New to the forum, working on Kismet the Wander Bus!

[kismet.wanderbus]

Hi, folks! My name's Andy - my spouse, kid and I are currently in the roof raise portion of our bus build here in North Carolina! We snagged a 36" 2004 International bus off of the Cabarrus County school system for $3500, under 200k miles, minimal rust, no issues save a minor coolant leak. We're excited to join the skoolie community and get to see some of our continent while our son's still young enough that he thinks his dads are cool.

We've currently got it nearly bare - removing the sidewalls and ceilings in the next few days, but we've had a lot of vandalism issues on our property (including the bus). I've installed locks, but we're having trouble keeping tires on the thing without people slashing them. Between that and quite a lot of property damage, we're looking to move on ASAP and working as quickly as we can to get rolling. Nothing like necessity to keep us motivated!

A question for all of you with much more experience than I have - regarding filtration for water, what did you end up going with? And what kind of battery setup would be recommended for two working adults with fairly large power needs? We both work remote, but need fairly high-powered desktops to handle the kind of work we do (which means climate control as much as possible to reduce ambient heat in the summer). We've got about 4KwH solar, so definitely have the capacity to get the power we need, but I'm not sure exactly what to do about batteries yet. Any suggestions welcome!

Other than that, we're just waiting for a welder for the roof raise and a fabricator for a bump-out on the front for a bed for the kiddo, but then it won't be long before we're out there with you guys!

 

[Corbi]

Welcome! It sounds like you have a lot going on. The vandelism side is worrysome. If you’re like me, the bus gets used for tool storage at the early stages of a build. You might hear from some members on this site that it’s better to take the bus out on the road for a few weekends with basic amenities before building out into what you think you need. I think putting questions in the right forums should get you the answers you need. Keep us posted with photos of your progress.

 

[Rucker]

Water filtration: I have a standard freshwater tank I purge and treat once a year. The water is used for everything but drinking, with no particular filtering. For drinking water I have a three stage water filter with a separate faucet at the kitchen sink.

 

[kismet.wanderbus]

Welcome! It sounds like you have a lot going on. The vandelism side is worrysome. If you’re like me, the bus gets used for tool storage at the early stages of a build. You might hear from some members on this site that it’s better to take the bus out on the road for a few weekends with basic amenities before building out into what you think you need. I think putting questions in the right forums should get you the answers you need. Keep us posted with photos of your progress.

We were planning on it, but given the rush I'm not sure we'll be able to! It's definitely been an experience, but I've been lurking a bit to try to figure out some bits and pieces. We were lucky enough to not go into it completely blind, but you're probably right - I've got a lot of questions, and it seems like a lot of folks are incredibly knowledgeable and friendly about it.

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Water filtration: I have a standard freshwater tank I purge and treat once a year. The water is used for everything but drinking, with no particular filtering. For drinking water I have a three stage water filter with a separate faucet at the kitchen sink.

That answers a lot of questions, actually - having a faucet that's specifically drinking water wouldn't have occurred to me! That probably makes managing it a bit easier, and requires a smaller filter than I was worried about. Genuinely appreciate it!