The Bus Capades: Month 4
Hello there, it’s been a minute! In my adventures of converting a school bus into a little home, there is one thing that has reigned true throughout: I am broke. I thought I had a good grasp on how much I’d be spending on the bus, and I even over budgeted most things just in case. And yet, I am still way in over my head. With that being said, I have been moving very slowly on the build portion of the bus, mostly to give my credit card a chance to catch its breath.
Up until about a month ago, I realized I was going a bit crazy on the bus, and I was spending way more than what I had, all in the name of excitement. While I can’t say I’d do it differently if I could — because let’s face it, how could I purchase a bus and then do nothing with it? I don’t have that kind of self control!– I do wish I looked out for Future Me more. On top of my car and bus insurance, rent and general life things, I now have to give my credit card a much needed breather.
With that being said, I am still being productive. It has been a learning curve to realize that just because I'm not physically working on the bus, doesn't mean I'm not being productive. I’ve been spending most of my time learning about electrical… stuff. I've been watching YouTube videos like crazy, desperately trying to become my own personal electrician. But this sh*t is hard! So far, the only things I know are:
- I need to use stranded wires, because I'm going to be in a moving vehicle.
- There are positive, negative and ground wires. Red=Positive Black=Negative and White=Ground wire.
Yep, that's about it. Looks like I still have quite a bit of homework.
In more exciting news, I have come up with a floorplan! I laid out blue tape on the floor of the bus, with accurate dimensions and all. It was pretty surreal to visualize all that stuff in a space that I've been using as a dance floor up until this point. While I'm sure ill make a couple tweaks to it over time, this is an exciting step. Oh, and (don't shame me!) I bought a kitchen sink! I was browsing on Marketplace and stumbled upon a beautiful red sink. At first, I wasn't going to look into it because, you know, money, but I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I was already beginning to visualize it in my space. So I scheduled a meetup with this guy, and bought it. It is a bit larger than what I was expecting to buy, but I loved it. And just about everyone in all the videos I've watched say that they wish they had a bigger sink, so I figured the bigger the better. It is 33 inches wide and 9 inches deep, with double bowls. I plan on having one side covered up with a cutting board most of the time, and ill probably use the inside as storage.
For the bathroom, it wont really be a bathroom. I will have a wall up dividing the closet from the bathroom, and the rest of it will be open. I’ll keep my composting toilet in the shower stall, and when I need to actually shower, I’ll remove the toilet and hang up a shower curtain. This setup enables me to have a drop down counter, that will benefit me in two ways: (1) It will give me more counter space, and (2) it will somewhat conceal the toilet when its down. In my opinion, these two things outweigh the privacy of having walls up around the bathroom, which I think would only make the space feel more cramped.
Under the counterspace adjacent to the sink, I will have a pullout chest-style fridge/freezer, and under one of the dinette seats will be my kitty cats litter box, with his own little fan to keep the smells out. I haven't fully decided where I should keep the electrical stuff, but I am leaning towards having it under the bed. I will also most likely keep my fresh water tank under the bed as well, somewhere between a 30–40 gallon tank.
And yeah, that's the run down on the layout. I have completed a couple of small projects on the bus, including repainting the front dashboard area, making a small little cubby by the stairs, and removing a storage compartment above the front door — I want to make a better compartment that will better suit my needs.
I have also got a start on the ceiling. I decided to go with cedar tongue and groove planks from Home Depot. They are $27 for a 6-pack of 8 foot planks. Even though they are pretty expensive, I am able to buy them as I need them which helps me to keep on a good budget. They are also really flexible, thin, and for the most part easy to install. Because they are cedar and so thin, I have been pre drilling small holes before I hand screw in quarter-inch screws. Having put in a whopping 7 planks in so far, this method is working pretty well, having only 2 screws split the wood.
And that is just about all I’ve gotten done so far. Coming up soon, I hope to get a small start on wiring the bus, starting with something simple overhead lighting. Hopefully I will also be starting on building a bed frame in the very near future as well. But who knows what the future holds? I’m just going with the flow and making the most of this beautiful life I've been given.
