We want a loft...

[KT92]

My boyfriend and I are planning on building our own skoolie soon. We are at stage one: finding the right bus. In order to determine which is the right bus for us we're trying to figure out how big of a bus we'llc need. I'd really like to do a partial roof raise so we can have a sleeping loft but my boyfriend says it will be too complicated. We don't know how to weld and we don't know any welders off hand. He thinks we can just cut a whole in the ceiling (like a 8ft×6ft hole on the back end) and then build a wooden structure on top. From the reading I've done on here many are saying that can't be done. So my question is, how do we build a loft without welding? Thanks!

[cowlitzcoach]

It is possible to cut a hole in the roof and build a wooden second story.

I doubt you could ever make it sturdy enough to make it safe to drive down the road.

You could build a platform on the roof that could be the floor for a tent or some sort of pop up that could be accessed by either an exterior ladder or through a roof hatch.

It is already very difficult to find adequate insurance for a converted school bus. If your conversion is not very conventional in appearance or made out of alternative materials you may find that adequate insurance will be impossible to find.

I don't know how helpful I have been but I hope this helps.

Good luck and happy trails to you!

[New2Skool]

Hi and welcome
The bus is a big step, the size you want depends on what you want to do.
Some folks get by with a shorty and other go as big as they can.
If, it is going to be a weekend road trip bus then size is optional.
If, it is going to be a full time living bus home then bigger is better.
It really depends on what you want.

For the loft, I like the idea.
I did a lift on my bus of about 18 inches.
It was not as hard as I thought it would be.
It was scary but, I did it and entirely by myself in a few hours.
So, I have no doubt a couple can do it.

The factors for what you are thinking are:
Legal vehicle height in your state or region.
In my state 14 feet is the max. This included top mounted items as well.
The original height of my bus was 10 feet, so lifting 18 inches put me to nearly 12 feet. You dont want to push the limit as some bridges, might be a foot shorter than others.

My bus interior was about 6'2, if you lifted the roof 18 inches it would be 7'8 and that is not very tall. Under standard interior height, much less a loft above and functional room below. My immediate idea is flipping it around. You could put a crawl space bedroom on the ground level and a living area above, I think the steps up and increased height would give a better view or more open of a feeling.

It is all up to you, you can be as creative as you like. The best thing that I have learned during my skoolie time was welding. A $100 buzz box welder, $100 helmet haha and a lot of time and rods opened so many doors for my bus it is amazing. A few things to think about and consider, it is fun and dont be off put by everything. It is a lot but, everyone comes one by one.

Enjoy

[DreamWeaverBus]

The crawl space bed is a good idea, I was also considering a floating bedspace above with a living area below, I had my college dorm set up like that. But either way could potentially work. I guess it also depends on if you have a FE or RE, could build over the RE, might not change the floor space much at all if you did it that way...

I really wanted a bedroom loft but considering my fear of low clearance crashes I'm reconsidering it. I just worry about a cramped living space.

[Mark_In_MA]

I'm not so sure its a great idea.

For drivability sake, you want to keep under 13 feet. I'm not sure why, but 13 feet seems to be a fairly standard minimum clearance height.

If your bus is 10-ish feet tall now, that means your "loft" will only be three feet tall. A good mattress is going to be 6 inches - so your "loft" now has 2.5 feet of headroom.

I'd much rather put my bed on a 2-foot platform with storage underneath, and just have the rest of the "normal" headroom up to the bus ceiling.

I'd also consider a murphy bed, that hinges up against a wall of the bus when not in use. A full-size mattress is roughly 4x6 - so you could put it sideways, and have it fold up against the back wall. A queen would fit the long way (front-back) if you folded it up against a side wall when not being used.

[Rengald]

Just to throw this out there, my wife and I are planning a two foot-ish roof raise in order to accommodate a loft. The plan is to fit about 5-1/2 feet underneath the loft so my wife can stand up. I'm 6' 2" so that's not very realistic for me. This will leave us with about 2 feet above the mattress in the loft. Which is perfectly fine for sleeping as far as we are concerned. My college dorm was set up about exactly like this which is where I came up with the idea.

Even a tall guy like me fit underneath the raised dorm bed. Yeah I had to stoop but it was great usable living space and we want to replicate that in the bus.



Our plan is to have stairs going up to it. The wall opposite the bed will have cubby storage for clothes and the like and the space under the stairs will be storage for hanging clothes accessible from the room under the bed.

Either way. This is just a plan and all plans change. What I want to do is find a way to make the loft height adjustable with some kind of jack... so when were are sleeping we can lower the bed for more height and when we are in the room underneath we can raise the bed up. Call me a dreamer. ;0

But yeah... all this revolves around welding in the roof raise so take that for what it is. I hope you can find a method that works for you!

