Floating House: Building a Contained Home to Withstand Flooding Environments

Coastal flooding is an issue that affects many people around the world. Hurricanes and typhoons, also known as tropical cyclones, have occurred in over 117 countries and regions in the world. These tropical cyclones are the cause of the majority of flooding in these areas. Tropical cyclones can occur at any time of the year but mostly occur during the summer season. The state of North Carolina is one the most impacted areas in the US by this natural disaster due to its barrier islands and low-lying areas along the coastal region. Many homes and businesses in coastal and low-lying areas are flooded by heavy rain storms and rising tide waters. 

There have been many solutions used to attempt to solve this flooding issue. Raising the height of houses by using pilings or different construction materials, such as concrete masonry units, makes them capable of withstanding the rising flood waters. My solution for the flooding issue is to have a house that will be able to float on the water and stay in its place, similar to the construction methods used in building a dock.

I designed a structure to have pillars in each corner of the house that will vary in height based on the extremity of the flooding in the location. One pillar is designed to contain plumbing and electrical elements that will unplug from the house when the home rises. When the house is detached from its plumbing and electrical, it will function like an RV home, with its water, plumbing, and electrical.

There will be 3 different areas of storage that will move with the house. The first storage system will contain spare collected rainwater and put it through a filter so it is usable for the home's tap and shower water. The second one will contain all plumbing waste that can be emptied when the house comes back down. Finally, the third unit will be a battery to power the home, which will gain energy from solar panels placed on the roof.

I am planning for the house to be 3-D printed out of floating concrete. The benefit of using these floating blocks is not just to help the house float, but they are also incredibly resilient and inexpensive, making the process of 3-D printing a house cost-effective.

Reference Links: Floating concrete! How Concrete Homes Are Built With A 3D Printer | Insider Art

Flooding images pulled from Google search

Autodesk Revit 2024

Balsa wood

Razor blade

Cutting mat

Ruler

Paper and pencil

If Built:

Construction 3-D Printer

Floating Cement (when it is capable of being used in the 3-D printer)

Plywood to mold the pillars

Gravel or crushed stone to create a stable base and aid drainage

Hurricane-resistant windows + frame (concrete/wood)

Solar Panels

Septic Tank

RV-style plumbing for house + exterior rain drain to filter into the clean tap water

Battery to sustain house while it is afloat

Extra materials to go outside of the base structure are optional but it is advised to have a porch attached to the base

In the sketches, you can see my plans for how I want this house to be designed. Since the house is 3-D printed I wanted it to be simple for the printing process. The 3-D printed product will basically be the "shell" to which additional details can be added and attached. I sketched some concepts for how the plumbing could work in a house that floats. This was inspired by the way flexible straws are made, but I decided it would be best for the house to disconnect from the plumbing entirely and have all waste go into the home's waste tank, like an RV.

The images above are the home's design in Autodesk Revit. I made the walls extra thick to simulate the house being 3-D printed. The roof is designed to have no overhangs so it can be adapted easily with solar panels or any other design element. This design gave me a better idea of the scale to make my physical model. I also made sure to keep the design as simple as possible so that the home can easily be expanded and changed by other designers.

I made this model to show how the house will rise upon its beams as water carries it up, similar to a floating dock. Of course, in the real-world aspect, you would need to take into account the level of flooding that happens in the area to determine how high the beams should be placed. The house should rest 6ft above the ground with support beams running across the pillars for the home to rest on when it is not floating. There will be some type of brace or stop installed at the top of the beam to keep the house from going over the top of the beams. Shown above are pictures of what the house might look like during different phases of flooding.

The outer shell is completely up to the owner's choice. They can cover the exterior walls and roof with any type of material. They could also install a porch to stay at the base support of the house. If flooding happens, a good solution to get down to grade would be to add a Wall-Mounted Ladder, though I would suggest having a porch attached to your base. I made this image with Ai to best represent what the house could look like during flooding conditions. This is the last step in my Instructable so I hope that it was helpful to you.

(Ai Generated Image)