After the last update, we brought the bus back to storage. We can do several things without the bus in the driveway. Those are caulk, electricity, and paint. This is what we did in the last few weeks. We filled the screw holes in the ceiling, caulked, and painted that. Then we painted the plywood in the back and the trim. All in all, three coats each, so with the bus in storage and dry times accounted for, this took a few days.
Girl’s Beds
Once the painting was completed and we had a free weekend, we brought the bus back to the driveway to start the installation of the girl’s cubbies. The girl’s beds are at the back of the bus, side by side running front to back. We divided the space with plywood walls to create their own “cubbie”.
They picked out their own paint colors and spent the weekend painting their cubbies, making it their own space.
Meanwhile…
While they did that, we added a storage shelf in the back for future storage baskets. It is starting to look like a real livable space in there! Once the cubbies were painted, we added the top supports and ran the electric tubing so we could add wires while the bus was back in storage. A lot more caulk and a lot more trim are making it look more and more like home. The girls are very excited to start seeing the end product!
Working our way forward
With the cubbies and trim completed, we could add the wheel well covers. We filled those with insulation to cut down on the road noise. There is no real usable storage space in there, so we just closed them up. Eventually, they will be covered with flooring.
Walls and ducts
Then, it became time for the bedroom walls. We stained the tongue-and-groove wood to balance the paint colors. Last, we added the AC ducts. One side will go into the bedroom and bathroom, and the other will lead to the living room. We hesitated between painting the ducts or leaving them metal, but we are glad we painted them white allowing them to blend in with the ceiling better.
After a week, the bus went back to storage. While there, we will finish the electrical work in the bedroom, continue working on the back door, and finish the walls.
It is slow, but we are finally starting to see some progress! Next up – the bathroom….
We are excited to be officially building out the inside of the bus. This started with closing in the water pump area and building coves to hide the cables and hoses in the back of the bus. The cove sections were made removable to allow for easy access for when we need repairs or add wires.
Ceiling
Next, we screwed furring strips onto the metal roof and side channels. Research found comments made by owners of finished skoolies that they have issues with moisture leaking from the screwheads on humid days. Adding a furring strip ensures a buffer between the steel and the wood ceiling of the bus. We use steel screws to mount the furring strips, then use trim head wood screws in the ceiling panels that screw into those furring strips. Using trim head screws also means they are not as visible once the ceiling is installed. The furring strips also create nice coves that we can hide all the electrical wiring behind.
So much to do!!
It is quite hard not to jump from one side of the bus to the other in the build-out since completion is so close! We just want to finish it all at the same time! While it’s exciting to be nearing the end, it’s crucial to adhere to the plan to avoid getting sidetracked. Therefore, we keep working our way from the back to front.
First – the bedroom
Build out begins at the back of the bus with the bedroom. We built storage compartments underneath the area where the girl’s cubbies are going to be. Then we added the horizontal supports where our bed is going to be. We had the girls sit in their areas and we adjusted our bed height from there. We want to make sure they can sit up in their cubbies, so it doesn’t feel like they are sleeping in coffins. This is where that roof raise becomes well worth the time and money. How will we get into our bed since it is about 4 feet off the floor? Well, that’s a problem for later….
But before we can finish the beds…
With the bedframes completed, the logical next step would seem to be finishing the cubbies, installing plywood for the bed, and then addressing the rest of the bus. However, it is much easier to install the ceiling panels before working on the cubbies. But in order to install those ceiling panels, we need to determine the placement of the bathroom walls. Consequently, we had to frame the bathroom next. To do so, we needed the sink so we can determine bathroom size. So we ordered that. This illustrates how quickly the focus can shift from one task to another.
Adjusting as we go
When working on the wall layout, the bathroom window appeared to be about 4” off our scheduled floor plan. So we had to be a bit inventive with the wall framing. We prefer not to cover any more windows, and we want to be able to take them out in case one breaks or starts leaking. As a result, the framing had to be adjusted to compensate.
While building the walls it also seemed our bedroom changing area would become a bit too small. In view of this, we moved the walls just a few inches more which will affect the kitchen and walkway. This became a problem for another day.
Back to the ceiling
With the bathroom framing now in place, we could start on the bedroom ceiling. We went with a shiplap ceiling so we can (hopefully) remove a single ceiling panel to add some wiring in the future, painting the slats prior to installation. We incorporated the ceiling fan, speaker, and lights as we were installing the panels. With some of the leftover wood, we also finished out two of the overhead storage compartments.
Next we added the air vents onto the AC in the back, caulked the bedroom panels and ceiling, and added veneer to the visible ends of the plywood. M helped iron it on.
Not exactly in order…
Since the Depot had a sale on appliances, we decided to buy a fridge and microwave for the bus. We don’t have room to store the fridge at home, so we loaded it up after finishing work in the driveway. Now we need to decide where to exactly place it. With five of us, space is tight, so we have to make the most of our future kitchen counters and living area.
Next up is adding another coat of paint onto the ceiling as well as painting the wood walls at the back of the bus. Once the painting is finished, we can finish out the girl’s cubbies, frame out our bed and see what else we can do to add some more storage space. Finally, we will complete the bedroom area, focusing on comfort and coziness with soft bedding and personalized decor. Oh yeah and we have to figure out how to maneuver a king-sized mattress into this bus…
