Week One of Demo on the Skoolie & Order of Operations

Obviously the overall goal for my Skoolie is to turn it into a full functioning home. What all does that entail?

My overall must haves are:

• Electricity

• Plumbing

• Functioning kitchen

• Storage space

• Comfy living area

• Sleeping quarters

Since deciding to purchase the bus, I immediately began playing around with the fun stuff; the floor plan and overall look I want for my Skoolie. I'm planning to keep as many windows as possible, since a big reason I opted for a bus over a van was all the natural lighting that comes with it. I hate having the blinds closed during the day and thrive the most in a bright, airy setting. Don't get me wrong, it's always nice to have a dark cozy space from time to time, but that's where curtains and blinds come into play.

The first step to actually begin this build is the dirty demo. Luckily all of the seats were removed from the previous owner so that saves a bunch of time and money. Initially I thought that I would keep the current wall and ceiling insulation and panelling and build onto of it. There are only a few problems with that route. One, I'd be losing a few inches of space in what's already going to be a tiny home, and two, the current insulation is made of fiberglass which isn't ideal. It can harbor mold, as well as lose its insulating properties when the inevitable condensation finds its way inside. Mold is the absolute last thing I want to deal with in the future.

Another very important reason I'm deciding to completely gut the bus is to check for any rust or structural damage. While it appears to be in pretty excellent shape, there could be some issues hiding beneath the surface.

This past week I finally picked up the bus and brought it to its resting spot while I work on the build. Demo day one started off with what seemed like a billion screws. I started with the panels that housed the electrical to the back lights, as well as the speakers and lights in the ceiling. Once I got those down, I continued the monotonous step of unscrewing the screws in the side panels - painfully removing each screw individually.

One problem did arise throughout this tedious process - stripped screws, and plenty of them. My initial solution was to go to Home Depot and pick up some stripped screw bits to remove the old stubborn screws. This plan worked for the first 10-15 but then the bit wore down and progress came to a halt. Earlier in the week I had ordered an angle grinder, and I quickly realized that I would need it to grind off the stripped screws.

Demo day two and I was back at it, this time on the ceiling. I wasn't quite prepared for how tired and sore my arms and shoulders would be from reaching above me and putting down pressure on the screws to remove them. Over the course of two hours I was able to finish with all the screws I could manage with the drill, then went home for lunch and an important Home Depot run. By the time I made it home, my angle grinder had arrived and I plugged her in to charge.

An hour later and I made the drive back to the bus. I quickly realized that grinding off the screws would be a test of my commitment to this build as well as my patience. By the end of the day, I was able to pry off half of the ceiling panels and old insulation, as well as two side panels. I was absolutely exhausted and carried on home to enjoy a meal with my neighbor. After a long day I indulged in Prosecco, pork chops and potatoes and made it a priority to sleep in the next day.

Demo day three and I reluctantly took myself to the bus where I continued on to only get one more ceiling panel and side panel down before calling it quits and stepping away.

Working on this alone, I feel pretty proud of what I accomplished in three days. This week a friend of mine is offering his stripped screw expertise and I'm hoping to knock out the demo so I can prep and paint the flooring for insulation and subfloor!

After researching methods to lay a subfloor, I landed on a pretty simple method. Instead of framing out the floor before laying the foam and subfloor, I'm just going to go straight down with the extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam and some good ole Loctite. I decided on this due to this pesky little thing know as thermal bridging. The XPS foam I plan to use has an r-value of 5 per inch, while wood has an r-value of about 1.5 per inch. Every time there's any wooden framed sections I'd be losing insulation efficiency. Skoolies are notorious for thermal bridging, so I want to reduce that as much as possible, and by laying down and adhering the foam directly to the floor, I can prevent a good amount.

Once the subfloor is laid I can then move onto the painfully tedious task of removing and resealing the school bus windows. As they stand now, the old butyl tape and caulking is cracked and if I leave them how they are, I'm asking for water damage. I'm hoping to knock out this process in a week so I can then move onto framing the ceiling and walls.

To again reduce the most amount of thermal bridging that I can, I'm going to install the lumber perpendicular to the existing beams. If the framing material was to go vertically along the beams, like many people choose to do, and what might seem like the most sense, it could reduce the insulation efficiency of the bus by 30%. If I were planning on living in the bus part time, this might not be a big deal, but since I plan on living in it full time and occasionally need to leave my pets alone in a climate controlled environment, I think it's completely necessary to build it in a way that reduces the most amount of thermal bridging. By increasing the insulation efficiency, the bus won't require as much energy to be used for whatever heating/cooling system I plan to go with.

For insulation on the walls and ceilings I'm going with Havelock Wool insulation. It may be more costly in the end, but doesn't cost as much as spray foam. It also has so many benefits that outweigh the cost compared to it's cheaper competitors such as fiberglass.

• Filters the air and improves air qualituy

• Both absorbs and adsorbs moisture

• Has natural keratin that prevents mold and mildew

• Absorbs sound

• No off-gassing

• Resists flames

• Long lasting

• All-Natural

Once the insulation has been installed, I can then move on to taping out a floor plan. When I do this step, I'm going to move around the bus with the tape markings and see if there are any changes I need to make. After I've made edits, I'll then recruit the help of my friend Anthony.

Anthony converted an ambulance last year, as well as a trailer he sold and knows way more about solar power and electricity than I do. No matter how much I've researched and read so far, it continues to just go right over my head. That being said, once walls are framed, the next step is to rough in the electrical. This is also the point where I'll rough in the plumbing and propane lines.

After all the nitty gritty stuff is done, it'll be time to add cabinetry and custom furniture. Then to move on to finishing the walls, ceilings, paint and add finished surfaces such as countertops, doors, drawers, appliances, faucets. Other finishing touches will be connecting the electrical to outlets, switches, light fixtures and the final power source - solar panels. It'll also be time to connect the propane and plumbing lines to their final destinations.

The final step is laying down the floor and turning it from construction site on wheels to home on wheels!