Our Bus, Our Home

[eyedeal.ink]

Some more work on the bathroom, still need add some mirrored doors to the medicine cabinet and a cabinet above the toilet.

[Malkieri]

I love the penny backsplash!! I redid a table like that... glass top broke so I inset a piece of plywood and pennied it up...I Still haven't epoxy coated yet. Probably never will... looks pretty neat with a mix of shiny and dull pennies.


Yours looks great!!

[Diesel Dan]

Looks great!

[wmkbailey]

I'm not big in the all wood look, but this looks nice.

[eyedeal.ink]

Haven't posted in a while but still working, slowly but surely. Here's a quick update, I know, pics or it didn't happen, there's just not much to show at this point I'm afraid.

We've tested the plumbing and I'm happy to report no leaks, I highly recommend the PEX. At this point we have the bathroom sink plumbed and operational with shutoffs installed for the kitchen sink and the toilet, shower supplies are capped. The "cedar tongue and groove shower" has become an art project (did I mention I'm an artist ). After hours of research and a lot of head scratching, I've decided that the only way to keep my shower walls from growing, buckling, mildewing, rotting, turning black, stinking, etc. is to use them as a base for a fiberglass shell. I almost feel stupid at this point but I have to see it through. I'll post pictures later but basically what I've done is purchase a gallon of West System epoxy and associated special clear hardener, a package of woven roving fiberglass and enough 6 oz fiberglass cloth to cover the shower. After a coat of the CPES I coated the entire shower with a thin coat of the West epoxy. After carefully pulling the woven roving into strips (it looks like woven baling twine but it's made of glass) I used an oral syringe filled with epoxy and the roving strips to fill any gaps, round out the sharp corners in the back and bring every groove out flush with the board faces. When the roving is saturated with clear epoxy it cures translucent and tough as nails (and most importantly - waterproof). Once the grooves are filled (three strips of roving and epoxy, so far only one strip per groove has been placed and sealed) I'll set about covering the entire shower with the 6 oz fabric and with a few more coats of epoxy over that, I'll have clear fiberglass shower walls that'll look like coated cedar boards. ($800 and a hundred hours later). I don't recommend the wood shower idea to anyone, it'll look cool but jeez, what a project. Unfortunately, special clear hardener works best and cures crystal clear in 80 degree weather and won't cure in anything below 60. Not taking any chances so the shower is on hold until Spring weather.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Did we forget to put a P trap on the sink? wont that allow smells from the waste tank?

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by allwthrrider

Did we forget to put a P trap on the sink? wont that allow smells from the waste tank?

Nope, used a Hepvo: http://www.hepvo.com/ membrane trap saves room and works without water. We'll use one on the shower as well cause you can install them sideways.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Originally Posted by eyedeal.ink

Nope, used a Hepvo: http://www.hepvo.com/ membrane trap saves room and works without water. We'll use one on the shower as well cause you can install them sideways.

I'm going to look into this thanks

[Diddly]

What are the measurements of your toilet/sink area? Love the layout!

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by eyedeal.ink

Nope, used a Hepvo: http://www.hepvo.com/ membrane trap saves room and works without water. We'll use one on the shower as well cause you can install them sideways.

I plan to use the same too. I had a class C RV that when driving for a long distance the water would slosh out of the shower P-trap and it got stinky.

[eyedeal.ink]

Some upper kitchen cabinet action. We wanted them to be strong and light so we used 4 ft of steel along the top and 4 ft of aluminum angle along both sides to support the bottom board. We added a simpson tie at each roof bow as well (not shown in the pic), and everything was coated with a bead of caulking to add shear strength and distribute the weight. The tongue and groove boards in the back of the cabinet add a layer of insulation (notice the trapped air) and we just like the added wood cause that's the look we're going for.

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

I plan to use the same too. I had a class C RV that when driving for a long distance the water would slosh out of the shower P-trap and it got stinky.

We learned about them one of the many late nights looking through this forum when we first started this project. lot's of great info here.

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by Diddly

What are the measurements of your toilet/sink area? Love the layout!

