More framing!

So we went up to the bus today, but got a really late start, so we didn't get a whole lot done, but we didn't waste the day. A good buddy of mine gave us some lumber (Thanks again Joe!!!!), so we didn't end up having to wait until Wed-Thurs to get more materials! I got Lucas to help with holding boards in place when I cut them, He loved it! We are doing the closet framing in this picture.

So with his help we got the closets framed. :) We need to measure hung-up clothes to figure out how much room we need and how many drawers we can fit below them, before doing that part, so we had to move on to the kitchen counter.

So, ya I know, it won't hold much like that, but we need to do rear supports, and more front supports, but we ran out of warmth. It's amazing how the temp drops in Grangeville when the sun goes down and the wind kicks up, but then again it's always windy in Grangeville....

So that's all for today, we are planning on working more tomorrow, So if we do, I'll put up more pictures!

Good night y'all and God Bless

EDIT: I realized I never included a original inside picture of what it looked like before everything started, so Here ya go, a first day of work!!! I'll also throw in a few hours later, but only 1/2 way done seat removal picture too.

Rear bed framing

So today we went up to the bus and thankfully, the paint was dry! So we loaded the 2x4's we had into the bus and started framing the rear bed.

So we figured that we would go with a Full sized bed to give us 6 precious inches of space for the shower and toilet versus a Queen bed and a 20in by 20in shower. Now I'm all about saving space, but not being able to wash all of yourself because of walls being too close..... that's not good! So we decided to loose some bed space for shower space.

These are the supports for our bed frame going in. We want some storage under the bed, but we also want cabinets over the head/foot of the bed for our clothes. We were going to have the bed at a height of 17inches to fit storage totes underneath. The problem with those is having to dig down to the bottom of them to find whatever it was you went in there after! With smaller totes you can spend less time digging!

We started running out of 2x4's (man they go quick!) so we put in the supports for the toilet room and shower with the last 2 we had. There will be walls to partition off the bedroom from the toilet/shower from the 2x4 to the outside wall. We will get more work done on Monday, since we like to keep Sunday as a day to worship the Lord, not do any work, and have a day of rest and relaxation. We have plenty of time the other days to work.

The way the bed is sitting, we can access stuff under the bed from the back door and it's set up so we can grab our hiking packs from there. We can also still use it as an emergency exit.

Well that was all for today, see y'all next time!

Inside paint and rear window replacement

Hey y'all! Ok, so here are some pictures of what we did yesterday, the 23rd of Feb, 2017. We pulled the 2 back rear windows out and replaced them with sheet metal that is screwed and riveted to the bus on the outside, the inside has 2 layers of foil backed insulation that is spray-foamed in place with metal tape securing it too. No more air/water getting through that!

Taking the glass out was super fun...... ya right! The Starboard side (right/passenger/curb side) was easy because the rubber seal has shrunk so much that we basically pushed on the corners and it fell out into Shanesta's hands! (it also leaked like a sieve which is why we decided to do this part of the project, notice the dirt stains under the window frame... that was just from when we bought it!) The Port Side (left/driver/road side) was a bit harder. It seems that the Lapwai School district had replaced that seal semi-recently..... We had to cut it out, and there were several times we thought the glass was going to break!

Praise the Lord, they are both in perfect condition and didn't crack or break! (The buyer will be happy!) No slices or dices of fingers or hands! So we got those out, and I started putting the metal into place. 

Ya know, even though working in the snow while it's snowing and not being able to wear gloves because they are soaked and freezing, is kind of a pain (hands hurt when I went in for dinner), I still really enjoy it. It is like metal and wood working...... you can see your progression at every break or end of the day. It makes it all worth it!

Anyways, after we got both windows replaced and sealed, we still had time to paint the walls (and an attempt a first coat on the "interesting" ceiling....billions upon billions of little holes in rows that LOVE to just suck up the paint like a sponge), as well as put a 2nd coat on the floor.

I gotta admit, the back wall looks weird, doesn't it? Oh well, we will get used to it. Last thing we want is for the window to leak water all over our bed while we are sleeping. That or accidentally kicking the other window out with our feet while sleeping! So here's the last picture of yesterday's work. We are going to take a day or two off so the floor/walls can completely dry, this 30 degree weather make paint and caulk dry REALLY SLOW!!!!

With that little heater in there, it was warm enough that I was comfortable in short sleeves, and Shanesta only had a sweatshirt on, versus the low 30's and snowing outside. Really looking forward to how warm it will be in 40-50 degree temps of the coast, with all of our stuff in their, and a bigger/better heater.... less space to heat means less energy to heat it!

God Bless you all, and will post more in a few days!

God's Grace Skoolie

So I am trying my hand at a blog about our School Bus Conversion. I've never done a blog before, so bear with me. This first post covers the last 20days that we have owned the bus, so lots of pictures WON'T be on today's post, but future posts will contain picture of each days work.

So on 3FEB2017 we bought a Bus. It's a 1996 AMTC school bus that used to hold up to 57 kids. We bought it from Western Mountain Bus Sales in Nampa ID. It used to transport the kids in and around Lapwai, ID, which funny-enough is only about 70 or so miles from us, and yet we had to drive 200+ miles to go buy it! Odd huh!

Anyways, we were looking for a bus to buy to transform into an RV so that we could travel the coast and do whatever it is that God has in store for our lives. (We feel a very strong urge to travel the west coast and talk about what God has done in our lives.) So we decided to give the entire deal to God to show us His will, and I'll tell you what, God had his hand in this entire transaction! I say this because originally the bus was listed for $5500, and with no haggling at all, God gave it to us for $2500!   

So we drove down to the Dealer, checked out the bus, took it for a test drive, and then told the Dealer we would buy it. We found out the actual price right when we got the invoice. We put total faith in God that if He wanted us to have this bus, that He would give it to us for the amount of cash we had, and that we wouldn't have any problems with anything. Well He definitely did that, Praise His Name!

Since then we have been very busy people! From doing lots of research before and after buying the bus, we found out that we needed to pull out the seats and pull up the rubber floor and the plywood underneath. The reason to do this is to get rid of all the rust that forms under the plywood after years of driving on wet and snowy roads. 

Moisture gets in there from the bolt holes that hold the individual seats in place. There are 4 holes for each seat, so the bigger the bus, the more holes there are! I think we had over 100 holes to worry about rust around! So we got some clear rust converter (prevents future rust growth) and painted the whole floor. After we painted it, we filled each hole with silicone and covered them with metal tape to seal out any air/moisture that might try and get back through.

 Next came the floor insulation. That steel floor doesn't do a very good job of keeping heat in the bus! We put down foil-backed foam insulation and then covered that with 1/2in OSB plywood. We could have gone with thicker foam and plywood, however I only have 5-6 inches between my head and the roof, so clearance is an issue. Once we got that all down we put a wood sealer/primer down and then second coated it with outdoor waterproof paint.

 So tomorrow I will post up what we did today since I am wicked tired from a long day, and am about to fall asleep doing this. Good night all, and may God bless you.