care and attention, only do this if you are competent. If you have rewired a
house ring mains you probably have the skills, with some more bedtime
reading. Alternatively, install the equipment yourself and get somebody in
to connect it all up.
Painting.
Painting is hard work, but requires little skill. With a 'sailaway' with
just one coat of paint a further 7 coats is needed. You need to have fairly
strong upper arm strength to prepare (sand, wire brush, clean etc) before
painting (the preparation work will likely take longer than the actual
painting). It is tiring, hard work but rewarding. You will need some help,
preferably 3 people total, and can only be done on fair weather days. Self
adhesive coach work stripes and boat name are available to purchase through
companies advertising in the canal magazines, a little fiddly applying them,
but they look good and adhere well to the paint, and will probably outlast
the paint itself.
Gas.
Unless you have a lot of experience with gas and are fully competent you
should not contemplate doing this yourself. Gas on a boat is potentially
more dangerous than gas at home, the reason is because gas is heavier than
air. If there is a leak the gas will sink to the bilges of the boat (under
the floor) and gradually build up without you knowing about it. On caravans
the problem is not so bad, as they have vent holes in the floor to let any
gas escape, but obviously this is not recommended on boats!!!
3) Do you have
sufficient funding to complete the boat, to the level you expect?
You will need to
complete a detailed list, itemising everything possible you know you will
need. Best to compile the list on a pc spreadsheet and update it on a
continuous basis. There is a cost breakdown of our estimated cost for
Elessina, see 'diy fit-out cost' page. Use this cost breakdown to start off
with and then modify it to suit your own requirements. Allow 20% to cover
for incidentals, unknowns etc. Also add a little more if you think you may
need professional help in any area, or if you think you may not have time to
complete the job yourself.
There are also lots of
magazines, books and people to help you complete your fit-out. It will
require a lot of reading and studying. The more time spent on the planning
and preparation (evening reading) prior to commencing the actual work the
easier and quicker you will be able to accomplish the work on the boat,
especially with safety regulations, most are common sense...they are all
there to protect us. Much of the fit-out equipment and installation is
common to live aboard narrowboat use, and there are numerous books on this
subject (see 'barge links and further reading' web page)