DIY Tiny Home/Skoolie project

[Bone3421 716]

Shipping container was a no go...and yeah i plan on leaving the windows in...resealing them now and probably going to put darkest tint possible on them. Also already thinking of doing a deck independent if bus along front side for when its parked

[NateHitch 1,282]

Subscribed.  Love this kind of shit

[conVINCEd 21,469]

I had an acquaintance in college whose dad bought a place in Tarrytown and put 2 repurposed old railroad cars in the backyard to maximize revenue. They were basically efficiency apartments.  Subscribed as well.

[texas08 1,599]

the container doesn't have the cool look or amount of windows of that thing.
 

Huh? Here’s a few “basic” ones (lots of work as well). There’s literally container mini mansions out there as well.









Sorry for the slight derail. This thread will be fun!

Surly bus!

[Gil Bang 25,907]

Well most of it is done already...but i colored engineered some

Charming.

[Bone3421 716]

Those are some nice containers for sure...aiming for a nice interior also

[Superhero 8,826]

9 hours ago, Zavala said:

you may want to consider some type of sun shade or shutters on the outside to prevent too much light from hitting the glazing and heating up your weakest spot thermally. 

Shutters also serve dual purpose of keeping zombies out. 

[Bone3421 716]

Got all the windiws back in...also did a bead of silicone on backside of frame as backup for weather stripping

[Bone3421 716]

Hoping it doesnt rain since i put another coat of roof sealer on...you can see how it will look along rivets that have 2 coats now...rest is just single coat

[ERhine 1,894]

20 hours ago, NateHitch said:

Subscribed.  Love this kind of shit

This.  The whole thread is impressive.  I wish I was this creative/skilled.

[bernorange 8,359]

Subscribed.  Always intrigued with the tiny home projects.

[Jkwellborn 6,686]

I had an acquaintance in college whose dad bought a place in Tarrytown and put 2 repurposed old railroad cars in the backyard to maximize revenue. They were basically efficiency apartments.  Subscribed as well.

We had a living car brought in on our old deer lease. Thing was awesome.

[conVINCEd 21,469]

3 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

 

We had a living car brought in on our old deer lease. Thing was awesome.

 

These were 2 cabooses that had been converted.  It was a nice house on Windsor during the mid-90’s, and everyone had access to the common areas in the main house.  I would’ve rather lived in the caboose than one of the rooms in the house.

[Your Mom 4,805]

Donna WiIlliamson would be proud of your work.

Growing up, we went to the Renaissance Fair a lot and I remember seeing lots of dirty hippies there living in converted busses.  Cool stuff.

[ChickenSandwich 9,824]

3 hours ago, Your Mom said:

Donna WiIlliamson would be proud of your work.

Growing up, we went to the Renaissance Fair a lot and I remember seeing lots of dirty hippies there living in converted busses.  Cool stuff.

But surprisingly good sausage on a stick and wench clevage 

[utee94 15,797]

I fitted Relfectix cut to size in all the windows on my vintage Airstream.  But that's not nearly as many windows as a school bus.   Definitely agree though, you'll want something in those windows not just for the heat, but also in the winter.  It'll get cold.

 

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

2 hours ago, utee94 said:

I fitted Relfectix cut to size in all the windows on my vintage Airstream.  But that's not nearly as many windows as a school bus.   Definitely agree though, you'll want something in those windows not just for the heat, but also in the winter.  It'll get cold.

 

Since they're single glazed glass there isn't much you can do with them. You need a thick roll shade of some sort to pull down at night to keep the heat inside the glass a bit. Condensation is going to be an issue at some point (winter and summer), not sure how to deal with that at all.

[BottleRocket 644]

Cool project.  Thanks for posting.  Looking forward to seeing your progress.  

[Anastasis 23,454]

Subbed

[Bone3421 716]

In a holding pattern since sunday...just been cleaning and plugging holes while i try to find time with bro or friend to run to home depot to pick up building materials

Yeah windows will be a big energy drain but will sort that after winter. Shouldnt be to bad in texas.

