During the conversion of bus, we put several adds online looking for RV parts. One day we received an e-mail from a guy who had a 2016 Sportsman he was scrapping out. The brand new camper had never even made it to the dealer, it had rolled over during transportation. That weekend we drove 2 hours to meet up with him and see what we could salvage. We ended up spending about $1200 with him, but we both walked away very happy. Items we purchase included.
Used cordless drill batteries to test it out. Cutting out the rub rails. This allowed the arms of the awning to be flush with the side of the bus. After the awning is extended you can pivot the arms manually to change the pitch.
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When we started the conversion, the plan was to do everything ourselves including the paint job. This would help cut down on the total cost. The project fell behind schedule and with winter around the corner we decided to have the bus painted professionally. We did all the prep work for the painters which saved us about $2,000. The bus was extremely dirty, so the first thing we did was give her a bath. We used TSP Substitute cleaning solution and scrub brushes to clean off the heavy grime before power washing it. We used a verity of sandpaper grits during the prepping process. There were spots on the bus that had a thick build up of paint or clear coat where we used 80-120 grit. After all the clear coat and ridges were sanded down, we used 200 girt for our final sand. For flat areas like the roof and the sides of the bus, we used a hand sander. For the curves and hard to get spots, we hand sanded. This included the rub rails and the hood of the bus. We took our bus to John's Paint and Body, which was only a few miles from the farm. They had it back to us in just under a week, and did a great job. It was dark out by the time we went to pick the bus up, so we didn't get to really see the color until the next morning. We were so excited to see that our home was no longer school bus yellow. They used a single-stage paint and the color we chose was called "White Chocolate". The amount of time we spent looking for the right floor was depressing. We love the look and verities of true hardwood but didn't like the idea of loosing anymore head room than we had to and we were worried the fasteners would creak over time from all the road vibrations. Vinyl plank was a thought because it's cheap and waterproof, but often times the textures look unconvincing and too repetitive. We don't like laminate planks so that was not an option. Finally we decided to go with a 3/8" engineered bamboo. We didn't use any fasteners or glue and just treated it like a floating floor with small gaps around the boarders. So far we haven't had any issues of it shifting or unlocking and was just the tone and texture we wanted.
At first we looked around to see what we could find that would work with our layout and appliances. We soon realized it just wasn't feasible to find reasonably priced cabinets that would work with our farm sink and RV oven/stove without major reworking. We also wanted toe kick drawers for additional storage so we just decided to build our own. I'm not going to go in-depth into this process because it would be a book by the time I'm done but instead I'll just give you a quick briefing and some of the materials used. If you have specific questions feel free to reach out to us and we will help where we can. We used 4X8' 3/4'' birch plywood for the carcasses. These are typically cut down to 23 1/4" deep by 34 1/2" tall. This is so once the 3/4" face frames are attached the cabinet, they will then measure 24" leaving a 1'' overhang for a typical 25" countertop. This will also leave you about 36" tall once your 1 1/2"countertops are on. This is just a standard; things can very if desired. All the face frames and drawer fronts were made from 3/4" poplar and 1/4" birch insert panels. The carcasses were Kreg Jig'd and glued together. We used dado joinery as a technique for our face frames and drawer body's. There are a variety of cabinet building techniques and materials that can be used. This is what worked for us with the tools and methods we knew. Our original idea was to have some kind of barn door for our bathroom but after some forward thinking, ideas changed. To start we did not have the head clearance for a traditional barn door rail. Bouncing down the road would also become an issue with the door derailing. We had this beautiful farmhouse door that fit perfect and we knew there was a way to use it. During this time we were also looking into hardware for our custom cabinets and we came up with the idea to use horizontal drawer slides on the door. This eliminated any clearance issues and concealed any hardware when not in use. Our bathroom is multifunctional- it includes our shower, toilet, and a place for the dogs to go when we're not around. To eliminate any issue with the door moving while driving or to lock it when the dogs are crated, we used a beautiful piece of hardware we found at our local Old House Society. Two brass bushings were inlayed into the finished floor later on, one in each of the open and closed position. These bushings were the receivers for the peg leg lock. Close up of the mortise needed for the locking mechanism. Locking peg in the locked position. Boring this out was a scary and slow process. A 3/4'' hole had to be drilled perfectly straight from the bottom of the door up to the locking mechanism. Slightly veering off in any direction would either surface through the face of the door or make correcting the pilot very difficult because a drill bit will always follow the path of the least resistance. I was slightly off by the time I got to the handle but thats why I oversized the drill bit, knowing it wouldn't be perfect. We decided on using one big