Family Tardis

[orangepeel91]

Forgot to mention the wiring. Not under, IN the bus. Take a look where the seats attach to the walls. See that steel lip? it's structural. As in do not remove structural. Besides the build threads here try this http://www.goodnewsbus.com/2009/06/update.html about 2/3rds of the way down they show you where they ran their wiring. I know others here have done the same and for that matter I will be too.

This idea will come in really handy for you I think. Removable tables. http://www.braddandhall.com/productcart ... oduct=1138 That leg is just for example purposes. I'm sure the rv salvage places in Elkhart can beat that price. Make your own table top.

[Scooternj]

Originally Posted by orangepeel91

I know a 40' bus looks like a lot of space.
And it is.
Until you try to have 8 people living in it.

Even two people and guests, space get knocked down pretty fast, between walls and counters, and storage, and seating. With my 75 pax, I went through three or four different floor plans before settling on this one:

Mind you, it'll be just me, SWMBO, and maybe either my nephews and niece, or a couple of friends, at the most. But even then, 32-ish feet of interior space gets cozy fast.

[MistRiver]

Thank you guys for your input. I decided to complete redo it. You are right, 8 people need storage badly. I ran into the idea of using hamocks instead of beds. We actually had purchased hammocks for our sticks and bricks to switch out from beds. It's supposed to be really good for you and really good sleep. My kids slept that way for six months and loved it. We still have them all in storage. This mock up is with hammocks in mind. It allows me to use the whole bus for living space. So awesome. If anyone knows how to hang hammocks from the bus to support the weight of 8 people hook me up please.


Here is my floor plan using hammocks. All couches will have storage underneath. The back bedroom couch leg rest will detach and push to the wall so you can use the back emergency door. I will have a rock wall for the boys to climb in the back off of that one and a slide off the middle door. The counter across the middle emergency door will fold down out of the way. The fridge is a chest one because it's super energy efficient. In the bathroom some things have to be on platforms because of the wheel wells. The chairs in the living room are captains chairs and will swivel forward to lock for driving (with seat belts), they will swivel with the backs against the wall to get out of the way of the hammocks. If I could figure out where I could store them I'd add two removable captains chairs in the middle of the living room that would only be there for driving so we could all fit. There is tons of storage in this plan. Oh, the hammocks would stuff into sacks in the ceiling out of the way in the daytime. As long as I can make the hammocks work with all our weight on our bus. I love it the most so far. Let me know what you think.

[MistRiver]

Oh and finished the seats except for heaters!

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by MistRiver

... If anyone knows how to hang hammocks from the bus to support the weight of 8 people hook me up please...

use tubular steel just like a freestanding hammock frame

Originally Posted by MistRiver

... I will have a rock wall for the boys to climb in the back off of that one and a slide off the middle door...

Are you doing a roof raise too?

Originally Posted by MistRiver

... The fridge is a chest one because it's super energy efficient...

and an upright refrigerator will allow more storage space above it. You are not saving all that much energy between a chest refrigerator and an upright unless you are accustomed to standing with the door open for long periods of time. And if you do that, then you need to break that habit.

Originally Posted by MistRiver

... The chairs in the living room are captains chairs and will swivel forward to lock for driving (with seat belts), they will swivel with the backs against the wall to get out of the way of the hammocks. If I could figure out where I could store them I'd add two removable captains chairs in the middle of the living room that would only be there for driving so we could all fit.

Perhaps you need to go with bench seating along the walls. I think you are overly optimistic as to how "out of the way" swivel captains chairs are. We have two of them (RV sized).

I know how everyone loves sketchup but you need to get some tape and cardboard then make a full scale mock up of your proposed floor plan. I do see problems with your plan but I also visllaize in 3 D and you have a little bit of spacial problems. Use actual dimensions of stuff not guestimations. You can save a bit more space by going with a shower over a tub. I washed my kids in rubbermaid totes when they were little (we had a popup with no shower) and they had been using the shower (hand held) for over a year by the time we spent a month in the popup looking for a house to rent (it's a pita trying to rent a house in a college town when you live in another state). They were 5 yo at that point.

[M1031]

Mist,

Also remember water weighs about 8 pounds/gallon. A tub full of water is going to TORTURE the suspension in addition to water storage under the bus just to fill the darn thing. A water efficient shower takes up considerably less space and weight. There are shower heads that produce a finer mist that will give the cleanliness you're after in addition to saving water and allowing more space for other critical components on the bus (electrical systems and such). Just my observations....

[MistRiver]

Use tubular steel in what way though? Attach it to the side of the bus?