Condensation doesnt sound like it will be a problem from reading online. Most say they get a little on screw heads but can skip that with using a floating floor. The weight of everything with a snug fit and the cabinets plus the few walls attached to ceiling and floor should hold it all down

[Bone3421 716]

Im going with 1 inch thick rigid insulation all around and 5/8 tongue and groove plywood on subfloor so will make one big piece.... I know the floor will be a light grey laminate faux hardwood floor and think im going with a tongue and groove cedar ceiling. Cabinets and interior will be white

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

11 minutes ago, Bone3421 said:

Im going with 1 inch thick rigid insulation all around and 5/8 tongue and groove plywood on subfloor so will make one big piece.... I know the floor will be a light grey laminate faux hardwood floor and think im going with a tongue and groove cedar ceiling. Cabinets and interior will be white

Think about the T& G plywood, it's going to move, and you may get small ridges at the joints. Either go butt joint plywood, and leave an 1/8" gap or use Avantech 3/4" sub flooring. It doesn't move, and is water resistant.  Glue and screw it !!!!!!!!!!

[Bone3421 716]

Main concern at moment is bathroom placement. The bedroom is 8ft long (im keeping my kingsize bed lol) so that leaves me 2ft until i hit wheel wells

I can also go on otherside of wheel well but that leaves me with a 1.5 ft walkway between kitchen wall(doing L shape kitchen) and bathroom wall...but it is a tiny house right

Front 10 ft of bus is staying open for living space so kitchen and bathroom will start at 10ft mark and be 5ft long to 15 feet(wheel wells)

Bus width is 7.5 ft....

[Bone3421 716]

Think about the T& G plywood, it's going to move, and you may get small ridges at the joints. Either go butt joint plywood, and leave an 1/8" gap or use Avantech 3/4" sub flooring. It doesn't move, and is water resistant.  Glue and screw it !!!!!!!!!!

My stepdad said tongue and groove and he has been in construction his whole life...and online says its good for floating floors

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

7 minutes ago, Bone3421 said:

11 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Think about the T& G plywood, it's going to move, and you may get small ridges at the joints. Either go butt joint plywood, and leave an 1/8" gap or use Avantech 3/4" sub flooring. It doesn't move, and is water resistant.  Glue and screw it !!!!!!!!!!

My stepdad said tongue and groove and he has been in construction his whole life...and online says its good for floating floors

So am I 36 plus years. and t&g moves.  Most builders (at least in our east coast region) use advantech because it doesn't move. We have more humidity issues to deal with here typically, so that may not Ben an issue there, but heat in a contained non breathable/vented space has to go somewhere.

[MAGS® 400]

1 hour ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

So am I 36 plus years. and t&g moves.  Most builders (at least in our east coast region) use advantech because it doesn't move. We have more humidity issues to deal with here typically, so that may not Ben an issue there, but heat in a contained non breathable/vented space has to go somewhere.

Best friend owns 3 flooring stores, he also suggest the advantech.  I would strongly recommend it, the cost will be minimal difference in the grand scheme of things.  

[Dewey 3,286]

Im going with 1 inch thick rigid insulation all around and 5/8 tongue and groove plywood on subfloor so will make one big piece.... I know the floor will be a light grey laminate faux hardwood floor and think im going with a tongue and groove cedar ceiling. Cabinets and interior will be white

Checkout the vinyl flooring planks that's out there, I know Lifeproof makes some good stuff. Vinyl will hold up better than the laminate in your situation

[Bone3421 716]

Ill checkout the subfloor...but just for more data are ya'll taking into account that this going in a bus lol already have a thick steel metal base

[Bone3421 716]

Checkout the vinyl flooring planks that's out there, I know Lifeproof makes some good stuff. Vinyl will hold up better than the laminate in your situation

Probably talking about the same thing...im using the faux hardwood stuff that you piece together

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,974]

There's luxury vinyl planks and laminate flooring. Two different products. Laminate flooring has real wood on top. Vinyl planks are printed to look and have the texture of wood, but aren't. The vinyl planks are waterproof, which is nice. Thicker planks are better and won't show any small imperfections in the subfloor. That's probably the way to go.

[Dewey 3,286]

Laminate is waterproof for up to 24 hours, they say, laminate is good for areas of a house that do not see water, bedrooms, studies, living rooms. Vinyl is waterproof, it can go in bathrooms, laundry rooms, so on.

 

It's a click and lock floating system, just like the laminate.

[utee94 15,797]

18 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

There's luxury vinyl planks and laminate flooring. Two different products. Laminate flooring has real wood on top. Vinyl planks are printed to look and have the texture of wood, but aren't. The vinyl planks are waterproof, which is nice. Thicker planks are better and won't show any small imperfections in the subfloor. That's probably the way to go.

Quick correction-- laminate flooring has a photograph of wood on top.  Engineered wood floors have real wood on top.  Vinyl planks are indeed printed as you've mentioned.