Thanks, we ended up with 36 1/2" long by 28" wide for the toilet/sink area. Tight squeeze, the toilet will sit at the same angle as the cabinet.

[eyedeal.ink]

Been a busy week, before work, after work, and as my wife said "skip work" Seriously though, lots of inside project work.

Got Charley's bunk area finished off, still need to finish her storage space underneath. We chose to install one of the LED fixtures where you can use one or both sides. Puts out nice white light. She wants a wall installed to block off 2/3rds of the hallway with a curtain door so we're not quite finished with this part.




come to think of it, the only thing that's finished is the woodstove.



we almost finished the cabinet doors, they need another light coat of polyurethane on the faces, the edges already got two coats and we sanded them smooth with 000 steel wool so we decided to hang 'em anyway, sometimes it's hard not to jump ahead in the name of moving forward.






I also built our storage area/closet/dresser. The bottom two rows are divided equally in thirds, we'll purchase or make some bins (two per slot) to populate this area and the top and second from the top shelves we'll be adding curtains to, it'll be a great place for my guitar and other household necessities. We also ended up making the plumbing section into a full height closet where we'll have upper front and lower back closet rungs, I think we'll have enough storage for all our clothes.

[Diesel Dan]

Nice job on the cabinets and woodworking in general - looks great!

[roach711]

Killer job on the cabinetry! They'll be rock solid with your angle iron attachment plan.

[eyedeal.ink]

Thanks for the compliments guys, a little here, little there, we hope to be wrapping it up by spring time. I have to say, the wood stove makes the woodwork much more enjoyable, been in the 20's here all week but not inside the bus, we've pretty much kept a fire going around the clock, still has coals after 12 hours, definitely our best investment yet.

[eyedeal.ink]

Spent a few hours yesterday re-leveling the bus. It's been raining here but yesterday and the day before we're clear and cold so I decided it'd be a good day to lay on the frozen dryer felt and play in the dirt. Last fall we gave up our precious driveway space (mom didn't like it blocking her view of the garden and dad really didn't like having his truck on the street although neither complained to me personally, it was just a courtesy thing) and moved our bus to the edge of the garden where there's a double eight foot gate. At the time we laid a few boards down and drove the bus into it's spot then spent a few days with the bottle jack and leveled it with additional 2x12's. The drivers were only on two pieces of 3/4 inch plywood each due to them being on higher ground. This arrangement worked well for last year until recently the front passenger side tire has settled about three inches on the garden side (that's we're they used to plant potatoes) and it was about 1 1/2 inch of dirt (can't be having that). Ever try and dig a spot for your jack and bracing under the front passenger tire from the front? not much room, after burying a couple of pieces of wood I used a fifth wheel hitch as a base a it worked like a charm. I added a few pieces of broken concrete walkway my pops had laying around before adding the wood this time.
We also added a few curtains and purchased a 29' x 19' tarp we plan to cover the majority of the bus with, can't see having it sit all winter in the rain and snow without a constant heat source and I'm not there everyday. This spring she'll get another two coats of elastomeric on the roof, an insulated roof rack and a few coats of paint on the outside. I'm definetly thinking insulation underneath as well. I had a good fire going last night for 4 hours, it was 28 degrees outside and the roof bow on either side of the chimney box was still cold to the touch, got me thinking. Already planned roof rack full length by 6 1/2 feet wide, cutouts for chimney and roof vents (definitely be adding two of these for the moisture http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/it ... stat/17339) with about 2/3rds dedicated to solar power and a third for storage/hanging out/bbq'ing etc...so why not insulate underneath it? I'm thinking insulation board and spray foam sandwich. We were planning 1 1/2 inch angle iron with expanded metal so I think we could just tack some sheet metal to the under side first then add insulation using spray-foam to take up any gaps.

[Gettingschooled]

This is amazing and it gives me hope for my future bus conversion.
Where's the rest of the story and photos?!

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by Gettingschooled

This is amazing and it gives me hope for my future bus conversion.
Where's the rest of the story and photos?!

Thank you! More photos to come.