Missing in *Bus* Action

I haven't posted in a long while because we've been busy working on the bus!  Michael took a hiatus once it started getting hot.  I continued a little bit getting some plywood walls to resemble smooth gyp board, but I easily gave up when Michael suggested we work out instead of working on the bus.  It wasn't that I was eager to exercise - I wasn't too keen on exerting energy in the humidity, battling mosquitoes and no-see-ums.

But 3 weekends ago, we installed the walls for the back bedroom which will be Michael's and mine.

As seen from the front of the bus.

As seen from the back of the bus where the master bedroom is.

Michael then took a week off work and we focused on the kids' bunk beds.

The template we've been using for the curve of the ceiling

Simone is eyeing Max's bed

The kids' drawers! 

Max is going to try out his new bunk bed.

As soon as we finished the bunk beds, we started working on the shower.  Michael had 2 days left for his vacation and he was going to be as efficient as possible.  

Step One: Drill a hole for water to escape the shower

Step Two:  Add walls

Step Three:  Pretend the plumbing is already installed

Despite our hiatus, we are now full-blast into working on the bus.  During the day, I have a variety of things to do, both on the bus and at the big box home-improvement stores.  At night, Michael comes home and we work for as long as we can bear the bug bites (there are still no-see-ums roaming about).

In the Bus Again

Now that the weather has cooled down to about 75, we feel it's bearable to spend time in the bus again!


The first thing we tackeled was the ceiling. We had wanted to finish it before we had left Minnesota, but we were already so far behind schedule that we decided to leave it until Florida. It's a good thing we did because the insulation we sprayed continued to expand! Imagine if we had put the panels up before the full expansion. We would have a creaky, maybe holey, bus ceiling by now.

We are super insulating this tin can. We put a thin reflective panel in between the 5mm ply and the foam insulation. The Reflectix looks like what a cheap sunshade for your car's windshield is made of. Bubble wrap with foil on both sides.

Michael made a helper! We don't have Uncle Frankie anymore to help us with an extra pair of hands, so Micheal made a prop that could hold things in place if I were not around or if the two of us were not enough.

There were some days when Michael would go to work and I would cut the panels and make notches during my free time. Overall the labor came out to about 5 work days. Doing this exercise helped me overcome my fear of the circular saw. Now I know what you're thinking: "Who's afraid of a circular saw?" I'm here to tell you, "This gal!" This gal was, at least. I think it reminded me too much of a chainsaw, something I associate with redneck psychopaths. The shrill sound of the blade turning mixed with its ability to be moved willy nilly in the air. With a table saw, the blade is at least in one position at all times. And with a compound saw, there is only one path it will go - down and then back up again. The circular saw made me imagine bloody body parts and screaming children.

But after a sloooooooooooow introduction, I finally got the hang of it without hurting myself or my family. I'm glad I was able to cut pieces while Michael was away because I was able to go as slow as I had to. I would sometimes stare at the plywood for a good 5 minutes before making a mark or before clamping it down. Many times, I would mark it incorrectly but I wouldn't figure it out until right before I cut. It was nice to not of the pressure (nor the immediate embarrassment) of having to do it correctly the first time. It was a good learning curve done leisurely!

Speaking of curves, the ceiling of the rear of the bus curves down and we had to account for it.

It's hard to tell that there's a curve right? It was harder to figure out how to cut a piece to accommodate it so Michael attached a square piece and then used a Dremel (or oscillating saw) to relieve pressure here and there. It wasn't pretty.

You can see the jagged line in this photo of the painted panels.

After we secured the panels, we painted it with an oil-based primer/sealer/stainblocker paint in white.

The plywood is really porous and sucked up the paint like a sponge. We used a gallon on the first coat. The second coat went on more quickly, but we had timed it poorly and had to race against the sun going down to see what we were doing.

Next up, we're putting tint on the windows! We hope to have this bus ready for some fun day trips in about a month and a half! We won't be complete by then, but we will hopefully be able to retreat to it in the middle of the day wherever we are.

Air Conditioner Working

Click to Play V I D E O: Air Conditioner Working

Click to Play V I D E O: AC Updates - Outside 1

Click to Play V I D E O: AC Updates - Outisde 2

New Super Floor

The last and most important thing to be installed was the floor. There had been concerns about putting in insulation. It was a great idea to prevent heat from coming in, but we had read about others having problems with squeaking from the insulation rubbing against parts. Our remedy .... GAPS! Not just for the insulation but for the wood frame. We left about 1/4" between the plywood, lumber, insulation and bus frame.

One thing we give gaps was the paper we layed on the entire bus floor's metal frame. For that we used roofing paper and made it overlap the walls by about 2".

