Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site Houseboat on lake

Is there a way if I bought a 5 acre lake that I could put a houseboat on it and live there? Or could I build a lake to have a houseboat for living? IS it possible? if so, would I have to call planning and zoning for the county I'm looking for?

That would be very cool, but I have no idea about houseboat zoning.

What about sewage disposal? That's a problem with long term living on houseboats. Most septic systems tied in would drain into the pond.

Most houseboats have holding tanks for graywater and black water it would have to be pumped out when full.May be an issue since most ponds would not have much fall. So it might have to be pumped uphill quite a ways.

Waste can be handled by way of an incinerating toilet. Once processed the ash is completely harmless. You would have to retrofit the unit, tho. I doubt seriously many houseboats would come equipped with one.

Most zoning commissions probably wouldn't know how to address the utilization. They're not widely used due to cost.

Crazy story. So back in the 60's there was this lake in BC that was huge lake trout lake. There was lots of other fish in the lake walleye, perch, small and large mouth bass. The lake was well known for its lake trout. In the 70's and into the 80's they stopped allowing the houseboats on the lake system.

It only took 10 years and the eco system crashed. The lake trout were the first to go.

It seems that the few houseboats on the lake were adding just the right amount of phosphates and fertilizer to the water to feed a great plankton bloom for the young hatch-lings.

Long story long..... don't be afraid of a little grey water in the pond. Just like fertilizing a pond don't over do it.

Cheers Don.

I'm not worried about sewage I only have to have drop to a septic tank from there it would go into a aeration tank and then to a pump tank then to a septic system or drip irrigation system away from the lake. This would have to be looked at obviously depending on the lake, land and soil perk.

I just wondered if the city or county would even consider this? I would also have a garage on the land but the houseboat would be my primary residence.

Sounds neat, but I imagine the daily commute by boat would grow tiresome. Especially when you forget to take something too or from your car, and have to go back and get it.

A house on an island, or a house surrounded by a moat would also be pretty cool.

In the two counties to the east of me you wouldn't even have to get a permit for any of it. Here, in this county, you are supposed to get a septic permit. but if it's isolated enough, no one would check. If you are in a very rural county, there may not be any regulations on it.
Why not simply build a house on stilts over the pond?

I would think i could do that pretty easiy if I wanted to. The only permit/inspection we needed when we built the cabins was a septic tank permit. If I placed a house-boat on my pond I cant see how that would cause a problem and who would even know it was there and how would the gvt even find out how many nights a week I sleep on my land on my pond? If you can tie into a septic system and make it work properly why shouldnt a landowner be able to live on his own pond in a houseboat? But each state, each county, probably has different levels of gvt control.

I could buy a houseboat already done and have it delivered to the lake so I would have to build anything but a dock. The large lakes around GA have aluminum houseboat for sale all the time just have to pay to have it delivered.

I would build a driveway right up to the dock and the houseboat would be right there so only about a 60' walk +/-.

My bad! For some reason I was thinking you were wanting to anchor the houseboat offshore...…... I think perhaps I might have watched too many episodes of Doomsday Preppers. lol

Here there is a rule that if it is mobile it can't be taxed. Meaning if you put up a house trailer and keep the wheels on it there is noting they can do to tax it. Even those coverall buildings are considered portable so no tax.

Cheers Don.

What I can suggest to be careful and think about long term issues that you might get because that will be a lot of water.