Having spent a month traveling, we were excited to get back into the bus and get down to work. We revised our layout on the computer. Having visited the RV Expo we had gathered more ideas on design and it had helped us figure out what kind of bathroom design will feel comfortable for us without taking up too much valuable square footage.
We went into the bus ready to tape out our new design only to find there had been a slow leak through the ceiling and onto our new floors! We were gutted. It wasn’t a lot of water but it had rained and snowed a lot over the month we had been away and this slow leak over time, that never (or rarely) was able to dry, had begun to mold the wood. We were confused why it hadn’t leaked previously and why it began to leak while we were away, but later that afternoon it began to rain again and we could see where the leak was coming from. As we suspected, the leak was through the old antenna in the bus ceiling. So as a temporary fix, until we can take it out and seal it properly, Don’s dad covered it with plumber’s putty, which worked well.
We took out the floorboard that was moldy, we will probably be able to cut out the moldy area and use the rest of it somewhere else in the build. We bought and cut a new piece of plywood and we really hope that our floors 3.0 will have no further problems!
In the meantime, we needed to change over our Bus Registration to a new State. We needed to get the bus weighed to complete the necessary paperwork. Problem was that with all the rain and moisture, the bus had sunk into the mud. Yup, we were stuck in the mud!
Don first had to reconnect all the lights (as during demolition some marker light wires needed to be snipped in order to take out the luggage bins), check that all lights were working (headlights, brake lights etc.) and then Don and his dad spent a good ½ hr trying to get the bus out the mud. This was no easy task but eventually we did succeed. All went well getting the bus out of the long muddy driveway, we got the bus weighed (we had taken out about 15,000 lbs in the demolition!) and back onto the property to park in the driveway this time. We really needed to get our bus pad filled in with cement, but with all the rain it was looking unlikely.
So much time has been spent just solving problems. These are things you just don’t think to account for but are a reality of doing a bus conversion. Finished with addressing issues, we taped out our new floor layout and created a virtual tour to share with you. We are feeling very confident with our design choices and hope you enjoy the video tour.
Up Next
Post leaks, we were very nervous about cutting holes in our ceiling. But we did it! Stay tuned to see our skylights.