Here was our floor construction:

• 1st layer = 30# felt roofing paperSdf

• 2nd layer = 1/4" plywood

• 3^rd layer = 1x3 lumber framing with ¾” insulation board sandwiched inbetween

• 4^th layer = 5/8” plywood

We layed all the paper and 1/4" ply first. Sometimes we had to cut off as little as 1/2" from the plywood so that the edges would end up in the middle of the bus's metal frame below. If Michael hadn't had the foresight to mark up the frames' location along the wall panels, we would have had a hell of a time trying to guess where the pieces were. Thank goodness for his genius!

We started at the front of the bus, which is the hardest, most intricate part. In addition to cutting around the wheel wells, we had little notches for frame pieces to consider. We actually had to redo this first piece because it just wasn't fitting well and fitting straight. We hated to waste material, but we were getting frustrated jiggling and wiggling the thing in. I'm glad we saved our sanity at the cost of another sheet of ply.

After those first 2 layers were complete from the front to to the end of the bus, came in with the laborious 3rd layer and 4th layers that required a lot of measuring and cutting.

Once we had a section cut and tested, we glued it onto the 1/4" ply with construction adhesive. There were two types, one for the wood and one for the insulation. Who knew they needed their own glue!

Simone liked to supervise periodically.  "You missed a spot, Daddy!"

Immediately after the 3rd layer was glued down, we put more glue on top of the pieces and laid a (precut and pre-tested) layer of 5/8" ply on top. The rain barrels (recycled 5 gallon buckets) Uncle Frankie had left out for the chickens came in handy as they were placed on top the entire sandwich of wood and insulation so that the adhesive would dry with the pieces in the correct place. Don't worry PETA, we left some barrels of water out for the chickens to stay hydrated.

Click to play V I D E O: New Floor - Layout

You might notice that Michael and were not talking at all in this video. We were T I R E D! And it was hot at this point. Minnesota had reached record temperatures at this point. Day after day of 90 degrees that were only exacerbated with the humidity, thus giving a feel of 100 degree days. I remember one day getting into the car and the temperature gauge reading 105!

Right after we put the buckets down, Michael set out to really fasten the floor to the bus's frame. He used 2" and 2 1/2" Tek Screws that self-tapped. 

Click to Play V I D E O: Fastening to Frame

The floor took about 2-1/2 days. At this point we were ready to pack up and leave! I had gotten a little ambitious though and wondered if we should install the ceiling. Michael predicted it would take 3 days to complete. I promptly said to nevermind. "Let's get on the road!"

Walled Up

We were now ready to put the metal wall panels back onto the bus. Since we had leftover Bus-Kote from the roof's painting, we applied the same primer and reflective paint onto the inner side of the panels. This is the side that would be facing the Foam It Green insulation. Our hopes are that this combination will help keep the bus cooler - or at least not as hot as it would have been without the components.

Click to play V I D E O: Bus Walls - Extra Insulation

We were now ready to put the metal wall panels back onto the bus. Since we had leftover Bus-Kote from the roof's painting, we applied the same primer and reflective paint onto the inner side of the panels. This is the side that would be facing the Foam It Green insulation. Our hopes are that this combination will help keep the bus cooler - or at least not as hot as it would have been without the components.

Click to Display V I D E O: Bus Walls - Field Rivets

Click to play V I D E O: Bus Walls - Edge Rivets

This task ended up taking HALF a day rather than the entire day. This was the first and only time we were ahead of schedule.

More Holes

We surely know how to pick 'em. The summer we decide to work on a bus is when the US reaches historic highs in their temperatures!

Click to play V I D E O: Air Conditioner - Rear A

and

Click to play V I D E O: Air Conditioner - Rear B

Michael hopes to built a more slick facade for the air conditioner. With our time constraints, however, extra wide aluminum foil and some painter's masking tape works beautifully!

Once the air conditioner was plugged in, we found ourselves retreating to the bus much more often. Especially with daily highs reaching mid to upper 90 degrees!

Welding Projects

Before we could insulate the bus, we needed to finish several tasks. Michael ran conduit, we ran extra wires in anticipation of future lights, and Michael welded some metal support that we will need when we build the kids' bunk beds and the bathroom walls. Here's Michael explaining the top brackets that were welded to the bus.

Click to play V I D E O: Welding Top Brackets

The corresponding bottom brackets are shown below:

Michael had tried using the stick welder that Uncle Frankie had, but didn't find it to be much more of an advantage so he went back to using his Mig / Flux welder so that he could weld in and onto the bus! I think Michael caught a welding bug because he kept thinking of more things he could weld. For example, he realized that now would be a good time to put in supports for our future overhead cabinets.

Click to play V I D E O: Welding Cabinet Brackets

I was fearful to try the welding, but overcame it one morning and asked Michael if I could try. It turns out he was fearful for me to try welding too. At least on projects that were going to be on the bus. He responded, "Sure, but maybe on some scrap metal ... later ... not now." Michael didn't feel he had time to show me a tutorial because we were feeling the crunch at this time. We still had so much to do and our deadline of June 30 was fast approaching. It looked as if we would have to leave by July 4th.