Category: Stage 4 Interior

Making the inside of the bus a home

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Stage 4 Interior

January 2025

At the three-year mark

During the early January weeks, we built drawers and doors for the bathroom cabinet and a table for the hallway that M will decorate and cover with resin. We also made some seats that will fold out with that table. One of them we installed already.

Securing the refrigerator

We built a cabinet to secure our refrigerator in place. Since the back of the fridge is visible from the outside, we painted the window black. If we had anticipated the fridge’s final position, we would have covered the window during the roof raise, but our plans changed.

To save 6 inches of living space, we positioned the fridge cove above the fuel tank fill. This allowed us to utilize the space underneath for a drawer. We also created additional storage for a step stool, which will help us access the upper cabinets more easily. Furthermore, we relocated the AC duct to the front of the bus, which required some cutting in the overhead areas. We installed a 110v outlet and ran the wiring beneath the bus to connect to our electrical cabinet. Finally, we were able to place the fridge in its designated cove, clearing up space in the bus.

Vacation work

We had some vacation days left from last year, so we decided to bring the bus into the driveway to work on it for a week. After installing additional electrical wiring, we finished the roof boards inside the overhead compartments. However, it started raining, and we discovered a significant leak. We managed to seal it off and to prevent any future issues, we also installed a drain behind the insulation and covered it with plastic. After that, I added a plywood wall over it. Hopefully, this will do the trick.

Time for some seating

Next, we covered the wheel well and added insulation over it. After that, we began working on the booth seats. The back supports of the seats on the driver’s side are angled at 100 degrees and are taller than usual to enhance comfort. Additionally, these seats can be converted into an extra bed.

The booth is raised to provide a better view out of the window, and the space underneath is utilized for storage. We designed one of the benches to accommodate a dog kennel, complete with windows so the dog can see outside.

Since we had to wait for the other paint to dry, we decided to paint the kennel. Although we know dogs are colorblind, it seemed like a fun idea, and now our dog has a bunny to bark at while we’re driving.

After building the booth, C indicated that the overheads on the other side should be removed because they make the living area too claustrophobic. So we cut out almost a day of work in a time span of mere minutes. But we wasted enough time and money in other areas of this bus that it’s hardly noticeable. Except for the dust…. We tried SOOO hard not to have to cut or sand in the bus! Now, there is a nice gray layer on top of everything….

With the booth on the driver’s side in place, we made an additional seat area on the passenger side. This seat will be a seat/table/couch conversion. It could also be turned into a bed for a kid-size person. Underneath this seating area, we will have shoe storage and electrical components. Those will take up a lot of space, and we will have to put those in before the kitchen to know if we need to overflow this into an overhead or kitchen cabinet. The booth on the door side is a bit smaller to prevent the claustrophobic feeling we discussed, plus it will give us a bit of floor space next to the driver’s seat that we can pile in when we enter the bus.

With all that seating in place it was time to put in the ceiling planks and the flooring so we can trim the sides of the booths.

Then everything was ready for the main electrical system. After MONTHS (and months!) of research and help from fellow skoolie owners, we finally managed to get our system together. This is by far the most expensive part of the conversion. In order from most to least expensive:

– 2x24v 280Ah LifePO4 batteries (https://a.co/d/2OhUXVa)

– Victron multiplus 24V 3000VA (https://a.co/d/gEVu6FK)

– Solar Charge controller

– Lynx distributor

– Orion 24v 70 amp DC converter

– Smart shunt

– Smart Dongle

– MK3 interface

– 110V fuse block

– 24V fuse block

– 12V fuse block

– 150amp circuit breaker

– 4x 100Amp mega fuses

– Solar panel fuses

– Buck step down regulator

– Other small wiring and odds and ends

– Automatic fire extinguisher for electrical cabinets

For a whopping total of $5100(!). Add almost $2000 in solar panels that we purchased last year, and our electrical system is just over $7000. Happy birthday to me…. (Note: that is a mid-range cost for a skoolie conversion in the south.) So, if you want to try this as well, start saving or go live in the Pacific Northwest instead of in 100-degree AC-required weather in Texas…..

One of the batteries arrived the day we would return the bus to storage. I am glad it did because it is BIG and HEAVY. It fits under the planned electrical cabinet perfectly! Secured it in place with blocks. And since we were working on electrical anyway, we figured we’d also put the Multiplus in place. But, of course, there is a ¾” difference between the drawing and the actual built dimensions because we decided to put a piece of plywood over the wheel well. Meaning the multiplus does not fit. Sigh. And we have no other place to put it unless we put it above the batteries, and that’s not a good idea. Or we put it in the kitchen, which makes fitting the stove a serious issue.

