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Old 03-08-2015, 08:52 AM   #1
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Question Elevations

I have a floor plan drawn up and now I'm working on my interior elevation drawings but I am going in circles through the internet trying hard to find floor to ceiling window elevations or just dimensions. I need to know floor to bottom of window, window size and top of window to ceiling. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

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Old 03-08-2015, 10:04 AM   #2
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Its definitely going to vary by bus. Do you know what make and model. I take it you don't have the bus yet? Have you planned in the wheel well openings yet in your floor plans?
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Old 03-08-2015, 10:19 AM   #3
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We do not have one yet. We are planning for the large 72 pass. size. I am only concerned with a standard dimension so I can work out cabinetry mostly for a few feet. I just need basic dimensions.
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Old 03-08-2015, 11:55 AM   #4
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Galley:
Base cabinets are standard height (34-1/2"). Floor to top of counter is 36". If you are going to use floor appliances (like the range or a standard dishwasher) you need to have a standard height countertop

Standard height backsplash (distance between top of counter and bottom of upper cabinet) is 18" but I have a "light rail" attached to the bottom front of my upper cabinets dropping it down to 15-1/2" at the light rail and 18" behind it between framing (we did a reverse frame/frameless cabinet). I have thin linkable fluorescent lights behind the light rail (a total of five 13" lights one of which is over the range... I do not have a range hood, I have a thru-the-wall vent) If you plan on putting any counter top appliances (bread machine, crockpot, coffeemaker) on your counters, then you need to allow 18".

Upper cabinet notched out for the light rail


Here you can see the bottom of an upper cabinet and the re-enforced frame. The light rail also adds support to the thinner-than-normal cabinet floor.

My upper cabinets start at the top of where the windows would be (no windows in my galley). They are 18" deep at the widest point (the floor of the box) and 17-1/8" (18" including exterior frame) at the front (tallest point). Both David & I were cabinet makers and installers years ago. I was a kitchen & bath designer. We built our cabinets very differently than others. We also like modular cabinets. Easier to get them into the bus, easier to build them, easier to pull and replace if we ever needed to. Our goal was to make a strong cabinet as lightweight as possible. Hence the hybrid of reverse frame/frameless. Plus each of our cabinets is a single box. This meant we could make the sides thinner and once attached together the sides would be stronger. This pic shows the frame on the exterior of the tray base cabinet (gotta have someplace to put my pizza pans, cookie sheets and hamburger bun pan)



The bases were built with no toekick to save on money and for secure attachment.

Floor mounted toekick (screwed to floor - cabinets screwed to toekick)
Tray base with no toekick


The upper cabinets consist of a plywood floor, plywood ends and 2X2 rail at the bottom back (floor screwed to this plus this is the "nailer" that is attached to the nailer at the top of the windows) and a 2X4 rail at the top (screwed & glued to the ceiling).

Because we painted the cabinets, we went with a cheap plywood. Cabinet carcasses are 1/2" (15/32) RTD plywood skim coated with Durham's Rock hard putty then sanded smooth. I have since repainted the upper cabinet interiors with semigloss white. The blue was a bit too dark inside. I have since repainted all the exteriors of the cabinets with a brighter blue (Caicos Turquoise) and the walls a brighter yellow (Hawaiian Pineapple).

The weather has not been good enough for me to do the doors of the cabinets. I will be using frameless full overlay hinges (and corresponding face plates)that I had salvaged off an old crappy set of pressed board frameless cabinets several years ago (they were the cabinets I used in my personal woodworking shop). All the drawer glides in the bases and the pantry are full extension. The big upper cabinet shown above is over the freezer and also gets a full extension roll out shelf in it (built just haven't climbed up to empty the cabinet out to install the shelf... my bread machine will be stored up there). I am a fan of roll out shelves and full extension glides. In a galley this small, every inch counts and needs to be accessible and utilized.
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Old 03-08-2015, 12:01 PM   #5
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Please allow 6" from the edge of the cook top or range top to the nearest wall or cabinet side. This is for safety as well as use. You people are going to burn something down. Yes, I know that RV's have 3" or less. But that is dangerous and unsafe. Plus at the least, you will run the risk of discolouring the vertical surface that is that close to the burners.

(see I was nice and said "people" and not the "m" word)
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Old 03-08-2015, 12:08 PM   #6
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I figured standard sizes but had to be sure. Thank you so much!
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Old 03-08-2015, 04:48 PM   #7
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Floor to window in my 88 bluebird is 30". I think most house bathroom base cabinets are 30".
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Old 03-08-2015, 08:19 PM   #8
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Don't forget this is yours....start with normal size and then modify, our counters are higher than stock size because we are both taller, gravity challenged folks may want shorter counters, this is for you, not visitor's

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Old 03-08-2015, 10:02 PM   #9
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The 30" vanities are for households with kids. You are of course expected to remodel the bathroom every 5 years. For master baths, we always installed 36" high cabinets/counters. And once we installed a set that were 52" high (the couple were both hitting 7 ft).

