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Old 05-18-2007, 04:57 PM   #41
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experience did you insulate your floor? Or just plastic barrier and plywood on top?
What did you do with the walls? What kind of insulation did you use?

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Old 05-18-2007, 06:34 PM   #42
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I started by doing what you're doing now...I ripped EVERYTHING up. I then did the wirewheeling stuff, scrubbing with TSP, primering, blah blah blah.

I laid out a grid pattern of 1x2 furring strips on 16 inch centers. They are glued down with liquid nails to prevent squeaks and are screwed down with some 20 year screws that the hardware store was really proud of ($$$).

Between the furring strips I cut 3/4 inch white rigid insulation. This is where I differed from a lot of people as they use the rigid pink stuff, but it really was an issue of price. I just got a really good deal on the white stuff, even if I lost a little R-value. I think the difference was right around R1-R1.5 between the two (I don't know the units that are attached to that )

On top of the furring strip/insulation floor which was now flush since 1x2=.75x1.5, I put down the vapor barrier. I had to trip it a little, but it runs up the walls about 6 inches on all sides. I stapled it in place. I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do as my impermeable membrane is now permeable to a slight degree, but it needed to be secured somehow!

After putting in the vapor barrier we laid down sanded plywood and screwed it in place. At that point you can chose the flooring of your choice. I have some industrial carpet up front and had some nice plush stuff in the rear until a little accident involving 55 gallons of fresh water and some veggie oil. I'm thinking laminate this time....

My walls are bone stock the way they were. I just didn't want to mess with a good thing, especially given the all around great shape my floor was in. I just didn't see a need. The only thing I did was run a 2x2 across the floor all around the edge along with another one on top of the seat rail. I ran all my plumbing and wiring through those chase panels and covered them in 1/4 inch luan.

I'm not really sure what you're going to need to do with your walls. I know some people on the board dug far deeper than I did. In the end it's just a matter of what's going to be best for you. I can tell you I'm very happy with my floor. If I could do it over again I would have used slightly thicker plywood. It's not that my floor is soft...it's just that it isn't solid like steel either. It's actually kind of nice to walk on, but I occasionally worry about longevity. Again, it was simply a matter of finding a good deal. The floor did do a great job of cutting down on road noise and noise from a whirring AT545, the driveshaft, etc. It also has always seemed pleasant to walk on (no hot spots along the exhaust pipe!), but I'm not a winter camper....yet. If all else fails I can just through down some area rugs or put on a pair of slippers.
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Old 05-18-2007, 07:41 PM   #43
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Thanks experience, that was kind of the way I was thinking of doing it.

You didnt mention what thikness plywood you used, 3/4 or 1"? Did you use tounge and groove or just regular sheets? Did you screw it to the 1x2 strips or all the way into the metal floor?

The vapour barrier normaly gets taped where ever you staple it, at leat that is how it is done in a house. Special red duct tape.


Quote:
I ran all my plumbing and wiring through those chase panels and covered them in 1/4 inch luan
What is luan???

I dont have to worry about exhaust pipe hot spots since I got a pusher.

And since we are talking about heat, what size furnace is adequate for this size of bus?
Did anybody succesfully install a radiant infloor heating system in a bus yet?
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Old 05-18-2007, 09:04 PM   #44
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Typically luan is made as thin plywood. Luan is an inexpensive alternative to pine or fir plywood. It is usually used as floor underlayment, under vinyl or something similiar.
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Old 05-18-2007, 09:31 PM   #45
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My luan was of the 3 ply mohagony variety. All my bulkheads are skinned in it. The thought is that it will look ok with a light white wash.

My floor plywood is a bit thin for my tastes as I stated, but such is life. Live and learn I guess. I believe it is 1/2?
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Old 07-14-2007, 01:17 AM   #46
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Re: It is official!!! joined the skoolie owner club :)

Finally got some more work done on the bus. All the floor boards came out (except drivers area) sprayed everything with marine clean andpressure washed the floor. Then painted with POR-15 http://www.por-15.com Canadianshttp://www.canada-por15.com/ also filled the rust holes with POR-Patch. It dries rock hard and looks like it will be staying on there for good. Rember to wear gloves when using Por15 products. As it says in the instructions "only time will remove por15 from your skin"
We both have a few black marks that dont wanna go away. Long sleeve shirts would be good too.
Before


After

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Old 07-14-2007, 09:13 AM   #47
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Re: It is official!!! joined the skoolie owner club :)

Looking good. Prep work always takes alot of time.
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Old 07-17-2007, 01:39 AM   #48
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Re: It is official!!! joined the skoolie owner club :)

yep prepwork takes time.....we are in the progress of removing all the inside panels since every window in this bus seems to be leaking.have to order more POR-15. Pretty soon I'm just gonna cover the whole bus in POR-15.

