Margarit comes home with us!
This Blog is intended to share the creation of a tiny home Skoolie named Margarit, and inspire all those who enter to manifest their wildest dreams into creation even if you have no clue how you'll begin to make it happen.
After many months of searching for the right bus, and after about 15 years of wanting to buy a bus to convert into a home, I finally purchased her back in May of this year-2014! She is a 1980 Thomas Built 40 foot Diesel pusher (engine in the back) with a Cat Engine. I found her through Craigslist at a Christian Non-Profit After School and Summer Camp. The people were a delight to communicate with, and they were honest, good folks. She was in Camarillo California, 420 miles south of where I live in Sonoma County, California. When I went to pick her up, I learned that she was called the "Fun" bus by all the kids. They had an entire fleet of busses but she was the only one who got a name! That felt like just one more good sign that she was the right bus, and I was making the right decision. I had a friends Great Uncle John drive us home in the bus as I didn't have a commercial license, nor had I ever driven a large vehicle before and didn't feel safe driving her the 12 hour journey. I am SO grateful I had John drive us back because not only was he wonderful to have on board, but he has been driving School Busses for over 30 years! We were in such good hands. During the drive I was so grateful he was driving us, as there were a few hiccups that I would have been dumbfounded by. He handled the drive as a pro would, with a bag of cookies and some duct tape...which came in handy many times.
I ended up paying $4,000 for the bus, which felt like a pretty good price to me. I hunted for many months and found some busses that were cheaper, but they were farther away and not exactly what I wanted. You can pay less for a gasoline run bus, but I wanted Diesel...So I paid more and feel good about it. If you really think about it, $4,000 for all the machinery this bus has in it is an incredible steal. Not to mention, it is the shell of a house!
There are SO many considerations that come into play when buying a bus. I had NO clue, and so I ended up asking my good friend Guisepi to help me. Guisepi lives in a gorgeous Bus that is converted into a home and Free Tea House. Their mission together is as follows "Traveling the land, this free tea house cultivates community, health, peace, sustainability, and genuine human interactions." Guisepi converted his bus over the past 7 years into something spectacular and is very handy and knowledgeable in the world of bus conversions. Here is his website...www.FreeTeaParty.org He, along with many others I have found online, have been a huge inspiration. Also, www.Skoolie.net was very helpful in deciding which bus to buy.
So, Now that she is home we have started working taking out her seats. We have worked on her about 4 different days, and the seats are all out except for 6!!! We have been mostly using a socket wrench and pliers, with two people most of the time. One person holding the bolt underneath, the other person cranking on the top. We thought we would just grind off the heads of the bolts in the bus for the seats...BUT! These bolts were no ordinary bolts...I think they are hardened steel, and it ended up being easier for us to use the wrenches. I've read all different opinions of people saying what their preference is for taking the seats off...I think it depends upon the person, the tools you have available and what particular configuration your bus is in. You will find the right way for your own bus.
Now that the seats are almost out, we have started being able to really visualize the layout of the bus, and what the potential space might look like. IT'S SO EXCITING!!! I can't even begin to tell you how stoked my boyfriend, dad and I are at brainstorming all the possibilities. I will not divulge much since for now it is all just possibilities. I will keep to the present. After the seats come out we will get the rubbed floor up and check out the wooden sub floor. From what the parts look like that we can see, it seems like a great wooden subfloor we can lay floor right over.
The bus will be equipped with a bedroom in the back with storage under the bed, two closets in front of that, a bathroom with composting toilet, shower and sink, a full on kitchen, and booth seating with a removable table. There will be storage under the booth seats, and it will convert into a bed as well. There will also be a small wood fire stove, and eventually a fold down deck outside the emergency exit.
Well, enough writing! Time to get back to work! I will post more photos when we have the seats all out and the floor up. Yahoo! Here we go!
After many months of searching for the right bus, and after about 15 years of wanting to buy a bus to convert into a home, I finally purchased her back in May of this year-2014! She is a 1980 Thomas Built 40 foot Diesel pusher (engine in the back) with a Cat Engine. I found her through Craigslist at a Christian Non-Profit After School and Summer Camp. The people were a delight to communicate with, and they were honest, good folks. She was in Camarillo California, 420 miles south of where I live in Sonoma County, California. When I went to pick her up, I learned that she was called the "Fun" bus by all the kids. They had an entire fleet of busses but she was the only one who got a name! That felt like just one more good sign that she was the right bus, and I was making the right decision. I had a friends Great Uncle John drive us home in the bus as I didn't have a commercial license, nor had I ever driven a large vehicle before and didn't feel safe driving her the 12 hour journey. I am SO grateful I had John drive us back because not only was he wonderful to have on board, but he has been driving School Busses for over 30 years! We were in such good hands. During the drive I was so grateful he was driving us, as there were a few hiccups that I would have been dumbfounded by. He handled the drive as a pro would, with a bag of cookies and some duct tape...which came in handy many times.
I ended up paying $4,000 for the bus, which felt like a pretty good price to me. I hunted for many months and found some busses that were cheaper, but they were farther away and not exactly what I wanted. You can pay less for a gasoline run bus, but I wanted Diesel...So I paid more and feel good about it. If you really think about it, $4,000 for all the machinery this bus has in it is an incredible steal. Not to mention, it is the shell of a house!
There are SO many considerations that come into play when buying a bus. I had NO clue, and so I ended up asking my good friend Guisepi to help me. Guisepi lives in a gorgeous Bus that is converted into a home and Free Tea House. Their mission together is as follows "Traveling the land, this free tea house cultivates community, health, peace, sustainability, and genuine human interactions." Guisepi converted his bus over the past 7 years into something spectacular and is very handy and knowledgeable in the world of bus conversions. Here is his website...www.FreeTeaParty.org He, along with many others I have found online, have been a huge inspiration. Also, www.Skoolie.net was very helpful in deciding which bus to buy.
So, Now that she is home we have started working taking out her seats. We have worked on her about 4 different days, and the seats are all out except for 6!!! We have been mostly using a socket wrench and pliers, with two people most of the time. One person holding the bolt underneath, the other person cranking on the top. We thought we would just grind off the heads of the bolts in the bus for the seats...BUT! These bolts were no ordinary bolts...I think they are hardened steel, and it ended up being easier for us to use the wrenches. I've read all different opinions of people saying what their preference is for taking the seats off...I think it depends upon the person, the tools you have available and what particular configuration your bus is in. You will find the right way for your own bus.
Now that the seats are almost out, we have started being able to really visualize the layout of the bus, and what the potential space might look like. IT'S SO EXCITING!!! I can't even begin to tell you how stoked my boyfriend, dad and I are at brainstorming all the possibilities. I will not divulge much since for now it is all just possibilities. I will keep to the present. After the seats come out we will get the rubbed floor up and check out the wooden sub floor. From what the parts look like that we can see, it seems like a great wooden subfloor we can lay floor right over.
The bus will be equipped with a bedroom in the back with storage under the bed, two closets in front of that, a bathroom with composting toilet, shower and sink, a full on kitchen, and booth seating with a removable table. There will be storage under the booth seats, and it will convert into a bed as well. There will also be a small wood fire stove, and eventually a fold down deck outside the emergency exit.
Well, enough writing! Time to get back to work! I will post more photos when we have the seats all out and the floor up. Yahoo! Here we go!