Bulkhead walls rather than standard framing

[kevinstotz]

I am wanting to do a bulkhead type wall rather than a 2x2 stud wall.

The reason being saving of space and not sure why I need a void in the walls. Wires can be run in thin conduit of necessary to come perpendicular to the long walls. As for the plumbing, that will all be on then long walls.

My question is has anyone ever done it this way? Any concerns or considerations that you want to add.

My other question is how did you attach the bulkhead wall to the ceiling and floor.

Considering the bulkhead wall will be 3/4 plywood or so.ething similar.

Thanks
Kevin

[TJones]

Kevin,

I am planning on my interior walls to be similar to what you described. It is a great space saving idea. As long as the material you are using is rigid enough to be only fastend to the top, bottom or side edge it should work fine. A kreg jig would allow you to drill holes at an angle from side of the plywood and come out the edge. This would alow you to screw to a furring strip on the floor, wall or ceiling.

Ted

[rossvtaylor]

You're exactly right...there's no need to take up the thickness of a 2x stud wall. All we've ever done are 3/4-inch sheet/panel walls...or even 1/2 in some ambulance conversions. LaCroix Cruisers did a nice explanation of why they also do this, in one of their bus videos. In a bus with several walls, you lose a not insignificant amount of space.

[turf]

that's the way to go for sure.

keep the utilities in the walls and build everything out with 3/4" ply.

buy yourself a Kreg jig R3.

pocket hole construction will change the way you build. its stronger, easier and faster. if you can cut a straight line, you can build anything.

once you get good at the jig, you look for new ways to use it.

looks like a lot of my build thread pics are gone but here is an old one i found. you can see the pairs of kreg holes near the bottom at the floor, under the fridge. everything gets screwed to everything else and it gets real strong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBPce1gnzOw

[kevinstotz]

I just watched lacroix cruiser's videos. Great stuff. Thanks

[kevinstotz]

It seems 3/4 plywood is sufficient for the walls. If there is anything leveraging the wall, then maybe add some reinforcement

[Native]

When I get into the interior buildout ... I'm going to have to get a Kreg jig!

[Ronnie]

We used 3/4 ceder. This is for the water tank a vertical round one, the fridge in the middle, with pantry space above and below, and closet.

[Ronnie]

Here it is in the finished state.

[s2mikon]

This is what I did to make bulkhead walls. I bought 1.5 x 3 inch 14 gauge tube and using a wire feed welder fabricated a frame for both bulkheads. I welded it to the floor and bolted it to the sides of the bus with self tapping 1/4” bolts to the channel going upright. Then used peel rivets to the ceiling. These were then painted with white paint. Then I cut 7/16 osb to fit the ceiling, wall and floor faced one side with FRP shower board and attached it to the steel frame with the FRP against the frame using semi trailer 1/4” floor deck screws. Then covered the osb with birch wainscoting panel. That gave me a place for 3 inch shelves. If you look in my album look at my “medicine” cabinet. Directly behind that cabinet is the shower. I lost less than 3/4” per bulkhead and got places to store things. Across from the “medicine” cabinet is a paneled bulkhead with shelving for towels and toiletries. This gives a very strong door frame to attach the door to.

[s2mikon]

Ronnie, That is absolutely gorgeous.

[BeNimble]

I am using hollow closet doors for my bathroom bulkhead wall, which is a structural wall.
The are light, strong, free, and have nice wood grain.
Might be a pic on my build thread.

[peteg59]

Originally Posted by s2mikon

Ronnie, That is absolutely gorgeous.

x2 on that.
Nice work!

[Iceni John]

All six of my interior divider walls are 3/4" thick, located inside 3/4" internal-width 6063 aluminum channel that's screwed to the floor and side walls and riveted to the ceiling. The closets' and bathroom's walls covered with Celtek board on both sides are made from 1/2" plywood, and the shower's walls are 5/8" plywood because the Celtek is only on their outside faces. (The shower's walls' inner surfaces have FRP glued to the plywood to make a waterproof barrier, then Armstrong self-stick vinyl floor tiles are glued to the FRP to give it a faux-stone look.) One huge (for me) benefit of hiding all the walls' edges inside aluminum channel is neatness - nothing is worse than seeing gaps between wall and ceiling, so as long as the channel itself is tight against the ceiling the walls themselves don't need to be trimmed super-precisely. The walls are stiffened along their outer edges by square or rectangular 1/8"-thick aluminum tube that has channel riveted to it, and this makes the walls more than stiff enough.

John