framing questions

[nate1191]

What are you guys using for framing? (2x2 2x4 etc.) And nails or screws?

[dirtygoat]

1x1 metal tube... Mostly welding... Lighter, stronger and take up less space...

[nate1191]

Originally Posted by dirtygoat

1x1 metal tube... Mostly welding... Lighter, stronger and take up less space...

No welder and wouldn't know how to use one ha

[dirtygoat]

Nothing wrong with build it out of wood... But, a cheap welder and some time will give you a skill that will be invaluable for years to come...

Good luck with the conversion...

[lornaschinske]

We are using wood. It is what we are very comfortable with using (and we sold the welder a while back... can you see them allowing us to run a welder in a campground???). Some partition walls are trimmed down flush lauan interior doors (runs roughly $1 per inch in width). Same price or cheaper than building similar wall from scratch. The shower wall with the plumbing inside it will be built from scratch as we need to accommodate the plumbing for the shower and the washing machine. We screwed a length of ripped down 2X4 (to fit flush with the metal angle the seats bolted into)) to the sidewalls with drywall screws and attached the doors to the wood with drywall screws. We used a small "L" bracket to secure the front to the partition to the ceiling/floor. We positioned the L brackets to where they will be covered with cabinets to be installed later.

This is one of our bathroom "partition" walls. We used a 28" lauan door. Only one side is painted. The unpainted side will be "in" a storage closet.
This bracket (front of the partition, on the ceiling) will be hidden inside a closet

the wood strip we cut and attached to the sidewall to attach the "wall" to.

back side of the vintage medicine cabinet we used. we put the wood strips in the attach the medicine cabinet to. not much to attach anything to with a hollow core door. All this will be inside the closet. the medicine cabinet had an arched top door. But we had to flip the whole deal over because the curve of the roof prevented us from opening the cabinet.

[nate1191]

Thanks Lorna we don't have our bus yet but found one for 750. Idk specific yet but my wife, 8 moth old baby and I will be full timing in it starting in may we r headed to williston nd for summer then Florida.

[browncrown]

I used 2x2's for the interior walls and also 1x4's along the sides as well. Everything is put together with brackets and screws. I wood paneling is applied with screws and liquid adhesive.

[chev49]

I have used 2x4, 2x2, 1x2, etc for framing both in my own conversions, and what the customer wanted. However, In my current conversion, i am using 3x4 x plywood cut into strips for the wall forms. It is easy to saw cut it for shaping the corners, then i add thin plywood and 3/8 sheetrock face and calk the edge gaps. makes it all very simple to have a wall up that is finished. I don't use many brackets any more because these walls can be diectly screwed into the metal including the floor with the proper fasteners. (inside the wall) I have several welders, but it would be a bit overkill to form the shapes with the tubing bender and well all of them in... .... I also will never istall a frig unless i enclose the opening with metal panels, after seeing so many rv's at the insurance salvage sales that were destroyed cause of the frig fire.

[lornaschinske]

I would be leery of the sheetrock. Unless it was re-enforeced with fiberglass (or whatever they use) I wouldn't touch it. Plus it's heavy as all get-out. I know the stuff they use in mobile home trailers is re-enforced but I PERSONALLY wouldn't use it. Sheetrock gets COLD in the winter and the gypsum absorbs moisture. If you do use sheetrock, get the new stuff that discourages the mold from eating the paper facing off the sheetrock. It costs a bit more (to me a lot more) but I have seen what mold will do to the facing and that facing is what holds the gyspum together. I also wouldn't use Masonite paneling either. We used a masonite paneling in the Class C. In the high humidity of S. Ga, it warped. In the high humidity conditions of an East TN winter, it grew some mold. That's why we are using a moisture resistant underlayment on the walls... and then I prime/paint it. The paint will have an algaecide/mildew preventative added to it and it will be an exterior semi-gloss paint. Same stuff I painted the partitions in the bathroom but in different colours. Semi-gloss = easy to clean.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to converting a bus into an RV (or whatever). We just tend to use stuff that we have used in the past on other projects that we think or know will hold up. We also spent most of our lives in high humidity areas and know the damage that those situations can cause. Even in a dessert, living in an RV will generate micro enviroments of high humidity. Showering will dump large amounts of humidity in a small space. As will cooking with LP. Many folks do not realize that when they cook, not only does the food they are cooking dump moisture in the air, but the combustion of LP dumps large amounts as well. If you use an unvented LP heater of any kind, you are getting loads of moisture from the LP burning.

BTW, if you use a household refrigerator or freezer, allow a couple inches of space around the case. Modern refrigerator (even under counter ones) now have the cooling coils laying next to the metal casing of the refrigerator. Manufacturers even lay a line around the gasket area to prevent freeze ups. We learned the hard way. you need to vent the compressor and to allow someplace for all the heat generated by the coils to escape to.

[roach711]

My shortie doesn't have MILES OF SPACE like the full-sized busses so I'm planning on building stand-alone face-frame cabinets for the kitchen area and also for the closets seperating the dinette from the sleeping area on one side and seperating the kitchen from the bathroom area on the other. My "walls" will basicly be 3/4" thick saving us a good bit of space. The only true wall will be between the bed and the shower to allow for a vent to the roof.

You need at least a decent table saw to make true face frames but some on here have made nice cabintets with the cabinet face cut out of one piece of plywood. I'm sure that approach is much stronger than built-up face frames so I'll likely go that route myself.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by roach711

... You need at least a decent table saw to make true face frames ...

Not if you know what you are doing. You would be amazed at what a really good trim carpenter can do with a hand held circular saw. David is a really good trim carpenter.

[syke]

I went with metal studs/track for our framing. I'm not that good with wood and metal with a pair of tin snipes was so much easier for me. Plus if you have an issue, moving a wall or adjusting a stud is as easy as backing out a few screws and making your adjustment.
I'm sure the people that are good with wood could do the very same thing though. No right or wrong way to do it.... just get out there and have fun with it.

[SeanF]

I went with 2" x 2" studs and 3/8" (sometimes 1/2") plywood for walls, screwed together.

[gbstewart]

I used 2x3'' , for all the framing encluding counters, and beds. took a reg 2x4 and cut to a true 2x3'', they dont have a that bulky look to them and maybe a bit stronger then a 2x2, u allso get a nice flat surface on one side.

gbstewart

[TygerCub]

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

Some partition walls are trimmed down flush lauan interior doors

I just gotta say, using those doors as walls is crazy brilliant. I love this group!

[thommassey]

Thanks to Lorna and Chev49 for the input on fridges and safety...

I spent '(many years ago) 11 days in UCSD burn center after one of those went up in my 29' trailer'
Sticks and staples style... Nothing left but the metal floor frame and the propane tanks.
60' flames and very hot... DO NOT take short cuts when dealing with (enclosures) fridges, especially LP units.

Valuable information.

[Accordion]

On this page of my thread, there is some information about making face frames, and installing them. You'll have to excuse the section about my dogs.

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