There are quite a few different houseboat designs. Each design has it’s advantages and disadvantages depending upon what you want the boat to do.

The Pontoon design is very common because it is safe, economical, and easy to build. It is basically built upon floating pontoons that can be anywhere from 12 to 80 feet long. Some of the smaller pontoon houseboats can even be trailered and moved from location to location. The smaller houseboats usually use two pontoons while the large one’s use three for more stability. The boats are usually made of aluminum but are sometimes made of steel, wood, fiberglass or plastic. The Pontoon houseboat is perfect for calm water areas like lakes, rivers and bays. They are not recommended for rougher waterways.

Planing houseboats were designed with more maneuverability in mind. They have a planing hull so when they reach a certain speed they will “plane” on the water surface resulting in much higher speed than a pontoon or barge style houseboat. This makes it much easier to move around large waterways in shorter periods of time.

Another common houseboat design is the Barge houseboat. You will find these on many rivers throughout the world. The barge houseboat is just that – a house built upon a barge. These houseboats have a large amount of space since many barges were designed to haul material. Some barge houseboats are very large and can house several people very comfortably.

Trailerable houseboats have the obvious advantage of being easily movable. They are usually smaller and can house fewer people but can be moved via trailer from one body of water to another easily. They usually have outboard motors.

The Catamaran houseboat is also a common design. It has a twin hull design that makes for a smooth stable ride. They also usually get better gas mileage than other similar size and weight designs. They steer and track very well and require low maintenance due to their fiberglass design.

Luxury houseboats are larger more luxurious boats with comfort and amenities in mind. Most are twin level boats and you will see many of these used as rentals at many of the popular lakes and rivers. These are the way to go if you’re going to rent a houseboat for vacation and want to spend your vacation time in style.