If you're going to be regularly mobile at all, I'd avoid all of those things, because they have joints that will open and close with movement and temperature deltas.  Instead, I'd use a sheet product like marmoleum (which is a high-end brand of linoleum).  Linoleum is natural and durable.  Sheet vinyl also works but out-gasses much worse and most of them are of lower quality.

Another alternative is placing VCT tiles that glue-down directly to the subfloor.  If you want them polished they require more maintenance than other flooring options.  I left the ones in my Airstream unpolished and they were easy to maintain.

Regarding the subfloor, I agree with those that are recommending wider sheets of ply and butting the seams.  Tongue and groove will be more susceptible to movement at the seams.

I've never built a tiny home, but I'm extremely familiar with frame-off reconstruction of travel trailers. If you're planning on moving this thing much at all, then you need to be building it like an RV, and not a house.

Just my $.02.

Edited October 3, 2018 by utee94

[utee94 15,797]

27 minutes ago, Bone3421 said:

1 hour ago, Dewey said:

Checkout the vinyl flooring planks that's out there, I know Lifeproof makes some good stuff. Vinyl will hold up better than the laminate in your situation

Probably talking about the same thing...im using the faux hardwood stuff that you piece together

Sounds like you're talking about laminate.  Is it rigid?  

Again, I highly recommend sheet product for this application.  There's a reason RV manufacturers do it that way.  You'll save at least a little on weight as well, which might matter, unless you've done extensive work to modernize and upgrade the axles.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,974]

Most of the new nicer vinyl planks have the texture of wood (well as much as any synthetic product can) as well now. They look pretty nice as well. 

[Bone3421 716]

They have vinyl and laminate planks that snap together thats why i said were probably talking about same thing...the differences are minor. I do think the color i like is laminate though and the laminate faux wood is a little thicker and sturdier than some off the vinyl i checked. I do know the brand he mentioned from home depot lifeproof but its on the highend of alk the flooring at 3$ a sqft...most of the others ive checked at home depot/lowes/lumber liquidators is 1.60 or less a sqft

[Bone3421 716]

Appreciate the info@utee94 . it will travel some but not for awhile and with the super low mpg if i do drive it somewhere it will be somewhere i stay for awhile like in colorado for 6 months for ex.

Also rattling in my head is i can just make this one more like a house and then with savings from excluding rent i can build smaller more mobile vehicle down the road campervan/ minibus

[utee94 15,797]

14 minutes ago, Bone3421 said:

They have vinyl and laminate planks that snap together thats why i said were probably talking about same thing...the differences are minor. I do think the color i like is laminate though and the laminate faux wood is a little thicker and sturdier than some off the vinyl i checked. I do know the brand he mentioned from home depot lifeproof but its on the highend of alk the flooring at 3$ a sqft...most of the others ive checked at home depot/lowes/lumber liquidators is 1.60 or less a sqft

First, I want to say that I love your project and am extremely excited for you.  I don't want my comments to come off as critical or mean.  I realize that's the shaggy/surly way, but I'm only commenting because I'm really interested in your project and love to see your progress.

So just to sort of clarify some things-- Vinyl planks will be floppy.  Depending on the brand/style/quality, they'll either stick directly to the subfloor, or they'll have overlapping edges that stick to one another and provide a floating floor, over but not attached to the subfloor.  All of these have advantages and can work well in residential-based applications, even below-grade.

Laminate are hard planks made of various materials laminated together.  They often have a plastic-like base layer, some kind of compressed-board midlayer, and a hard top-layer with a photograph of the real wood (or tile) it's designed to imitate on top, and finally a thin clear-coat over that.  They'll "click" together when installed. Also, they'll either have a foam underlayment attached as the bottom-most later, or they'll require one to be placed in sheet form under all the click-planks.  They're much more rigid than vinyl planks, though somewhat less rigid than engineered hardwood or true hardwood.

I still recommend a sheet flooring product for you, though.  Depending on manufacturer, you can purchase extremely long runs of this material that will be wide enough to cover your bus floor dimensions side-to-side, and perhaps long enough to finish off the entire bus in only one or two runs.  That minimizes seams, which are your worse enemy in flooring for a project like this.

 

[Bone3421 716]

I dudnt take it as criticizing thx

[utee94 15,797]

Cool!

