After finishing the ceiling in the kitchen and living room, it was time to finish off the ceiling of the front cab. Last year, we built upper cabinets in this area, which was one of the trickiest projects we have encountered. Thankfully, the cabinets eat up some of the major
Building the Upper Cabinets
Last year, we built the upper cabinets in the front cab area of the bus. It was one of the more difficult projects we have worked on. When it came time to build the rest of the upper cabinets in the kitchen area of the bus, we were slightly hesitant.
Slatted Tub Surround
After finishing the plumbing for the shower, we were finally able to build the tub surround. We really like the slatted pocket doors we built previously, so we decided to make a version of that for around the tub.
We started with ½” pre-finished birch plywood as the base layer and
Shower Plumbing
After spending many weekends working in the rear of the bus, we were finally able to move out of the kids’ room and start working our way forward. First stop, the shower. When we previously framed the bathtub, we decided that we would enclose the plumbing in the space between
More Power for a HOT Summer
When we were building the bus at our house, power was never an issue. Even in the ridiculously hot summers of Phoenix at over 110℉. We plugged in all of our power tools to the house and ran our bus air conditioners off of the solar and battery all day
Kids' Bunk Room: Part 2 - Upper Bunks & Wallpaper
After finishing the lower bunk beds, we were ready and excited to move up to the top bunks. Like we explained previously, we are using 2" x ⅛” angle iron to build the bed rails in order to maximize vertical space. It’s thin but strong and will allow us to
Kids' Bunk Room: Part 1 - Lower Bunks
We’ve had a vision for this bus from the beginning. We knew we could take it out of the dreary, outdated cowboy theme from 1980 and turn it into a modern, comfortable home for our family. While we have made many, many steps in that direction already, building out
Curved Planked Ceiling in the Kids' Room & Wiring the Lights
When we first bought the bus, the ceilings were covered in a dingy fabric/carpet type material commonly called “mouse fur”. It was gross. That’s all I can say about that. Gross! I imagined bright, clean white wood planks. While we quickly ripped out those old “mouse fur” panels,
Wall Treatment in the Kids' Room
Every time we get to cover up more of the “ugly” in the bus, it’s an exciting day. When we started covering the bare metal, insulation, and furring strips on the walls, it was a very good day. The shell of the kids’ room was just beginning to come
Building the Rear Wall with Built In Bookshelves
It was an exciting day! We finally were ready to start building the kids’ bunk room in the back of the bus. Making a space for our four kids feels extra special - they are extra special. We had all been looking forward to working on this room that will
Installing a Diesel Heater
After finishing the kitchen countertops, we planned to start work on building out the kids’ bedroom in the rear of the bus. The first project we worked on was installing the diesel heater.
Diesel heaters are great for an RV for several reasons. First and foremost, they provide dry heat.
Macerator Pump & Sanitizing the Fresh Water Tank
After moving our work space out to my uncle’s shop with no power and water, we had to put a few things in place to make it work for us. Power hasn’t been a problem because of our battery and solar. We had all of the plumbing done