[mysty]

I plan to steal this idea.

A simple garage lift and some hardware makes a loft bed that can be lowered at night, and kept up by the ceiling during the day. It doesn't obstruct windows like a murphy bed would, keeping the small living space more open feeling. You can also bring the bed down low enough to climb in without needing a ladder or stairs that take up precious space.

[sammy]

I like this idea too... but you're not going to have nearly as much ceiling height to work with as a tiny house does. The floor of a tiny house is MUCH lower than a school bus floor to start with. I think it's pretty normal for a school bus floor to be 36-42" off the ground. Even with max roof raise, you won't have as much room as a tiny house.

[mysty]

With an 18" raise, we have plenty of room for a platform and mattress over the cab with headroom to spare.

[MudMaverick]

100% doable

[Iheartbus]

Originally Posted by MudMaverick

100% doable

Is it insured? By whom?

[EastCoastCB]

Do you need an oversize permit to drive it?

[MollyCMo]

Originally Posted by Rengald

Just to throw this out there, my wife and I are planning a two foot-ish roof raise in order to accommodate a loft. The plan is to fit about 5-1/2 feet underneath the loft so my wife can stand up. I'm 6' 2" so that's not very realistic for me. This will leave us with about 2 feet above the mattress in the loft. Which is perfectly fine for sleeping as far as we are concerned. My college dorm was set up about exactly like this which is where I came up with the idea.

Even a tall guy like me fit underneath the raised dorm bed. Yeah I had to stoop but it was great usable living space and we want to replicate that in the bus.



Our plan is to have stairs going up to it. The wall opposite the bed will have cubby storage for clothes and the like and the space under the stairs will be storage for hanging clothes accessible from the room under the bed.

Either way. This is just a plan and all plans change. What I want to do is find a way to make the loft height adjustable with some kind of jack... so when were are sleeping we can lower the bed for more height and when we are in the room underneath we can raise the bed up. Call me a dreamer. ;0

But yeah... all this revolves around welding in the roof raise so take that for what it is. I hope you can find a method that works for you!

Hi Rengald! I'm wondering if you guys ended up pulling this off?

[jazty]

Originally Posted by MudMaverick

100% doable

Technically "do-able". But can it be driven down the road without being torn to pieces by bridges? Or will it be impounded for violating oversize laws? Will anyone insure such a heavily customized vehicle without engineered drawings?I think these are the things OP is interested in.

[jazty]

My personal opinion is that Murphy beds are the way to go if you want to maximize living space. Of course the con is that you have to make your bed every day. That's my only gripe with them

[Tango]

Maybe a small issue, but...when the person on the outside needs go potty in the middle of the night...no way it's gonna happen without waking the other party (?). Seen the same layout cause problems with plenty of "one-story" rigs.

[jazty]

In a Murphy? Depends what's around it. I can scoot my butt aft-ward to get off the bed. My other 3/4s gets the outer edge for a faster escape since she's more prone to needing the early morning relief.

[Sleddgracer]

what about a volkswagon type of temporary lift? - jack it up at night when you need the space and lower it when you travel - wouldn't have to lift the bed up and down that way - just build the bed close to the roof, leaving more space under the bed, and lift the roof when you need the space - might even be light enough to lift by hand using shocks from a hatchback door - if it was for me, I'd ditch the stairs because they take up so much room and use a ladder instead

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by Rengald

Just to throw this out there, my wife and I are planning a two foot-ish roof raise in order to accommodate a loft. The plan is to fit about 5-1/2 feet underneath the loft so my wife can stand up. I'm 6' 2" so that's not very realistic for me. This will leave us with about 2 feet above the mattress in the loft. Which is perfectly fine for sleeping as far as we are concerned. My college dorm was set up about exactly like this which is where I came up with the idea.

Even a tall guy like me fit underneath the raised dorm bed. Yeah I had to stoop but it was great usable living space and we want to replicate that in the bus.

*snip*

Our plan is to have stairs going up to it. The wall opposite the bed will have cubby storage for clothes and the like and the space under the stairs will be storage for hanging clothes accessible from the room under the bed.

Either way. This is just a plan and all plans change. What I want to do is find a way to make the loft height adjustable with some kind of jack... so when were are sleeping we can lower the bed for more height and when we are in the room underneath we can raise the bed up. Call me a dreamer. ;0

But yeah... all this revolves around welding in the roof raise so take that for what it is. I hope you can find a method that works for you!

no way in hell I could sleep like that.... looking at my desk, and looking at the shelf I put 24" above it.... I ain't sleeping there!

[Tango]

Sounds like my old Navy bunk. But more spacious.