My Floating Home Series 1

In this opening episode, host MARK EVANS follows Mark and Holly from Chichester, UK as they design, build, launch and furnish a unique floating home in an area of outstanding natural beauty. They want to design a groundbreaking waterborne house in the middle of all the narrowboats and pleasure cruisers moored along the Chichester riverbank to live in. Eco-friendly, affordable and modular, they hope it will kick off a float home revolution in the area, based on their design. Mark and Holly are teaming up architect Robert Barker to design and build this permanent float home from eco-friendly pre-formed Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS), normally used for prefab buildings for the superstructure. This superstructure will be built in Newhaven, Sussex, while the concrete float that supports the superstructure will be manufactured in the Netherlands.

The design has unique features and a beautiful mezzanine leading to a rooftop deck-space for socialising.  Holly wants the interior to be white, bright and modern. The couple is maximizing their social and living spaces by keeping their bathroom and bedroom small. But whatever final room sizes they choose – everything has to be small enough for the superstructure and floated to be driven to its moorings.

But transporting them to Chichester is no mean feat: will they get there in one piece and on time? If they do, the next challenge will be lifting the superstructure in place using a massive crane in a very tight spot. And when it comes to the crunch: will the two parts fit together?

It’s a nerve-wracking moment which will decide whether their dream floating home can become a reality.

Dwayne Poyser and Janet Field

Brits Dwayne and Janet are building an experimental oversized houseboat so they can take their home with them anywhere on the vast network of canals that crisscross the UK. Janet and Dwayne have never lived on the water before – nor even driven a boat. So taking the plunge and building their own dream floating home from scratch is a huge challenge. 

Lydia de Boorder and Wout Meppelink

A couple builds a super long floating home deep in the heart of canal country. This water loving couple live on a old steam ship and decide it’s time to modernise. They want a float home to join a small but well-established community of floating homes on a canal, south of the capital Amsterdam in the Netherlands. After meeting with a builder who is an expert in constructing float homes they decide on a wish list for their home, which includes; a raised roof with a 360 sky view, a modern open plan living space and a wraparound deck to enjoy the surrounding countryside. The biggest challenge to design a float home in the Netherlands is to make sure that the structure can make the journey to it’s mooring site. A float home must fit through a network of narrow and shallow canals with tight locks and low bridges. It’s a nail biting experience as Wout and Lydia home makes it way through these waterways.

Steve King

Steve King and his friend Rick Keith meet up in Maine every year to restore old boats. Now Steve wants to make Maine his permanent summer home by building his very own tiny float home – all for just £7,000. Using recycled materials, they build a shanty-style houseboat on a catamaran hull. The homemade hulls must be carefully sealed or the houseboat will sink. Working to such a tight budget, the two friends beg favours for cheap materials and luckily even find some cheap windows dumped by the roadside. Completed in just two months, they then must jack it up onto a trailer and take it to the water’s edge. Here is the moment of truth. With no idea whether it will sink or float they watch as it inches into the water. 

Michelle Lanker and Bill Bloxom

Michelle Lanker and Bill Bloxom are outdoor loving environmentalist and they want to make a floating home with as much Eco friendliness as possible.

They get an architect in to realise a breath taking design, with a curved roof covered in grass and solar panels and a huge underwater basement with a viewing window out into the waters of the lake.  We follow builder Bob Little as he struggles to make the viewing window thick enough to withstand the elements. 

Heather Thompson & Aaron Urion

Thirty somethings Aaron and Heather, spend their time sailing in Vancouver harbour looking at the multi-million dollar float homes in downtown marinas. They always thought float home living was an impossible dream but they find a company at Creek Marina who can build them an affordable floating starter home and so they take the plunge.

John and Lorraine Van Tol

John and Lorraine Van Tol often sail on their yacht past the famous float homes of Ladner on Canada’s west coast. They now want to live in one for themselves. They buy the perfect double mooring that can accommodate both a home and their yacht alongside. After meeting with their architect their wish list includes a colossal 3-story layout with sundecks on the upper levels and an attached boat house so they can hop into their yacht whenever they like.  

Rus and Shirley Peters

Water loving Shirley and husband Russ, enjoy kayaking and living on their yacht, sailing around the Ladner waterways on Canada’s west coast. They want a float home to join a community of 600 floating homes on the Fraser River. After meeting with their architect, they decide on a wish list for the home, which includes; big windows to maximize the river views and wraparound sundecks for year round entertaining. 

Glenn and Margaret Munro

This retired adventurous couple, Glenn and Margaret Munro, build a nautical themed floating home in a marina with stunning sea and mountain views. They want their float home to join a community of 20 floating homes on Vancouver’s North shore, which will allow them to stay close to their family and friends, yet away from the hubbub of inner city life. After tracking down a designer with a flair for all things nautical they decide on a wish list for their home, which includes; port hole windows, arched doorways, a high barrel ceiling like the hull of a ship and a outdoor deck to enjoy the views. 

Milt and Judi Taylor

This episode follows a couple build a traditional-style floating home built on logs. Milt and Judi Taylor want to swap their Oregon apartment for a wooden float home in the forests surrounding Portland.  It’s a job for Rick Maddams who designs and builds them a traditional log float, a principle hundreds of years old, that's almost died out in an age of polystyrene and concrete. The timber will last for at least 100 years under the water.

Roy Willems and Rianne Blaakmeer

A Dutch couple builds a dream floating apartment as their ‘starter home’. They want to moor it in the Netherlands’ capital, Amsterdam – the city of canals and a mecca for people who like to live on the water. For this young couple Roy and Rianne, a floating apartment is ideal as a cheap first time pad.

Susan Dunn

A house owner is determined to make her dream come true and build a stunning floating home using the latest in contemporary design. Susan Dunn has always enjoyed a sporting life on the water in Seattle Washington but now she wants to live on it – and in style!

Harry Janzen and Tina McComb

Harry Janzen and Tina McComb are nature lovers living on Canada's Vancouver Island. They enjoy the outdoors, enjoying spotting wildlife such as deer, eagles and even killer whales. They want to move onto the water full time and find the perfect mooring at Maple Bay Marina on the island’s east coast. Builder David Messier will design them a massive 3 storey wilderness retreat.