Getting SO tired sometimes. Anway the option is to raise the both floor 2 ½” (might as well add the extra ventilation space now) and have relative short legroom, or raise the whole booth. Basically starting from scratch. The table is in place already and we really don’t want to move that at this point.

What’s next? Probably the rewiring of the solar panels and electrical installation, then the hallway wall, followed by the air-conditioning installation. There is still so much to do….

Categories
Stage 4 Interior

End of year 2

In December, we had several days to work on the bus since we still had some vacation days left and time available during the Christmas holiday. So, we brought the bus home and focused on the bathroom installation.

Shower and vanity

The one wall of tiles for the shower stayed in place, so we proceeded to tile the other wall.

Shower walls

Then, we built the bathroom vanity, which blocked us from walking through the bathroom wall. We now had to walk around to get in there. With the vanity in place, we put the remainder of the bathroom flooring down, followed by finishing the bathroom walls.

Vanity and flooring

We added hot and cold water piping in the wall and to the toilet-to-be. We had marked the bus frames on the side walls of the bus interior to make sure none of the piping would hit the floor frames under the bus; after “dry” placing the toilet and sitting on it to check clearances, we moved it as close to the frame mark as possible.

Time to cut a hole in the bus

Then, it was time to cut the hole for the pipe from the toilet to the black water tank. With a 3.5” hole cutter, we made the cut through the subfloor.  Once we lifted that portion out, we noticed, to our disappointment, that we were 1” over the framing. That 5-minute cut just became half a day of work…

We tried the reciprocating saw as best we could, but in the end, we still had to go under the bus to clear more steel. In the picture, you can still see a steel bar under the hole. That bar holds the mud flaps of the rear tires, so we can easily move it and reweld it by the time we put the black water tank underneath. We could now put the pipe in place and the toilet on top.

Reciprocating Saw
Steel bar under bus
Bus frame cut through
All clear from under the bus

Next, we built the sink counter for the cabinet. After checking for counters in our favorite hardware store (which coincidentally has the colors of the Dutch Royal family) and its prices, we came up with the idea to use vinyl instead. We bought a large roll and tried to stick it on as best we could. However, our bus is a home build, and due to curved lumber, wall adjustments, etc., none of the walls are 90 degrees, and thus, the vanity counter is not squared either. After three attempts, we finally figured out how to get it on without bubbling underneath.

The first attempt

Connecting drains

We dry-placed the sink and could now cut the hole for the drain in the correct place. We played it safe this time and stayed well away from the frame indication. That seemed a good idea at the time and thus the hole was cut without issue. However, when we tried to put the Hepvo valve on (it is a valve that is used instead of a P-trap, so there are no tank smells in the bus when the bus is in storage and the P-trap dries out), the hole was 1” off (hmm where did we have the measurement issue before) with the drain…

R suggested using an “angled pipe,” I am unsure why we did not think about that ourselves. Another trip to the home store and 2 x 45-degree angles later, it all fit. We managed to slide the drainpipe over the main bus frame to still be able to eventually mount the grey water tank on the starboard side of the bus. With the drain installed, we tried to connect the hot and cold waterlines from the sink, and we were only three inches off from making that work. So we had to cut two new holes and adjust the waterlines. This time at least not too big a deal because those two unused holes won’t be visible anyway.

Medicine cabinet

Next, we built the behind-the-mirror shelf. We bought one in the store, but it was very flimsy. We can do better than that. However, purchasing a beveled mirror by itself is twice as expensive as buying a recessed mirror cabinet. So we bought the latter, removed the mirror, and put it on our design. It looks pretty good if I say so!

Shower Head

Then, we installed the shower head. We raised the bus roof to have plenty of height for the shower. So, we dry-fit it to cut the hole. But that seemed a little high, so on a whim, I moved the drill down two inches and started drilling. WHY????? I have NO IDEA!? So now the shower head is still lower than we wanted. Was this whole year of roof-raising all for nothing????? Stupid me. But we did not want to drill a second hole and move the shower up because that would always remain visible. So now I will likely just be annoyed while showering on our bus. Oh well. Sometimes I amaze myself….

All the details

Next, we spent a day or two on caulk, paint, and trim touchups. We also had to figure out where to place the toilet roll. Wise decisions were made there. Then, we installed some hardware, a door lock, and a towel ring.

Now for the real test

The day after Christmas, it was plumbing testing time. We connected the hose to the bus; M was on the faucet outside, C was checking the plumbing behind the shower, R was under the sink, and I was behind the toilet to check all the connections. As soon as M opened the water valve, I got sprayed with a gallon of water. The first connection clearly failed. I closed the toilet valve and went to check the rest. All the other connections were dry except for the shower. After three new attempts, the shower connection was still leaking.