Tables are 30" high.
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Old 03-09-2015, 09:26 AM   #10
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Thanks for the clarity. My wife is 5'3" going on 5'2". We have just been used to the same height so we didn't change it in the house.
30" would be good to keep it under the window in the bus if he has the same height windows.
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Old 03-09-2015, 01:59 PM   #11
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When we do a bus for Das Mel (under 5 ft tall), she wants 30" counters. No floor appliances except refrigerator, freezer and the ancient trash compactor she won't give up. That's at this point in time. Things change with time.
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Old 03-09-2015, 04:59 PM   #12
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I had been looking and had even bought a bathroom vanity cabinet at Habitat for Humanities Restore to use on the bus but Clint put a halt to it because it was too low.

I feel the 30" height would be perfect for my height (5'5") and the fact that I no longer have any arm strength and need the use of my body to help with any of the cutting of hard squashes, shredding of cabbage and rolling out dough. He wants the standard 36" and won't budge on that.

I told him that he will then be doing ALL of the things as stated above and more when the time comes. He is rethinking his plan.

The island we bought and is still not bolted to the floor is 36" high. I want it cut down to 30 but will settle on 33". My next ploy is to have him frying chicken on our Nuwave induction burner sitting on the 36" high kitchen counter with grease splattering a few inches from HIS face.

Will let you know the outcome folks.
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Old 03-09-2015, 05:08 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The-Breeze View Post

I feel the 30" height would be perfect for my height (5'5") and the fact that I no longer have any arm strength and need the use of my body to help with any of the cutting of hard squashes, shredding of cabbage and rolling out dough. He wants the standard 36" and won't budge on that.

I told him that he will then be doing ALL of the things as stated above and more when the time comes. He is rethinking his plan.

Will let you know the outcome folks.

Sorry but I had to laugh. We are in the opposite situation. I want to raise the mini-fridge so we don't have to keep bending down to look in and to reach back inside it. She wants to keep it on the floor and use the top as more counter space.
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Old 03-10-2015, 12:24 AM   #14
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My under counter fridge is sitting on 2X4s turned on edge. It's the same height as the cabinet toe kicks (because the toe kicks are simply boxes framed from 2X4s). Keeps the door a little cleaner too since no more shoe scuffs happen.
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Old 03-10-2015, 02:19 PM   #15
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Had anyone taken an old dresser and converted it into a kitchen sink? I want to do that but my husband is skeptical about how to bolt pieces to the floor. Bathroom vanities are great for space.
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Old 03-10-2015, 03:56 PM   #16
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That's one thing I do not understand. Hubby says the same about some of my ideas. Why can't he just pop the shelf out of the bottom, secure some angle iron braces from the bottom of the object and secure to the floor and put the shelf back in or even leave it out. Hubby keeps saying it's not that easy. DUH...what am I missing?

Our fridge is about 5' tall and we will be raising it up about a foot so that we don't have to bend over so much to get into the fridge. I had hoped to secure on of my larger plants on it but won't be able to so with the 1 ft raise so I'm opting to build shelves above it now plus have a 1 ft storage area below it. Makes more sense, I'll just have to find another place for my plant.
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Old 03-11-2015, 08:58 AM   #17
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Since we're making this a full time home I wanted to use some of our furniture pieces that I don't mind drilling or bolting. Cost effective anyway. Another thing I find frustrating is that we watch soooo many converted bus videos that mostly show what the person has done instead of explaining HOW they actually do it. Like the best way to do the flooring and ceiling etc.
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Old 03-11-2015, 09:38 AM   #18
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Not set up as how-to's but the photos on my photobucket have more info under the pics. BlueBird Bus Conversion Photos by lornaschinske | Photobucket

I would avoid any pressboard/particleboard/mdf. For older furniture, you may need to glue-&-screw some back together a bit better. You may need to add mending plates and small angle brackets. My old rock maple trestle table "opened up" out here in very dry NM after living for decades in high humidity areas. Since it had built in stretchers under the top, I just backed out all the old screws, slipped a couple wood kitchen matches into the screw holes with a bit of yellow wood glue and reinstalled the screws. It's still not as tight as I would like but I will be heading back to high humidity at the end of summer and will wait a year to see how much it swells back up.
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Old 03-17-2015, 07:17 AM   #19
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Quote:
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My next ploy is to have him frying chicken on our Nuwave induction burner

Will let you know the outcome folks.
I want pictures and a sample ;)
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Old 03-17-2015, 09:03 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lornaschinske View Post

I would avoid any pressboard/particleboard/mdf. For older furniture, you may need to glue-&-screw some back together a bit better. You may need to add mending plates and small angle brackets. My old rock maple trestle table "opened up" out here in very dry NM after living for decades in high humidity areas. Since it had built in stretchers under the top, I just backed out all the old screws, slipped a couple wood kitchen matches into the screw holes with a bit of yellow wood glue and reinstalled the screws. It's still not as tight as I would like but I will be heading back to high humidity at the end of summer and will wait a year to see how much it swells back up.
One more good reason to build cabinets, and furniture out of metal vs wood.

Nat
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