Insulating the Walls...In Sub Freezing Temperatures.

  Well, it was 4 degrees on Sunday morning and warmed up to about 11 by afternoon. It's been well below zero the past couple of nights. It still looks like 2 feet of snow on the ground and another storm is predicted in a couple days. It was even so cold that my camera didn't want to take many pictures. We definitely chose the wrong time of year to tackle this project. But with our Spring deadline just around the corner, we bundle up and hammer on.

Propane heater to the rescue!!!
This thing really puts out some heat. You can't see it from the picture very well, but it is shooting flames in that cannon. Shooting Flames! Within a few minutes, we could feel the heat at the back of the bus.

Today we finished putting insulation in the walls. We had to cut some screws inside the walls using a sawzall then we used the same insulation (1 & 3/8 in. Tuff-R) that we used for the floor, and cut squares that would fit in the space below each window. then stuffed 'em in. We also removed the heater that was in the back of the bus. It was just in our way and won't really be needed anymore. This required some wiring and re-wiring under the hood.

BUS LUNCH: We thought a HOT meal was a in order for this very freezing day. Propane heated vegan chili and hot chai, with chocolate pound cake for desert. Yum! Its our first "cooked" meal in the bus.



....And then it got too cold for my camera! But we also cut the last piece of plywood that went near the driver seat, so now the sub-floor is completely finished(except for the stairs). We also started framing out where the bed will go. Its nice to be building things, and to start seeing things come together.



Some new pics...

Sub floor near the driver's seat.

Framing the bed with storage underneath.

We Like Donations! Thanks, Drew!

A big, fat, THANK YOU!! to Drew, who so generously donated a variety of wood, screws, copper flashing and other stuff for our bus project. We are so happy to get these!

OK now who else has something they don't need that we might be able to use?
We can still use more wood. We are looking for flooring, wall paneling, and scraps of nice wood that can be used for counter tops, cabinets, and shelves. We need hinges, small knobs for cabinets, and drawer pulls. We can use tile, LED lights, and many other things.
Tell us if you have anything. Maybe we will bake you some delicious treats or give you some art!

Insulation and Sub Floor

     For the sub floor, first we put down 2x4s that we cut in half the long way, and screwed them right into the metal bus floor, on top of the tar paper. We used Tuff-R rigid foam insulation, 1 3/8" thick, and cut it into pieces that would fit in between the floor joists. Amazingly, The 4' piece of insulation fit perfectly on our bus floor when we spaced the 2x4s the way we did! Little cutting and no waste!

Then we cut down the plywood to fit the width of the bus, and put it on top of the insulation, and screwed them into the floor joists.  Easy as that!

Putting the plywood sub-floor in.

Finished sub-floor!

I could really feel the difference the insulation made as I was working. It was freezing outside and I was actually pretty warm working inside the bus with no heat at all!

Still preparing that floor!

     We saved the pieces of aluminum that we took off the walls and Phil used them to patch up the holes that were rusted through the wheel wells. Then he used clear silicone caulking around the edges to keep the moisture out.

     This weekend, we started buying the wood for framing and the sub floor. We also put down a layer of tar paper which will act as a moisture barrier to prevent water from getting into the bus from underneath.








    Now the bus floor is finally ready to start turning into a real wood floor!

The first day of a NEW YEAR!

    After a relaxing morning spent with friends sitting outside in the very unseasonably warm and sunny, melty snowy weather, Phil and I headed back to the bus to get a few hours of work in before the day was over. We removed the luggage racks that were on the walls above the seats. Those metal brackets will come in handy to add support for our cabinets that we'll make later. And the aluminum poles that were part of the luggage racks look like they could have many uses on my future farm. (hoop house, perhaps?)

Goodbye, rusty floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
      We also used the grinding wheel to finish removing the rust around the wheel wells. Wear a respirator, this job is not fun!
     I discovered some more holes around the wheel wells too. We are going to use the scraps of aluminum that we cut off the walls to patch up the holes.








   

Me washing the dusty, mildewy ceiling.

    
     Grinding away the rust spots on the metal bus floor on Saturday left the whole inside covered in a coating of rust dust! So on Sunday we swept, shop vac-ed and scrubbed the ceiling all nice and shiny! It felt good to be getting rid of all that rust and rot and decaying pieces of rubber and all the other dirty stuff that was in the floor. It made me really glad that we made the decision to take the whole floor up. Taking the time to do that extra step means we won't have to be living with all that under our floor!



   

The holes filled in with silicone caulking.

      When we removed the seats a few weeks ago, there were holes left in the floor where the bolts were. You could see right to the ground. So today we took advantage of the warm weather and filed in all the holes in the floor. (The silicone we used needed at least 40 degree temps for it to set properly.) Now we are pretty much ready to start putting in the new floor!

Walls under the window. Aluminum cut off.

     Another thing Phil did today was finish cutting the aluminum walls below the windows that I had cut a few weeks ago to pull out the old insulation. He used the grinding wheel to get them nice and smooth so we can put new walls right on top of this.