Plywood as main floor

[putz33]

wow very nice look- i may steal this for my house, not my bus thou.. to much shrink and expansion here in Canada with our tempermental weather.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by StormChaser

What I meant was that I could remove the cabinets and lay nicer floor on top of the plywood. Not rip the whole floor out. Whatever goes in as far as the flooring goes, I would like to either add to, or just complete it the first time around.

Ah ok. I'm with you now. Then yeah, go with what you can afford now. Use the marine grade and if that means painting it and throwing a runner rug over it, do that. Then build the real floor later.

As for my idea with the cabinets, I respectfully disagree. Although I'm sure it could look awful if I used cheap, poorly made dresser/table/etc. I do not care for the look of standard cabinets.

Hikers have a saying HYOH Hike Your Own Hike. That would go double for buses. Unless I'm paying for your bus I don't get a vote.

A bus build that has inspired this build so far is here:

https://www.facebook.com/laLUNABUS/

I really love the look that they got with the used furniture. They ended up bolting everything to the floor.

With the vote said, I do like that. I was thinking worst case where you're getting the particle board dresser that was out in the rain and is starting to bubble. VERY low budget and VERY right now.

Done with good all wood furniture, I can see how that would look good.

A big reason I don't want to use "standard" cabinets is that I like the idea of being able to relatively easily move the furniture, should I decide I don't like the layout.

My "problem" with your plan is how do you anchor it for driving and yet leave it modular/movable?

By the way, thx ya pain in the butt. jk. I sent the FB post to the GF. She's going to jump all over the furniture idea. The standard cabinets are soooooooo much easier because they are standard. I have a 6" hole to fill. Guess what, they make a 6" base cabinet. Done.

[Tango]

If what goes down first will be staying down...then I would suggest you go with the very best you can afford. Personally, marine ply is the only wood product I would consider on a skoolie floor. Especially one that will retain the school bus windows. They leak. They all leak.

Conventional ply with many coats of old fashioned shellac will hold up much better than untreated ply but the edges must be carefully sealed and by the time you are done, marine ply would probably been cheaper.

OSB?...I'd never use it in an RV or skoolie. Takes very little moisture to turn it into swollen, wet newspaper.

[StormChaser]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

My "problem" with your plan is how do you anchor it for driving and yet leave it modular/movable?

I haven't sorted out how to mount the furniture yet, but I figure that I will just live in it for a little while and move things as I see fit, then attach them. I don't plan on driving the bus much, if at all this year, so for the time being I'm not too worried about it. The bus came with about 10x 6" sections of L-track in the floors and a couple of longer sections on the walls. I may try and use those as anchor points. Might not be too pretty, but it's a free option.

[StormChaser]

Originally Posted by Tango

If what goes down first will be staying down...then I would suggest you go with the very best you can afford. Personally, marine ply is the only wood product I would consider on a skoolie floor. Especially one that will retain the school bus windows. They leak. They all leak.

I am leaning more and more towards marine ply. It's going to be difficult for me to swallow the price, but I know it is the best option. Though I do plan on removing and resealing the windows, they still may leak. I'm running numbers and I may have to sacrifice doing the ceiling insulation this year in lieu of making the floor the best it can be.

[EastCoastCB]

The "marine" stuff at Lowes/HD will do for a school bus, but for REAL marine ply check out these prices! Yikes.
http://boulterplywood.com/MarinePlywood_4.htm

[Rameses]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

The "marine" stuff at Lowes/HD will do for a school bus, but for REAL marine ply check out these prices! Yikes.
http://boulterplywood.com/MarinePlywood_4.htm

Eff that noise!

[Tango]

Ouch! About twice what I paid here for real marine ply.

[EastCoastCB]

Okoume A/B BS1088 Lloyds Approved ?

[Mark_In_MA]

Here's my couple cents on the floor. . .

Avoid the OSB. When it gets wet, it turns to mush.
Its a small bus, I'd try to do it once and be done with it. A skoolie floor is like a house basement/foundation. Best done well, once.

Lets say you have 128 square feet (8x16.)

I'm looking at Home Depot right now. 1/2 inch common sanded plywood is $32 for a 4x8 (or 80 cents/square foot.) Upgrade to Birch plywood for $40 ($1/square foot.)

I'm seeing some laminate flooring options as low as 60 cents/square foot.
Here's an "oak" for 80 cents/SF.

Cumberland Oak at Home Depot


Plywood : $160 + $30 sandpaper/stain/poly = $180
Laminate , Cumberland Oak = $102.40

[spenceronehalf]

Originally Posted by jennynic

I ripped 3/8 plywood into 6 " planks then glued them and nailed gunned them down to my 3/4 plywood subfloor which had been sealed with a paint on membrane. The planks were painted, distressed then varnished before laying down, then varnished again in place. It looks great, like an old farmhouse floor. So far, I love it.

I just made similar plywood strip floors. I like your wide boards!

https://youtu.be/P7IqsJ9k21I


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

The "marine" stuff at Lowes/HD will do for a school bus, but for REAL marine ply check out these prices! Yikes.
http://boulterplywood.com/MarinePlywood_4.htm

I would suggest the Teak. If it is good enough for a battleship deck, then it'll work for a skoolie.

These guys do NOT do ply but they do some pretty exotic stuff. Some pretty stuff indeed. I've no idea what I'm doing for flooring, cabinets, or counter tops but I will be raiding their scrap buckets that they sell by weight (verses board foot).

Hearne Hardwoods with over 140 species of domestic and exotic hardwoods in stock, is one of the largest specialty lumber yards in the world. We are a retailer of exotic wood up to 84 inches wide, figured wood, hardwood flooring and millwork services.