Roof Raisers: Windows?

[Robin97396]

Some years ago I bought some vinyl paint at Fred Meyer's garden center that worked well at changing the color of boat cushions.

You could make a vinyl windshield screen from seat covers.

[cadillackid]

SEM is the paint used to change the color of fabric / vinyl / dashpads, etc.. ive used it for years and it really works
-Christopher

[DreamWeaverBus]

Thanks yall! Just another idea to file away until I get there!

[New2Skool]

I dont know where you are located but, in my climate the bus windows are not good enough. I like the open feeling as well, the loft idea sounds great but not on my bus at least. I have lived in a tiny home with a loft and loved it but, I just dont want it in my bus personally.

I always suggest to people to buy replacement windows. Menards is my locate big box store and I bought 11 windows, 3 were custom made for about $1,200. The most of the cost was in the custom made triple pane high E glaze. It is a little more expense but, the added insulation value is a good long term investment here.

There are standard stock windows in most big box stores, sizes that work well in our buses to fit between ribs and they are decent windows and pretty cheap. Some are $80 and require very little frame work to fit between the ribs. You could buy a dozen nicer newer better constructed and insulated windows for a grand.

Just a thought.

[DreamWeaverBus]

Better windows will probably be part of my later investments on the bus, but not part of the initial conversion I'm doing. I'm in southern Illinois, but when I finish my conversion Minnesota is probably the first place I'm going to. Lived there for a year after college and loved it.

Honestly would love a loft, but it's still in the maybe pile. Better windows definitely later as well, however in the meantime I'll be taking out at least half of them, using spray foam and rigid foam insulation, and using heat control residential window film on the windows, as well as making some kind of velcro attached insulated window panels, homemade, to cover the windows in cold weather. For the meantime that will do. When I have more money to add to my bus later I will get better windows.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by mysty

I'm the oddball here. I really like the light, open feeling of having windows all along the bus, so I am putting (most) of my bus windows back in. I did cover up 5 along the passenger side where my closet, refrigerator, and shower will be.

At the rear of the bus, I put the windows back in at the top of the opening, skinning underneath. This puts them high enough that I can put furniture/counters/backsplash below them and still comfortably look out when standing. At the front of the bus, I put them back down at their original height, which is the bottom of the opening. This allows passengers seated and buckled in to look out the windows while the vehicle is in motion. It also keeps the top of the windows in the front even with the top of the door and the driver's side window. My bunks are right where the transition happens, so that both the top and bottom bunk will have a window.

Interesting. Pics? While driving my bus around, I use the windows a LOT. Intersections, backing up, etc. Once cabinets, storage, etc. is added I'm going to be blind!! I haven't raised the roof yet but I am worried about where to put windows back in.

Originally Posted by slaughridge85

I used vinyl residential windows after I re-skinned mine. They look great are cheaper than RV windows and I haven't had any trouble with the double panes going from low to high altitudes or from vibration going down the road.

I might need to go this route. I don't like the looks of the trim on residential windows but I do like the square corners of the OEM bus windows. Has anyone looked for double paned skoolie windows?

If someone isn't retrofitting window frames they should. I'll sell you the idea for a 5% return of your profits.

Originally Posted by North Plains Drifter

Still in the planning stage, my question is: on any given manufacturer whether it be BB, Thomas, ect. Are the interior skins the same gauge thickness as the exterior skins? If so that would save a lot of cost to skin a roof raise would it not?

Thanks

I only have 1 ceiling panel that doesn't have holes cut in it. Lights, speakers, and e-hatches. I could cover individual windows but for reskinning the bus, I want long sheets to tie all the ribs together. Especially with the ceiling metal removed.

Originally Posted by mysty

The wall panels were ugly, textured steel like EastCoastCB said, and I am just scrapping those.

I kinda like the textured tin look. I'm hoping I'll be able to reuse them here and there as accents, back splash, etc. Maybe around the wood stove?

Originally Posted by DreamWeaverBus

Also, once I removed the seats I was thinking of breaking them down, scrapping the steel, or if possible reusing it to frame the bedroom loft? And as for the seats, if the seats were covered with decent leather or faux leather, I was wondering if anyone had ever used them to cover the ceiling, like a headliner?

Gen-u-wine 100% fake pleather in a nice brown color. You could do a headliner but uke:

Originally Posted by New2Skool

I dont know where you are located but, in my climate the bus windows are not good enough.

The most of the cost was in the custom made triple pane high E glaze. It is a little more expense but, the added insulation value is a good long term investment here.

The ex-in-laws are in Farmington. I've no idea where Bemidj is but if you're living year round in you bus, I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!!! Let's talk insulation!! I don't want to winter in Alberta but I want to be ABLE to winter in Alberta.

So all of your windows are triple paned or just the custom windows?

