For you guys who have boat houses:

I am planning on building a boathouse on my property on Cedar Creek. Does anyone know of:

- A place to go to find various designs on houseboats?
- A good builder on Cedar Creek

- Besides the basics such as putting in a boat lift what would you guys recommend to someone just starting out?

Thanks in advance

Cane Pole,
I run a lumber company in Houston, that deals primarily in marine construction. I am not familiar with the Cedar Creek area but i could make some calls for you. You can send me a PM if your interested and I can give you all my info.
Thanks,
michael

alot of structure under your dock

Dredge it deep first� If and when the lake is low you'll be able to get in and out and not be high and dry.

There are lots of things that make a boatdock nice. Start with the things that will make the family happy, first. Wife, a upper deck to sunbath on and slide for the kids. For yourself, all shaded to work under the upper deck. Have a big storage unit that you can parctally live in. Put air in the unit, just a window unit. Outside have a nice fish dressing station with water pump and counter top which will work for rigging rods before you go out in the boat and lots of light for working at night when it is cooler. You already know about the lift. Fix one side of the lift area that can be folded down to stand on so you can put thing in and out of the boat when it is up out of the water. This will save you lowering the boat to put thing in and out. Make that storage unit like a fort, to keep theaves out.

How much is the material cost for a one dock plain boat house?

I would guess around $3,000 to $4,0000.

Gotta luv TFF folks

You first must decide if you are going to have a floating dock or a permanent structure that is on stilts. All the docks on my lake are floating docks that float on foam or encapsulated foam. I believe on Fork most if not all docks are on stilts, you may be restricted on what type dock you can have depending on the restrictions on your lake. I highly recommend going with man made deck material like Trex, that's what I have and have had zero issues, just power wash it every other year but you don't have to worry about any wood rot or treating your deck material. You need to determine how long your walk way is going to be, the longer it is the deeper water your dock will sit in, but my lake has a restriction on how far out your dock can be. My walkway is 85 feet and my dock sits in around 8 feet in front of the dock, to around 20 on the back side of the dock.

As mentioned previously, make sure you have an enclosed storage area that can be locked up so you can leave stuff on your dock. My dock, which is now 10 years old has a swim area, two slips, one is 34 feet deep and my bass boat slip is 26 feet deep cost me around $20K. That same dock now would probably be at least $30K.

That dock would run a lot more than 30k now of days....

Very Nice.....

What are the restrictions CC? i.e., length, height, etc... My uncle lives on CC and I think he told me you could only make improvements to an existing boathouse, and only new construction for docks.

I think your first step is to look at the the Tarrant Regional Water District website which is trwd.com. There are a lot of restrictions on building your boathouse according to how much waterfront you have and the design and so forth. I was surprised at what could and could not be done. Then you might cruise around the lake and look at some boathouses to see what kind of design you would start with. My wife and I cruise around on a jet ski and just go from lot to lot looking at the boathouses.One thing I found out for myself was,at the start I thought I wanted this huge two story place which is nice, but we realized it cut in to our view which is what we bought the property for in the first place. Don't want to cut off a beautiful view.

If your out for a drive sometime then make your way to Hwy 155 at Noonday. Stop in at the Noonday Hardware. They sell all kinds of dock equipment and lifts and know all of the builders in this area. Yes, you will find that the cost is more than likely more than you expect. Here on Callender Lake the plain docks without covers, lifts, or storage are running about $14 or $15.00 per sq. ft.

I just yesterday had an installer out to give me a bid. This is the second one I've gotten. Mine is basic, 72 ft walkway, 4 ft wide, boat lift, with walk way on both sides, and just a roof covers boat and walk ways, not inclosed. I also wanted a 10 x 16 fishing platform on opposite side of lift. $20,000 k.

That included all electrical, tearing down existing pier, and putting in a pressure tank and re-installing water pump for sprinkler system.

I would definatley try to inspect work that installers have done. Also get it the way you want it now because it is much harder to add.

Both bids were almost exactly the same.

Sandbass--

PM sent.

Cane Pole,

a couple of suggestions, overspend on the lift,
most builders will put in the lowest rated (cheaper)
lift they can get by with.
Start with the biggest boat you think you will ever have,
add the wieght of ALL your fishing junk that will end up in the
boat, and 4-5 hefty relatives, and use this wieght to figure
which lift to buy,
Ask him to go up a size on the cables. My neighbors
cable broke about a month ago.

Have the deck screwed down , not nailed. Don't let them
tell you the ringed nails won't work free.

10 ft ceiling in the storage area is nice , if you have
long rods to store.

good luck
MO

I built my boat house on cedar creek about 4 years ago.Tarrant Co. Water Board is who you will have to contact at 903-432-2814.There office is over by the spill way. They regulate the sq. footage according to how many feet of water frontage you own. I hired one of the dock builders to drive my pilings and I bought all the materials and did the rest my self. If you're the do it your slf type guy then you can save a lot of money. As far as design, just ride around the lake and find one you like. The water board will let you draw your own plans unless the rules have changed. Lot of work but lots of fun.