No roof raise, just small boys. The climb from the ground to the bus is enough for them. Not accustomed to standing with the door open. Just found a fridge that is supposed to be incredibly energy efficient and can run off a solar panel and it happens to be a chest one. I'm not stuck on it. Just what I found right now. The only reason I have the captains chairs is I was trying to find a way to have the family ride in the bus with me. I will have four 4 and under so they need to be in proper seats with carseats. Totally plan on doing tape as soon as I have my floor and walls in. This is just to try out different plans in the meantime. What spacial problem do I have? I did use actual dimensions of stuff. Those are all exact measurements. I looked up everything and measured everything on the bus. I know no tub would save me space, I just kind of have my heart set on one. I do see your point about the suspension though. I'll have to think about that. It's not the cleanliness that makes a tub appeal, it's the ability to soak away sore muscles and such.

[orangepeel91]

Unless you are hooked up to water at a campground I would skip the tub too. I have to go a little bigger in the shower than normal because of my size but it's still a foot shorter than the tub in my house. Want the tub for when you're hooked to water? Be my guest. Want to haul enough water with you to fill it out in the boonies? BAD IDEA. My first bus rode like crap. It was 8 windows and built on a GMC chassis. Let me tell you, Wayne built that thing on a truck chassis and it sure rode like one! Keep in mind I am a truck driver. basically when it was empty the rear springs were so stiff they never moved. I had planned on near 100 gallons of water in that one just to add the weight.
Our Bluebirds on the other hand were NOT built on truck chassis. Bluebird does their own chassis, which means it is their engineers who determined spring rates. My bus rode so well when I was on the test drive I stopped in the middle of it and walked through 6" of snow to see if it had air ride. It does not. Now I'm thinking 50 gallons of water will be plenty. It really depends on what the bus weighs once I get everything out. My goal for weight is 20 or 21,000lbs. That will leave me plenty of capacity for towing. The GVWR of my Bird is 30k. The gross weight rating of the transmission is also 30k. That means I can load my bus to 30k and still be safe but I can't tow anything because it would overload the transmission.

[orangepeel91]

Another minor issue with your latest floor plan. You didn't leave enough room for the throne. You have a wall right next to the toilet. That will not work. I don't care how slightly built you are your keister is still wider than the commode. Also rv toilets tend to be narrower than regular. If you use a regular toilet the black tank needs to be directly under it.

[PDBreske]

I happen to think SketchUp (or any computer-based design tool) is a fantastic way to visualize ideas in ways that 2D drawing cannot, but I will admit it has weaknesses and one of them is the ability to "feel" the space you create on the computer.

I went through two slightly different designs for my interior (the original plan was largely the same, just a few details were massaged over time), and SketchUp allowed me to see where there might be conflicts with too-wide cabinets and too-narrow halls. In the end, my design worked out so well that I have a shower door that also acts as a closure for another space and the gap on both openings is within an eighth-of-an-inch. I'm pretty happy with that.

As I started actually building the interior parts and forming all the spaces inside, I found there were shelves I might hit my head on if I left them as wide as I had planned, or that I needed more space for certain items I need for my photography. These changes could be made on-the-fly, but the basic design is sound and I credit the initial work in SketchUp for that.

----

I wonder how high the hammocks will be when people are sleeping in them. Will there be enough room for someone to cross over or under a sleeping family member to get to the toilet in the middle of the night? A lot of skoolie owners have wrestled (<--pun apparent in three ... two ...) with the problem of just two people sharing a bed and getting to the bathroom without waking the other; I can imagine having a lot of swinging sleepers between me and the head would be a nightmarish obstacle course in the wee hours (Get it? "Wee" hours? LOL) of the night.

Whew. Fulfilled my comedy quota for 2014 and it's only June.

[PDBreske]

Originally Posted by orangepeel91

I don't care how slightly built you are your keister is still wider than the commode.

Not mine.

[orangepeel91]

Just how narrow are you then? My best friend is 5'3" and 160. when the four of us (me him and the wives) were looking for ideas at the rv show there was one model that was so tight for space he couldn't sit on the toilet.

[MistRiver]

Orangepeel91: definitely not using the tub as a tub unless we are hooked up. I'm not that crazy. Most of the time anyway. So do I need to worry about the weight of my water tanks with my bluebird than? With eight of us I was thinking of doing 200 gallon fresh and 200 gallon grey. (I don't need black with the composting toilet I am getting.) Would that just be too much for it? Would I have to weigh it to be sure? I assume mine would be rated about the same as yours? Good point about the toilet. I will move things around. I am not a little girl.

