Skoolie

[Scottfamily]

Hello we are buying our first bus soon converting it to a Skoolie,We will need help with a roof raise does anyone know where can we go in ct to have someone help us?

 

[Bjorkinman]

Depending on your time frame we may be on the road in that area by then. Our plan is to carry my tools along with so we can freelance work like this on site. There is no place I know of on the East Coast doing this type of work except skoolie.com located in Hendersonville NC. I emailed them several times about doing my roof raise but they never responded to my emails. Blessing in disguise because now I have a whole host of skills.

 

[ewo1]

Hello we are buying our first bus soon converting it to a Skoolie,We will need help with a roof raise does anyone know where can we go in ct to have someone help us?

Before you even remove one rivet on the roof, get your insurance first!
It is getting really hard to get a roof raised bus insured, really hard!

You might have a friend who is an insurance agent who might tell you don't worry, we could do that later...

A BIG NO!

It is all about the underwriters and not the agent!


Building a skoolie requires vision, desire, plans and execution of those plans.
Insurance should be your first step in this plan, then comes the buildout design.

 

[Scottfamily]

Thank you.

 

[Scottfamily]

Depending on your time frame we may be on the road in that area by then. Our plan is to carry my tools along with so we can freelance work like this on site. There is no place I know of on the East Coast doing this type of work except skoolie.com located in Hendersonville NC. I emailed them several times about doing my roof raise but they never responded to my emails. Blessing in disguise because now I have a whole host of skills.

 

[Scottfamily]

How much do you charge for a 8in raise international?

 

[nikitis]

Depending on your time frame we may be on the road in that area by then. Our plan is to carry my tools along with so we can freelance work like this on site. There is no place I know of on the East Coast doing this type of work except skoolie.com located in Hendersonville NC. I emailed them several times about doing my roof raise but they never responded to my emails. Blessing in disguise because now I have a whole host of skills.

I have met and spoke with the owner over at skoolie.com. Visited his warehouse. He's no longer doing roof raise work for others as an option, but will sell the parts for roof raises. He makes all of his parts in his warehouse, and are of good quality.

He had a roof raise going on when I showed up but he said it was just for a friend. He also told me he used to do them for $8,000, but was told by a few people he charges too little, and doesn't feel right charging 10-12k so between that and other reasons he's not doing them any longer himself.

I've contemplated offering this service myself for some side work. I'm only like 1h:45 mins from Hendersonville, NC.

Do you have a Thomas or Bluebird bus, and how long is the cab? And do you want to keep the windows or sheet metal over them and add RV windows Later?

 

[Bjorkinman]

I think the best option for me would be to charge by the hour and work alongside someone who is interested in getting their elbows dirty with me. I’d be in the ballpark of 100$ an hour. If you just wanted a start to finish product without jumping in then the rate Skoolie.com was charging sounds about right. I’d plan for 2 weeks on a full size bus IF you had all the gutting (less windows) done up front.

 

[Bjorkinman]

I think the best option for me would be to charge by the hour and work alongside someone who is interested in getting their elbows dirty with me. I’d be in the ballpark of 100$ an hour. If you just wanted a start to finish product without jumping in then the rate Skoolie.com was charging sounds about right. I’d plan for 2 weeks on a full size bus IF you had all the gutting (less windows) done up front.

Also, I remember I watched a livestream from Chuck Cassady where he mentioned a full size bus with roof raise averaged 16k
The height doesn’t change the amount very much, just marginal metal cost. It’s the same effort to raise 8” as it is 16”

 

[nikitis]

I wouldn't recommend anyone pay 16k for a raise. I think 8k would be the generous but takes as long as it takes price, 10k average price with reasonable expectation to complete like in 1 month, and 12k on the high end to be done in 2-3 weeks.

And if not doing a "through window" cut add an extra 1k. Window raises are a bit easier, but under window cuts require more difficult and dangerous cuts. So style of raise would affect price a bit

There are also options that could be added onto like adding an extra bumper bar under the windows for under window raises.

 

[PorchDog]

Ross Taylor was doing them, and I think he was very reasonable. He lives in Parks, Arizona, about halfway between Flagstaff and Williams on I40. One of his videos--

 

[nikitis]

Ross is how I learned to do the under window roof raise.