Just as I was not happy with my routed tree wardrobe doors, I'm also not happy with the timber look vinyl slats we used around the bed base. So I decided to replace it (much to Brad's horror) with the original plan of steel look. Admiring my handy work, hope these stay up cause the last ones didn't.
2013 - Yeah, they're hinged
Not unhinged like me. The wardrobe doors are in, on and I love them. Thanks again Deon printonwood.com.au and especially you B-Rad, you're ace!
2013 - The Master Takes Shape
Due to bad weather in the form of gale force winds, the outside work stalls.
Sticking to the original plan to work from the back forward, the master bedroom begins to take shape with the building of the bed. Another healthy working lunch (not), we are laying vinyl to have a clean cover over the storage area under the bed. Laying vinyl sheet is DEFINITELY not our strong point and won't be going on our list of skills....it's a shockingly embarrassing job, but you'll never see it.
The bed has been built sideways (pillows at the window end) rather than back to front because this allows more overall living room in the bus. It's going to be a bitch when it comes to making the bed everyday, but Brad says he doesn't mind, he'd rather build it this way. So guess what, I never have to make a bed again! We chose a bus with a rear motor because it's quieter when driving and provides more room under the floor. Therefore, the master bed needs to be built over the motor which is stepped and basically the form of the rear backseat
2013 - OMG Shut the Front Door
The old door comes off. It's been several weeks since my last blog............and it's freezing (hence the hoody).
Who'd have thought it would take sooooo loooooong to weld a few bits of box steel together, rivet on a sheet of steel, add a couple of hinges and bang in a couple of windows, this door should be done in a weekend or so I thought.
I'll let Brad post comments with all of his excuses shall I? All I can say is apparently it's not so easy when the door and the bus have a significant curve in the centre...excuses, excuses.
At long, long last, a locking door and another piece of canvass for Jaws to do his thing.
2013 - Just when it was getting interesting...
Just as it was starting to get exciting with the bedroom, bathroom and Lola's bed frames going up, inside work has to stop to focus on outside preparation. Remember my call for an amazing street artist. Well we found Jaws (Adrien, New Hunting Ground's guest artist from France) newhuntingground.com and now await his draft design for mobile street art on the bus.
We are booked in for artwork first week of September and so sanding, external repairs and building the storage bins is now a hot priority. Once repairs and build is complete, we need to sand, tape and prime ready for artwork....running out of time and the weather is a nightmare for outside work, may need to call in some extra hands.
This is another one of those moment's when Brad despises my impulsiveness....buying a bus without storage bins was not part of his original plan...but you know how it goes, I see it as just another day's work to whack in a few bits of steel. Ha, the jokes on me, this is taking ages and I'm bored.
2013 - A room with a view
The back window is now the wardrobe, back wall and side wall of the bedroom. So how to make it interesting? We tried to get creative at home and I routed a tree into timber doors and tried various versions of stains for effect. All in all it looked ok but had that home made appearance to me and really was not the overall style I wanted. So this was great in theory but crap in reality. These doors I spent so many hours on have now been cut into pieces and used as building materials under Lola's bed.
So after much investigation of options - material, wallpaper, photo print, canvass print and annoying Catherine at work to help find photos etc, I finally found the company Print On Wood and an image of the Nullarbor to print across the four doors. It serves as artwork while giving the appearance of looking out the back window as if it were still there. Can't wait to see the final product.
2013 - The most important room in the house
After many redesigns, window turned upside down, shower in, shower out, basin in, basin out....the most important room in the house has commenced. Final design resulted in a significant negotiation between leg room (for those taller than me) and wardrobe space (for those with less clothes than me). Surprisingly, leg room won over wardrobe, more to relieve my claustrophobia than caring about Brad's knees being around his neck while seated on the throne.
While Brad, drilled and screwed, I was getting numb bum on the back seat googling fixtures and fittings. Absolute bargain on a clear glass bowl (again after significant negotiation on vanity/bowl size) and a funky mirror to match. I soooo can't wait to see them installed.
2013 - Building begins
The Internal structure has finally commenced, albeit very slowly. Apparently its not quite as easy as screw a few bits of timber together when nothing is square. But where there's a will and an anal Brad you get there eventually. Rear robe, joining robe and Lola's bed starting to take shape.
Apparently its my fault for rushing him but he forgot to include wiring for reverse camera prior to construction so a bit of rework required and well on the way.
Meanwhile I agonise over design and development of the wardrobe doors.
2013 - Sneak Preview
I've bee shopping and bought home some samples. The industrial grade vinyl floor in a checker plate look. The kitchen table (actually a bench) will be from large silver tiles like this with the mosaic versions as a matching splashback. And these the kitchen splashback with a super large black porcelain tiled benchtop.
2013 - Desperately seeking talented street artist!
Nothing like developing graffiti artists young.....So I've been trying to convince Brad for a while now that instead of painting the bus boring white, we should hire some street artists to give it some life. Well if he wasn't convinced before, do you think he is now?