fixed mounted tank vs two removable 20lbs tanks. The debate was whether or not we would find places to fill up the fixed tank on the road; as where with two 20lbs tanks, you can exchange them out just about anywhere. The Flame King YSN293 is a 29.3gal ASME approved horizontal tank. We ended up finding plenty of places to fill our tank including Menards, Loves, U-Haul, and of course, any propane supplier. With this large tank, we don't have to fill but every couple months at most. The winter is a bit different due to the propane consumption from the use our furnace. During those colder months, we fill it maybe once a month. Raising the propane tank into place. The brackets on the tank did not line up with the corrugated decking under the bus, so a steal plate was used for a substructure. Some 16 gauge steel was cut to length and bolt holes were predrilled with a step bit. The length was cut so there was no overhang from the tank bracket to the end of the steel without support. As you can see in the picture above, it extends to the rib past the bracket. This was done to insure there was no movement while traveling down the road. Grade 8 bolts were used to attach the tank to the flat stock steel, then galvanized self tapping screws were used to attach the flat stock to the bus. The steel could of been welded to the bus instead of the screws, but we didn't not have a welder on site. A salvaged RV panel was used for our access door. We spot primed any bare metal after making cuts into the structure of the bus. This will reduce any rust issues down the road. We wanted something unique and classy for the entrance of our bus. Matt had recently converted a historic hotel into six luxury apartments in our downtown and salvaged a stack of beams and floor joists. The joists were perfect for this job. To get the treads fitted to the curve of the bus step a template was made for each tread with a piece of cardboard. Once the template was trimmed and fitted just right, the template was transferred to the lumber. A few miner adjustments were made to get a snug fit, then it was time for epoxy. We used a product called Marine Pro Epoxy, which is a two part mix. If you decide to use this product be sure to follow all the directions and tips to ensure a great finish. Before permanently attaching the stairs, we used a Rustoleum spray paint to finish the stair well. To attach the treads we used a generous amount of PL Premium Adhesive on the under side of each tread and drove a couple screws from the under side to pull them tight while the adhesive cured. Some people have been concerned with the traction of the steps with the glass like finish, but even with wet shoes we have never had any issues.
A composting toilet made sense to us for the sake of conserving water and functionality. We didn't really want to have to deal with a black water tank and from all the research we have done, people have been quite pleased with their composting toilets. Our set up is fairly simple. We have a bucket for the solids and a urine diverter that sends the urine to a holding tank. A 12volt exhaust fan will help draw out any unwanted smells that arise. We originally thought about getting the Nature's Head composting toilet, but just couldn't justify the price. To set the tile, we mixed Ditra-Set and an acrylic additive to strengthen the mortar. After the tile was set, we used Bostik grout with a 425 additive, which also helps improve water resistance of grouts, improves flexural and compressive strengths, and helps prevent cracking in wood framed structures. We sealed the pebbles twice before grouting with a natural stone sealer to prevent the grout from staining. Just a disclaimer about this particular type of tile with large grout lines: IT TAKES FOREVER TO WIPE CLEAN, so work in small areas at a time. We grouted the wall all at once and the floor all at once and it was a race against time to get an area clean before it set up. For the bathroom area, we utilized every nook and cranny that we could. We didn't want the bathroom sink inside the bathroom because we thought it would feel to cramped. So we came up with this design to put the sink on the outside wall with storage below and on the side. The side wall and the rest of the bathroom interior is 100% vinyl since it will most likely get wet from the shower. For privacy, an old farmhouse door is being installed on drawer slides. We wanted to use a barn door rail but we didn't have the clearance. Our tiny sink pictured was from Signature Hardware.
Our bedroom layout needed to be cozy, yet functional for storage. So we decided to have some storage on the headboard wall, as well as cubbies on either side of the bed. The side cubbies will most likely be used for clothes and bedside necessities. All of the cubbies are built from 3/4" birch and Kreg Jig joinery. We used the Kreg Jig for multiple applications in our build out, so it ended up being an extremely useful tool to have. Our bed side cubbies will have lift up lids while our head board cubbies will have bypassing doors using dado rails.
Beth made these sconces for the headboard wall with candle holders from Target and a sconce kit at Lowe's. As our time came to end at the warehouse we were getting worried about where we would move the bus. A soon to be friend of ours has a farm just outside of town and offered us to bring the bus there and we took her up on it. Being out at the farm has made a huge difference in our work ethic- it's so much more pleasant being outside with natural light while working. I feel like we have progressed 10x faster in this new environment. The owner of the farm is a retired school teacher who is always working on some kind of cool project so we offered up our time whenever she needed a hand in exchange for having the bus at the farm.
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