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Old 07-31-2007, 12:30 AM   #49
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Re: It is official!!! joined the skoolie owner club :)

and on we go, we painted the inside panels to cover the rust,


layed some flooring 1/2 pink, vapor barrier, and 5/8 tounge and groove plywood





put some white styrofoam 1" in to the sidepanels and taped the seams



and arranged some seats we salvaged out of a Full Size FORD van. They are not fastened down yet. We just needed to see how it looks. Will be laying some click tile flooring on top of the plywood before we bolt the seats down.



and of course I spend endless hours on the net trying to figure out some deals on all the stuff we still need, Electrical, Plumbing etc.

more pictures under http://www.swinada.com/bus.htm
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Old 10-27-2007, 11:00 PM   #50
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Re: It is official!!! joined the skoolie owner club :)

well it is end of October and we finaly got our first side of Windows in. What a slow process.
I dont know how many times i cursed the screws and drill bits etc. First our cordless was not powerfull enough to get the old screws out, then I tried with the corded drill which turns way to fast and just strips the screws. So most of the screws I just ground off with the angle grinder.
Then trying to put the panels up and screwing them on same problem again. So I decided I needed a good brandname cordless which can handle the task.
So I bought this at Costco for 399.- plus tax

Now I had a drill with enough torque which I soon found out because now the screw heads would just brake off....aaaarrrggggghhhhh!!!!!
I eventualy switched to self drill screws (which I had given up on because they didnt work with the other drills) and from then on it kind of went ok. Except when some screws just go in like nothing and then others, I dont know why, just dont want to go in at all without first predrilling a hole.
I use bedframe angle iron to screw the panels to at the top of the window. Is there something different in bedframe steel that makes them very hard to drill????

Well here are a few pictures of the windows on the bus.







oh, almost forgot: had a packrat or packrats trying to build a winter storage / nest on my Cummins engine. Did not like that at all. It is incredible how quickly these rodents can fill up an engine compartment.



as usual more pictures and details on my page http://www.swinada.com/bus.htm
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Old 10-28-2007, 07:22 PM   #51
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

hell them things big enough to eat...looks to be the same size and our red squirels back in co
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Old 10-28-2007, 10:52 PM   #52
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

There's a packrat in the engine, whatcha gonna do! There's a packrat in the engine, whatcha gonna do! May I suggest packrat stew.
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Old 10-29-2007, 09:10 PM   #53
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

Quote:
There's a packrat in the engine, whatcha gonna do! There's a packrat in the engine, whatcha gonna do! May I suggest packrat stew.
HMmmm I cant wait to taste this. They are certainly big enough to eat but with all the rat poison it ate ???? i don't know!!! May be an other day when I'm very hungry and it really only dies of a 22 or similar.
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Old 05-21-2008, 12:57 AM   #54
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

It has been a while since our last update. Winter kind of kept us from doing to much in the bus. Just no fun at 40 below.
And I'm working way to much so not much time left for the bus.
Today I finaly was able to complete the frame for the first bunkbed. (why do we have so many kids???)
To save room i built it out of old bedframes. It seems sturdy enough.







Sorry if my webpage isnt up to date, but my host cancelled the FrontPage extensions and I havent figured out yet how to edit a webpage without FrontPage. Apparently there is a way to still build the page in FP and then upload it somehow an other way so that the FP extensions are not needed.
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Old 07-03-2008, 11:47 PM   #55
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

Roof vents installed...




Sanding in progress




and trying out different colors

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Old 07-06-2008, 03:11 AM   #56
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

on goes the battle, the days are getting shorter and i do wanna take this Bus on at least one Camping trip this year. So I better hurry along.
Working on the bathroom....









man this inverter is huge, better buy some more batteries...

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Old 07-06-2008, 12:17 PM   #57
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

oh yea thats some big inverter power wow the weather looks great up there must be rejuvinating to the soul looks like you are getting lots done the winters are tough on the steel up there lots of salt? must be havoc getting out that driveway in the winter can you get a snowplow attachment for the bus in the winter? how much is gas up there? beautiful country you live in keep on keeping on swinada looking great! timbuk
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Old 07-06-2008, 03:59 PM   #58
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

I dont plan to drive the bus too much in winter time, but it wouldnt be a problem getting it out the driveway, the problem would be turning it around.
The snowplow is mounted to the quad. Gas is at 1.44 per litre and Diesel closer to 1.50 a litre. Dont know if I can afford to fill this bus up if the fuel prices stay the same or go even higher.
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Old 07-06-2008, 07:42 PM   #59
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

1.51 down here on the island for gas must be cheaper to get it up there than to the island
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Old 07-06-2008, 08:46 PM   #60
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Re: Swinada's Bus Conversion progress...

Quote:
1.51 down here on the island for gas must be cheaper to get it up there than to the island
It should be way cheaper up here, after all we have all the natural reserves up here. We get the oil and gas out of the ground for the rest of the province but we still most of the time pay more then the rest.
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