Well I did say "hire talented street artists", this is just a brightening up example of the work of non talented street artists, Jay, Lola & I. But you get the idea now, don't you Brad. Don't panic, it's only coloured hairspray. I'm sure by now the neighbours think we're trashy nutcases but we had fun so it doesn't matter.
Back to boring white, the inside wall panels have started to go up. Getting exciting, very slowly starting to look like a renovation rather than a construction site.
2013 - Let there be light
Foam almost done and framing in. Time for windows, so excited. The windows purchased from customercoasterconversions.com.au as described in a previous post. The first cut, Lola's bed window.....it looks rather like a horse float at this stage.
2013 - Check out my first ever weld
2013 - It's snowing foam
Just as we get over the never ending saga of the floor, along came the never ending saga of the foam.
Insulation is essential of course, but the thousands of cuts of 50mm polystyrene sheets by hand with a knife and cutting hidden grooves for cabling, bus fibreglass patches etc....this was a long, tedious and painful to my wrists task.
Just like the floor, what we thought would be done in a weekend, goes on for several. Also had all the 240v cabling installed this week. Thanks to wattasparky.com.au Another trial by error - foam cutting options, the power saw the messiest
2013 - Time for a clean up
It's very messy building a bus. Time for a clean up, and as the rain pours down, time for an undercover workshop.
So while we fill a skip bin with garage trash, Lola and the neighbourhood kids play in the flooded street and burn my life's records in a wheelbarrow. There is only so many physical memories you can carry when living on a bus, so they may as well go now.
2013 - Steel arrived
And Butlers are here to help.
Of course it rains on the day, and it's bloody freezing, but work goes on. The boys install the Zincaloom, Michele paints and I scrape...a few wines to keep us warm of course.
2013 - Await steel delivery
We are waiting impatiently for Zincaloom delivery to fill in the walls where windows once were.
Also some hefty online shopping to source new windows. Options are greatly limited from caravan options and being a bus they must be ADR approved. Also, feedback has it the most popular brand used are not built tough for everyday use, built for a few weeks a year caravan holidays.
Fortunately, I found Hugo at customercoasterconversions.com.au in NSW and he had just the thing - built tough, built in flyscreens and $2,000 less than the popular brand. Placed order, now we wait watching online tracker impatiently.
2013 - Brad wins
He's been trying to convince me from day one that I can't keep all of the original windows. He's right, apart from functionality of the actual windows, the layout is impossible.....so out they come. One by one the old windows disappear. Nothings ever easy...Neil and Brad grinding away while Matt, Lola and Rosa check out the view
2013 - Who'd have thought I'd be dreaming about vinyl
"Here's an easy job for you" he says. Remove the old vinyl floor, shouldn't be too hard.......ha
Several weeks, wines, heat guns and Brad's hand made jackhammer extension tools later, the vinyl is finally gone, but not without a fair bit of the surface timber and my soul with it. The one thing we didn't try was water/steam. As it turns out the very last pieces which got wet after the window removal were much, much easier to remove...could it have been the moisture?
After the chisel failed, Brad made a tool for the end of the jackhammer, when the jackhammer failed, bought a heat gun and burnt it out, so bought another heat gun.
Nothing quite like child labour as Lola is set to work and Daisy looks on.
2013 - Licenced to Drive a Heavy Rigid Vehicle
Oh what a day, this one requires more than one bottle of wine. Brad and I got our HR licences today, yippee!
What a day it was - our power tripped instructor was a unique variety of human, taking us out in an old truck with gearbox more worn out than hippy thong. He spent the entire day telling me to "split you box" in between his snorting, grunting, eating and snorting. Of course each time he said it I tried my hardest not to laugh with Brad smirking in the background.
There were moments when we both thought we wouldn't pass, and that was before the written test (which by the way was nothing like the online practices). We only needed an MR (Medium Rigid Licence) but somehow we managed to split our box well enough to get a HR (Heavy Rigid) thus potentially providing more job options on the road or licence for a future upgrade.
So now, legal, I drove down to Dad's tonight, just because I could. Took him, Faye and Pat for a drive, the girls were suitably impressed. PS - split your box means selecting high and low range on a 9 speed gear box.
Oh funny thing, found myself having to cheat on the eye chart test....had no hope of reading the top two lines as requested (so cheated) then promptly took myself of to an optometrist concerned I was blind, only to find out that only 5% of people can read the bottom line. Phew, not blind, no need to cheat at all.
2013 - Oh no, roundabouts and peak hour shopping
Time to get legal. I purchased a Driver Under Instruction sign and have been on a couple of drives with licenced drivers, a lovely man Ross (husband of one of my colleagues) very kindly offered his time to take me driving. Taught me heaps but stressed me out! Today Vicki (a great young staff member of mine) has taken me driving. Stinking hot and with Brad in tow, somehow they end up directing me through the centre of Drouin township which includes several roundabouts barely maneuverable roundabouts in peak hour Saturday morning shopping traffic. Oh my, I need a wine just thinking about it. I made it though, nothing like learning from the deep end.
First stage layout attempts taping up and Lola checks out her bedroom. We have retained the front seats for now but they will not be part of the final layout.
