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2013/09/22 By John Leave a Comment

Some units started

We’ve divided our interior into individual units that will together make up our living area. We’ve finished roughing out two of these.

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Our dropleaf desk is on the port side immediately behind the driver seat. We haven’t completely finished it yet, since the legs that will support the leaf won’t be installed until the flooring is installed. This will also house all of our electronics including our battery bank, charge controller, and inverter.

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Our bed is directly across from the desk on the starboard side of the bus. It’s about a foot or so back from the stairwell. Nishi will be upholstering the top of this so it will serve as a bench when our bed is stored away.

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The front and top of the bench lift up together to reveal the space where we’ll store our bed. We’re using a futon mattress, folded in half lengthwise.

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This was the best solution to the problem of a queen sized bed in this space. There seem to be two main approaches: a permanently installed mattress blocking off a substantial portion of the bus, or a transforming bed that had to be stripped of sheets to be used as seating. Neither of these were too appealing, and we had to figure out a way to keep our bed from taking up too much space, but without having to make/unmake it whenever we wanted to use it or stow it.

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Both need a fair amount of work still before they can be called finished, but finishing work will have to wait until we’re done with the heavy work inside.

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Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: Bed, Construction, Desk

2013/09/13 By John 10 Comments

All Decked Out

We finished the roof deck yesterday. Lots and lots of work, but we’ve increased our living space by about 50%!

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We started by drilling 9/16th holes in the ribs of the bus, on center. The drill needs to go through both the rib and the sheet metal of the roof. It’s important try and keep everything as straight as possible, or else the bolts will come up crooked.

 

Next, we ran boards along the center line on top of the roof. We ripped 1″x6″ boards in half, and lined them end to end. We drilled up through the holes we already made, to make perfectly aligned holes in the boards. We then moved the boards aside to put a rubber membrane in place. We rolled out and caulked the membrane, and then placed the boards back on top.

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We found center on our 93.5″ 4×4 beams, then drilled 1/2″ holes through the center. We don’t have a drill press, and we had to find a drill guide to make sure we could make perfectly straight holes through the 4×4. We cut a larger hole around this to countersink the nuts and washers that will attach to the bolts.

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These beams are placed perpendicular to the centerboard on top. Our 1/2″ bolts come up through the ribs, rubber membrane, and beam.

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We made an 18° cut into 4×4 posts, which will support the beams on the outside.

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We cut gaskets to match the footprint of these posts.

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Before we placed these posts, we drilled 1/4″ holes for our structural screws to come through the ribs.

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The posts were put in place, and attached to the beams with handy post caps. We drilled up through the ribs securing these posts to the bus with structural screws.

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With our frame firmly in place, we started screwing down the decking.

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This is the finished product. The main decking area that will be used for recreation is in the back, and the walkway towards the front runs between the voids where our solar panels will be mounted.

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Access to the deck will be mainly by a rear mounted ladder (not yet installed).

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Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: Construction, Roof deck

2013/08/26 By John 2 Comments

Subfloor is finished

Found and caulked the leak. It was in a corner of a window. I had appeared to be coming through the Great Stuff, but I now realize it was only coming over it.
With that scare behind us, we finished laying the insulation.

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We covered our 1″ polyiso insulation with 3/8″ plywood.

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The plywood is attached to the bus with 2″ sheet metal screws. We staggered the sheets of plywood and insulation so the seams are not on top of one another.

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And of course, more Great Stuff in the gaps.

Next up is the roof deck. It’s not clear what we’ll be able to do with the weather this week, but we’re waiting until the deck is done before we begin the interior.

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: Construction, Flooring, Insulation

2013/08/22 By John Leave a Comment

Rain Delay

Rain today is keeping meaningful construction from happening, but it did reveal a major leak! After many storms with the interior bare, I thought I had sealed all of the leaks in the walls, but apparently there was one more. What I’m very confused and concerned about is that it seems to be coming through the Great Stuff! I was under the impression that, as closed cell foam, Great Stuff would keep water from getting in. I poked a portion above the leak and saw water squeeze out. I’m going to have to stall things until I can figure this bit out. If I can find the source of the leak outside, I’ll just seal it there with caulk.

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: Construction, Insulation, Leaks

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Tags

Anxiety Bed Brick Ceiling Chimney Clearance lights Compost Construction Cooktop Counter Demolition Desk Festivals Flooring floorplan Fridge Hearth Inspiration Insulation Kitchen Leaks Lights Performance Port Bench Roof Roof deck Rust Sink Snow Toilet Tour Upholstery Video Walls Water Heater Woodstove
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