🔨 Phase 3: The First Steps Forward
- Teddy Travels
- Jun 11, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 19, 2024
💚 Welcome to our blog! Mara and Brandon here 😊 In the thick of it, it felt like this time would never come. Demo took so much longer than we thought an “empty” bus would need. In hindsight, 18 days is not that long. What we accomplished in the next 4 days was a huge bolster for our spirits. 💪
Day 19 - 22: The Projects
In these few days, we planned two pretty sizeable projects for ourselves: 1 remove all the windows, reseal, and delete three, and 2 grind the rust from the floor, clean, seal, and strengthen.
Window Deletes
For the windows, we elicited help from a contractor as he claimed experience. He spent a day removing all of the windows, scraping off the old adhesive, and resealing with butyl tape. For three of the windows, he left the windows out and secured 16g steel sheets to the frame in their place. Since we already knew the floorplan, we knew which windows would become walls. The windows deleted are where the fridge is, a bathroom wall, and the other side is a shower wall.
The 16g steel sheet that we used for the window deletes required a little research. In looking online, I discovered you can order these sheets but they generally incur a freight fee. We got lucky though. Living near Rome GA at the time, we had a steel warehouse not too far away. I went to the warehouse and was able to get a 4x8 piece of steel loaded into the back of our pickup for just the price of the steel. It was super convenient and fun to watch:
Once the windows were out, the contractor cut the steel to size using a metal grinder. He affixed the steel to the frame using rivets. Bare steel rusts pretty quickly so we had Rustoleum Rust Primer ready to go and they were painted within the next day.
Overall, if I could go back in time I would have completed this project myself, at least the resealing part. The contractor left goops of the glue all over the bus and the yard and did not clean up after himself. We cleaned glue out of our shoes for weeks after. He also did not do the job to specifications as I had requested him use foam weatherstripping in addition to the butyl tape and also to seal the joints from the outside with silicone. Neither of those steps were completed which caused leaks in the future (I had to replace a whole wall due to a pin sized hole left). I had to come behind him more than once to rectify things that should have been handled during this job.
Surface Prep
The floor needed a bot of prep work before we could start adding stuff to it. Brandon spent an entire day going over the floor with a braided steel brush + grinder. With every inch, he grinded away dirt, bits of old flooring, and rust to leave a (mostly) smooth surface. I had a job out of town and cannot imagine how tedious that job was but I am very grateful 😂. We then cleaned the floor using some good ole elbow grease with dawn soap, water, and a push broom which we scrubbed the floor with. This was essential as none of the new adhesive would have stuck. Once it was all dry, we were ready to go!
Floor Fix
The floor also required some special materials. We started with a pretty large patch of rust in the middle and sets of 4 holes every few feet from where the seats had been bolted in. The holes were small enough that a penny completely covered them so I used some caulk and a bunch of pennies to seal them all up.
After those were dry, we both prepared for the bondo application. The product, PC-11, had very specific instructions and was the first project of its kind. It also had a short 30 min time limit, meaning we had 30 minutes to completely mix and spread this product before it hardened beyond manipulation. We worked side by side, working as fast as we could to cover the whole space, and we barely came in under time. It was the first demonstration of Parkinson’s Law we had seen in action and it helped fuel remaining timelines.
After the project was complete, all we had to do was stay out of the bus so it could cure properly. It was a nice 24 hour break 😂 and the results were so exciting! The floor that was too thin and a little wobbly was now strong and whole! So gratifying.
Materials (Not Affiliate Links)
Rustoleum Rust Primer
Braided Steel Attachment
PC-11 Marine Bond
Thank you for joining us on this journey of a lifetime. We hope our blog inspires you to embrace your own spirit of adventure and discover purpose in everything you do.
Until next time, happy trails!
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