Embarking on the journey of transforming a school bus into a Skoolie, our first week of demolition was pretty satisfying, taking big stuff like old beds and "beams" out makes it ALMOST feel like it's all done... HA! Join us as we dive into the world of bus conversion and the process of turning our school bus into a dreamy, functional, and net zero tiny home on wheels. From stripping away the old to making way for the new, this DIY Skoolie renovation marks the beginning of a whole new journey for us. bringing us closer to the ultimate freedom of life on the road. Get ready to witness the transformation as we share the thrills and challenges of our first week, turning a simple school bus into a stunning mobile home that promises endless adventures.
Our first mission - demo the work that's already been done.
Skoolie Conversion: Why Demo?
The person that owned the bus before us put in a solid attempt at converting this bus. Succeeding in making a set of bunk beds you could through a sleeping bag on and a solo twin bed. So... why demo? Well frankly he cut a lot of corners and ultimately I am going to make this the Taj Ma Hal of buses which means things need to be done right. Our very first step was demoing all the work he'd done and get back to a shell.
How?
Luckily, the previous owner used mostly screws to put things together. So demo for us meant taking everything apart. We started high and just took screws out everywhere we could find them. Also lucky for us, the previous owner used these stainless steel screws which are SUPER expensive so we did our best to save everything we could.
There were some "beams" the previous owner put in to anchor the bed frames which he screwed in from the top down. I left those for now, I'm not sure the proper was to seal off those holes in the roof once we take them down. Once we got the structural stuff down and out of the way we were able to pull up the subfloor the previous owner had put down (also lucky.. he used GREAT plywood, saving!), and gosh am I SO happy we pulled this up!
Demo week 1 was successful I must say. This blog will get more exciting as the week's carry on. The goal is to get it completely stripped inside so that we can raise the roof and get it all buttoned up before winter hits... eek!
Tools & Equipment
This is a companion blog to my full episodes on YouTube - subscribe to my page to get notified on all new episodes. Check out Episode 1 - Demo Day 1 below.