Order of first steps?

[HickoryHusker]

Forgive my ignorance.

I figured taking the seat out is number one, but after that painting the inside? Flooring? Anyone have a standard order to these projects that has proven successful? Any steps I don't want ot overlook in my excitement? Many thanks up front!

[Coma]

Thorough disinfecting wash. Ceiling, walls, floor, etc... Park it so all the water will run toward the back. Inspect floor for rot or rust to determine next steps. What to do with the floors is personal preferance, and there are plenty of posts to refer to.

After the washing, work on a floor plan. That usually will take a while...............

[the_experience03]

I think you have the idea. Work your way from the bottom to the top basically. Just don't forget to make sure everything is accessible for plumbing and wiring when you're framing.

[GoneCamping]

Sit down, take a deep breath, relax... dig out the paper and pencil and start making a list. You'll need to figure out exactly WHAT you want to do with the bus before you can move forward. From what I can see, everyone has their own idea of how much and how far they want to take it. I first worked out a floor plan on paper...actually I worked out several of them before I settled on the one that I wanted. Take your time, measure the interior of the bus carefully, then start measuring the components you want to place in it. Then you have the stuff to make your floorplan and do it to some kind of scale.

Careful planning is the key! Once you have a workable floorplan, everything goes up from there. I actually had the floorplan worked out before I got all the seats out. My project was suppose to start in the rear and work it's way forward, however I wound up doing it the other way around since the materials needed came into play that way. Be that as it may, I otherwise stuck to my plan, but as anyone here can tell you, those plans adjust as you go along.

One of my key elements in the planning was to keep the plumbing centrally located in the bus, nothing too far forward...nothing too far back. The kitchen, bath, & shower all located about midships, and directly above my storage compartment that I built that goes all the way across the bottom. I want to be able to winter camp, and wanted all the plumbing underneath enclosed inside the storage compartment to allow for minumal heating on the pipes...

My bus may be a little more elaborate than most from what I've seen, but I full time in my Travel Trailer, and this bus is going to be the replacement for the trailer, so I wanted it done to meet all my criteria. There is no right way or wrong way, but there are certainly ways that would be recommended and others that should be avoided. Good luck with your project!!

[KC10Chief]

I pulled all of my seats first. Then I power washed and scrubbed the inside. After that, I cleaned the outside and sanded the old paint and painted with new paint! Then I went TDY for almost 4 months. Now that I'm back, I'm working on the windows. I already have a floor plan drawn up. I moved windows around so that the ones I want to be able to open, are the best ones on the bus. The other ones I am fixing to where they stay up. I am painting the ones where there is going to be a wall, and tinting the ones I want to be able to see out of. The ones I painted, I painted black on the inside of the window. I also tore each window down to the glass pane itself and cleaned each one up really good. This made it a lot easier to tint and paint. I worked on it for about 10 hours today and got the entire right side done! WOO HOO! After I tint and paint the left side windows, I am planning to remove the rear heater in the bus, and then lay down some sub flooring. I hope to have that all done before I have to go back to work on Tuesday. My floor is a metal floor with rubber on top. I also need to plug all of the holes where the seat bolts were. After I have my sub flooring in, I am going to paint the inside of the bus and start building in there. I'm planning to start in the rear and work my way forward.

[boojiewoojie]

Here's a short list:
1) Have mechanical things up to snuff
2) Take seats out.
3) Sweep and mop inside
4) Throw in a mattress or two, some folding chairs, ice chest, etc... oh, don't forget a throw rug (adds a nice ambiance) and
5) Go Camping!!!

Then, on the camping trip when you're sitting back taking it easy you and your better half (if applicable) will have "the epiphany" and you will know...

[Coma]

EXCELLENT ADVISE!!!