[cadillackid]

there are indeed double paned skoolie windows... , theres a Bus Geek that when was in high school posted all his bus rides on youtibe.. he was in alaska and the busses had double paned windows..

my bluebird has a double pane door.. ECCB's shorty has at least the door and driver window.. I want to think his first row seat windows are also doubles.. so they exist..

trouble is theres still a lot of other heat loss in skoolie windows.. just like old metal windows in houses.. im not sure if they were popular where you are but here in Ohio it seemed once the 70s came along wood was out and crappy aluminum (double pane) windows came out.. ice and condensation on the frames and lots of heat loss in the aluminum..

im not a fan of residential windows in ab us though people are using them with some success.. my MAIN beef against them is safety.. a skoolie window is going to shatter like a car window into lots of teeny little bits N pieces... a house window is going to Shard with large pointy, knife-edge type pieces... a rock from a truck wheel just the right way hits the side of the bus and that house window is going to shard right into the cabin.... while side impacts of objects are somewhat rare.. its not a risk im willing to take.. house windows in a bus that spends 80%+ of its time parked and goes on short trips or when its moved no occupants are in back. ..then I think thats perfectly safe and fine...

thats just an opinion of mine...

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Yeah my driver window and first row of passenger windows are double pane.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

my bluebird has a double pane door.. ECCB's shorty has at least the door and driver window.. I want to think his first row seat windows are also doubles.. so they exist..

Interesting. Didn't know they existed. Do the FL buses have them? Those (probably '70s and early '80s) were the only buses I rode. North FL but still certainly not cold by any standard.

im not a fan of residential windows in ab us though people are using them with some success.. my MAIN beef against them is safety.. a skoolie window is going to shatter like a car window into lots of teeny little bits N pieces...

Good point, forgot about that. I assume the RV windows are safety glass as well as the OEM bus windows?

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Yeah my driver window and first row of passenger windows are double pane.

What the hell is the point of that??? All or nothing. One row isn't going to make a difference.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

What the hell is the point of that??? All or nothing. One row isn't going to make a difference.

defrosting and visibility is the only reason its done.. with double pane its easier for the defrosters to heat up the inside pane of glass enough that condensation wont form.. hence the door , drivers window.. and first set of seats as often those windows are used for lange changes or such..

window clearing is a huge issue for even empty busses in the rain.. and with any people in cold / rain / snow weather the inside of the bus is a fog factory for the windows..

-Christopher

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

defrosting and visibility is the only reason its done.. with double pane its easier for the defrosters to heat up the inside pane of glass enough that condensation wont form.. hence the door , drivers window.. and first set of seats as often those windows are used for lange changes or such..

window clearing is a huge issue for even empty busses in the rain.. and with any people in cold / rain / snow weather the inside of the bus is a fog factory for the windows..

Ah ok. Damn sure ain't for heat.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

What the hell is the point of that??? All or nothing. One row isn't going to make a difference.

They're located where most of the heaters are.
Its a cold weather Colorado bus. That one row keeps the driver and the two WC spots warmer.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

They're located where most of the heaters are.
Its a cold weather Colorado bus. That one row keeps the driver and the two WC spots warmer.

So I need to find 13 CO buses for double pane windows. 4 of which need double pane 32" windows. Piece of cake.

[EastCoastCB]

They're not that great. The inner rubber seal on all mine are on their way out and looking ragged.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

They're not that great. The inner rubber seal on all mine are on their way out and looking ragged.

Were they original fancy and gas filled or just two panes of glass?

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Were they original fancy and gas filled or just two panes of glass?

Pretty sure just two panes, Idk though.

[cadillackid]

they are gas filled sealed units similar to house windows.. ive seen the ones in EC's bus.. and they are definitely having issues..
double pane windows even in houses have issues esp where people open and close themn all the time.. after 20 years alot of them will start to leak..

in a bus with wild temp swings and vibration im amazed they last at all
-Christopher

[jefferyofsky]

Noticed the thread, since I am considering a bus project and want to raise the roof, and wondering how people are tackling it. I hope to dig out my welder I did not use yet and give it a try.

However I noticed that some people mentioned house windows. I know that this is supposed to not be done unless tempered, it could really slice you or others up in the case of an accident, normal glass is a mess and is it worth it.

What I have done in my small tiny home build on the back of a pickup, is to use a window from a metal winter door. You can find them in colder climates at Restore for $40, and often free. Just cut out the window, i leave the metal on, but you can take off the plastic and take out the foam around it.

Then you put it in a frame. This is the window I plan on using on my bus project, however this time, I will have a frame within a frame. So I will put the double pain winter door window, which are of course tempered, into a frame, and then that will be hinged, and then put into another frame with a good trim seal. This way, in summer I can flip it out, and put a screen on the inside, so for cost it is a poor mans window, but VERY WARM, I wintered in Edmonton -35C and it was very toasty.

[Iheartbus]

After feeling the heat from my non tinted windows this last month, I'm ditching every last one of em, including the back windows. If I want a view, I'll go outside or on the roof.