PDBreske: I definitely plan on doing mock ups once we get a new subfloor down before I do anything permanent. Very good point about the hammocks and a part I forgot about. You can get across the hammocks when people are sleeping super easy as they hang 7 feet up in a U type shape but you have to walk close to the wall. I put stuff in the way, dang... Well redo over again for me. Thanks for pointing that out. Too many things to keep in mind I tell you.

[MistRiver]

Seats all demolished and starting on the floor.

[proconsul100]

Originally Posted by MistRiver

Seats all demolished and starting on the floor.

looking good so far, keep the pics coming!

[jqmello]

Originally Posted by MistRiver

So do I need to worry about the weight of my water tanks with my bluebird than? With eight of us I was thinking of doing 200 gallon fresh and 200 gallon grey. (I don't need black with the composting toilet I am getting.) Would that just be too much for it? Would I have to weigh it to be sure? I assume mine would be rated about the same as yours? Good point about the toilet. I will move things around. I am not a little girl.
.

Um... I'd check the capacity on the composting toilet you're getting... I think most are designed for much lighter use than eight people! I think you'll have problems with actually composting - it'll fill up too quick, and you'll end up with a port-a-john type thing, complete with smells, that will need to be emptied fairly often. Definitely call the company and talk to a rep and explain what you're using it for, and how many people will be using it. Better safe than sorry.

[MistRiver]

jqmello: This is from the website of the toilet.

"Capacity - How often should the toilet be emptied?
If four people are using the toilet on a daily basis, then a container will last about 3-6 weeks, depending on how much toilet paper is being used. For a normal summerhouse, 2-3 containers will suffice. The Separett Villa comes with three containers. Additional containers can be purchased if required.
How is it possible that the container with solids so rarely has to be emptied?
Urine accounts for about 85% of the waste volume and is routed separately away from the toilet. This increases the storage capacity for solids greatly. The container is easily replaceable and if the amount of users increases one only change containers more often. The Separett Villa comes with three containers. Additional containers can be purchased if required giving the toilet virtually unlimited capacity.

Are there unpleasant odors indoors?
No. If the fan runs continuously the there will be no unpleasant odors in the room. When installing the toilet, make sure that the venting pipe is properly sealed with silicone. The easily accessible fan filter should be cleaned regularly as well as the insect net at the end of ventilation pipe. "

It's actually why I picked this particular one. So with my 8 people I should need to empty it every 1.2-3 weeks. Totally worth not dealing with a black water tank. The reviews I've found seem to hold up the claim. If anyone has any personal experience though I would love to hear some.

[LandLubber]

We don't have experience yet, but we are looking at nature's head. There is only me and the wife, so the recommended dumping is 6-8 weeks. I also like the idea of not having a black tank. I do have a black water tank (I have a whole donor camper), so I hope to use it and the gray water tank as one big gray water tank. You know connect them or something. Gone with the wynns have a youtube FAQ on the toilet that is very informative. They also have some info on coupling the tanks, since they don't use the black water tank. Good luck.

[Tango]

200 gallons is 1700 pounds (8.5 # per gallon). As long as it is positioned properly and well secured, it should be fine. Just be careful to distribute all the major weight items so as to achieve something close to overall balance. And, 1700 pounds is only the equivalent of 6.8 passengers and yours looks like a 72. Last time I checked, they factor 250 pounds per passenger, even for school kids. Course THESE days, that number might not be all that far off from reality.

Just wish I had room for more of the precious stuff somewhere on/in/under my shorty. Good thing I have experience taking "Navy Showers".

[Cannibal]

You got me hooked when I read about the hammocks. The wife and I are some of those weird people that don't own beds; only hammocks. Outside of hotels, I haven't slept on a torture rack (bed) since 2007.

I would avoid the walls and go from the roof instead. All you really need is a cross-brace to keep the compression in check. Off the top of my head, and knowing little to nothing about school bus construction, I'd be tempted to take some angle iron and attach it to the roof. You could attach your mounts to the ends of the angle iron and hang peacefully knowing you aren't pulling inward on the walls. Personally, I'd mount the bar to the outside and put my attachment hardware through the roof. Another point of failure for keeping the water out, but that can be addressed with elbow grease. The mounts would be rock solid and the weight of the hammock occupant would be spread across the length of the angle iron. The compressive forces would easily be accomdated by the angle iron. In fact, I'd probably just do a roof rack for luggage that also provided hammock mounts within.

Course, I know a ton about hammocks and almost nothing (yet) about school buses. So, there's that.