So aside from travel, the other major gotcha is expansion/contraction due to thermal cycles.  Fewer seams in subfloor, fewer seams in floor covering, will be a tremendous help.  Letting your skoolie sit in the Texas sun for months at a time without any A/C on, is going to cause a lot of movement. And even the mild Texas winters can get below freezing, and that also causes movement.  

The thermal cycling will also affect the way you attach furniture to the floors, walls, and ceiling if you choose to mount any upper cabinets.  You need to slot out the holes that go through the framing lumber on any cabinetry/casework/furniture.  Leave the holes in the floor/walls/ceiling tight.  If you're going through metal, then rivets are typically going to work better than sheet metal screws in applications where you can use them.

Also, no matter how hard you work at it, no matter how well you seal-- there are going to be leaks in the ceiling and walls.  Everywhere you see a seam and a line of rivets, watch it like a hawk.  Spray-test (and rain-test if possible) like crazy while you can still see the roof and the walls, before you install you interior paneling.  Treat all leaks and re-test.  I've seen several folks install beautiful wooden paneling on the insides of their trailers, just to be ruined by leaking exterior panels.  Same thing goes for all the window seals.  Clean them, polish them, make sure all the seals and gaskets close tight.  If you have any frames that are just flat-out bad, don't be afraid to pull them and reinstall.  Use butyl tape around the frames when you can.  Use other sealers like vulkem or silkaflex if you can't pull a leaky frame.  

Anyway, watching and enjoying, good luck!

[InkaUtexas 25,855]

Subscribed. Damn fine project. Once running it needs to be at Texas OU. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,974]

On the note about leaks, you would need to be vigilant about checking for water after rain storms with laminate flooring. If the water sits too long the middle particle board like layer will swell up around the joints and make it look bad.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

3 hours ago, Bone3421 said:

Ill checkout the subfloor...but just for more data are ya'll taking into account that this going in a bus lol already have a thick steel metal base

The steel plate  is not really an issue. The wood moves   (at a different co efficient rate than steel). What you'll notice after a  Year or so is an outline of the plywood pattern where the panels meet up and  a very small ridge occurs and telegraphs thru the laminate. That's not guaranteed, but  it may happen. Not the end of the world but why build in possibilities ?

[Bone3421 716]

So doing subfloor today and yes i shouldnt have followed stedads advice on tongue and groove lol.... Cant really change up the seams like i want

Another unforeseen problem was the chair rail(place seats bolted to) . It sticks out 1.5 inches from wall. I was able to flex the insulation under it but couldnt get plywood to wedge under so had to cut plywood in 2 pieces and slide each piece under rail

I will have 2x4 attached to ribs and along bottom of window for the sidewall should have me flush with the chair rail at 1.5 inches off of ribs/bottom wall

[Bone3421 716]

This is my ceiling...think it will look pretty sweet when up

[Sbbruin 21,827]

This is a pretty awesome effort.  Very cool.

[Bone3421 716]

Doing insulation in ceiling today...scoring the curved pieces. Wedged a whole piece in without scoring so might not score anymore. They are snug and put them up with no adhesive yet...thinking i wont need adhesive on curved sides since arch and very tight fir seem enough.
The middile panels will need to be glued i feel unless yall think the metal ribs and ceiling is enough

[utee94 15,797]

Looks great!

Do those rigid panels require any air gap?  Some of the various brands recommend it, some don't, as I recall.  When I reinsulated my Airstream I almost did what you're doing, but then decided to use the pink stuff because it was cheaper.  I'd probably go your route if I were doing it over again.

The fits look pretty tight, you're probably ok, but maybe hit the middle ones with at least a little bit of adhesive just to keep them from shifting around?

You're working fast, keep it up!

 

[utee94 15,797]

Oh one other thing, you might already be planning on it, but probably a good idea to close the seams between the foam panels with aluminum-backed butyl rubber adhesive tape.

[Armybrat 40,815]

On ‎9‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 1:17 PM, Your Mom said:

Donna WiIlliamson would be proud of your work.

Growing up, we went to the Renaissance Fair a lot and I remember seeing lots of dirty hippies there living in converted busses.  Cool stuff.

Ah yes, the chain mail bikinis.

[Bone3421 716]

Oh one other thing, you might already be planning on it, but probably a good idea to close the seams between the foam panels with aluminum-backed butyl rubber adhesive tape.

Yeah the curved pieces are very tight...got them wedge in good...middle one i tried to take out and add some glue put couldnt get out ...guess ill see if they are sagging tomorrow