We made a quick trip to the depot and bought a new shower connector and toilet hose. In the afternoon, we ran a second test. The toilet issue was fixed, but the shower was still leaking, so we ordered a new shower arm.

While waiting…

Since we had to wait a few days for that, we figured we’d install the heater so we could test those connections as well. That meant cutting a 13×13” hole in the side of our bus. However, with some of the electrical lines already in place and the location of some of the bus structures, we had to build a raised platform first, which meant installing the cabinet bottom plate. With all that in place, we made the cut. This time, it went without a glitch. Although I did burn my fingers on the metal of the bus while applying the caulk. That steel gets very hot in the sun!

We installed the heater and built a cabinet around it, then connected the water lines.

The shower arm came in at the same time, so we installed that, too. Then we did our water test once more. This time, it was all dry. Everyone was happy about a successful few weeks. In the end I just noticed that we forgot the shower arm cover, so I put that on—and scratched the paint off the shower arm in the process. Sigh. It’s never-ending.

With that, the bathroom was complete

Last little bit for now

Last, we made the coves for our extra hallway seats and table. Then, we measured the remainder of the bus. We tried to check if we can make changes in the kitchen but figured out there is only one actual order to do it in now that the location for the heater is set.

So, we taped the seating booth out on the skoolie floor and assessed the situation. That does not give us enough walking room, seeing the full-size fridge we bought. We have to switch the booth to the other side of the bus. That means there will be a change in the electrical plans as well. In short, we now have to build the fridge cove first (so we can secure it when driving), followed by the seating booth, before being able to start on the kitchen. The ever-changing plans of a skoolie….

Excited for 2025, we hope to have her finished this year!!

Categories
Stage 4 Interior

October / November

Life is busy, but we are making slow progress. That said, our timetable has been adjusted once more. Slow and steady wins the race. What we have done in the past weeks:

October

We added a shelf and electrical cables to each of the girls’ cubbies. They will all have USB chargers, string lights, and a fan in the front of their cubbies and light and USB in the back of their cubbies. With the electrical work completed, we closed the cubbies off by putting the plywood on top, which will become our bed.

Plywood for bed

Installing the plywood for our bed into the bus required some navigation since the bathroom walls were already in place. We cut some holes and made little access hatches so we could still access the electrical wires later. Once all the plywood was in place, we had to figure out in which orientation we were going to sleep so we knew where to place our storage bins.

Next, we finished the trim around the windows. We had to special fit these so we can take the windows out when needed. Meanwhile, we painted the bathroom doors. We bought folding doors, removed the folding hinges, and will use them as regular doors instead to reduce the space required to open them. They don’t sell doors that size separately, so converting a folding door was a good solution.

Next, we built storage bins on the plywood bed for the parents’ clothes, creating quite a bit of storage space. We also added lights and USB chargers. Since there was not much we could do with that space, we covered the wheel wells and turned them into steps. We filled them with insulation to reduce the road noise.

Extra door

Then we moved to the side door. We kept this door in our bus to quickly access large items and ventilation when parked. It took a bit of thinking to re-design the door so it can be opened from the inside but not from the outside. Until now, we used a ratchet strap to keep this door closed. While working on the door, we discovered it did not close and seal properly, so we had to cut and reweld it again to make it fit better. Then, I added plywood over it, followed by the wall covering.

November

We added the flooring so we knew how much height to consider for the bathroom doors. We finished the bedroom and bathroom walls and added the bathroom light and fan switches. Then the trim and the doors (I hope they will not warp) hung. Finally, we added the handles, locks, hinges, and AC vent closures. That finally completed the bedroom. Now we must figure out how to get a king-size mattress into the bus with already built bathroom walls….

Bathroom

The bathroom is next on our list, starting with a shower pan. It took a while to determine whether we should go with a full stall or a shower curtain. We chose the latter to have more space when the shower is unused. This meant we had to cut a hole in the drain. Fortunately, in the beginning, when we put the subfloor in place, we had already marked the location of the frames under the bus, so we managed to put the drain where there was no framing underneath. But of course, there was an outside storage bin that we had to remove. Which was too large to get from underneath the bus, so we had to cut up our precious storage box.  Once the cut was made, the girls ensured the hole was big enough. Then, we glued the shower pan in place and added some weight on top until the glue dried.

Next, we installed the bathroom ceiling and light before adding the shower wall. We used Polysterene backer board for the shower. It is easy to cut and pretty light. We used Palisade tiles over the backer board. Next time we visit the bus, we will see how that holds.

The beginning of December is busy with family life as usual, but now that our dining room is full of materials after Black Friday, we will have to take some days off to finish the bathroom.

Categories
Stage 4 Interior

August/September

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….

Categories
Stage 4 Interior

June/July 2024

Water tank

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…