It’s a race against the clock to make this bus livable

Have you ever raced to finish a house? I bet it’s similar to racing to finish a skoolie.

We have four weeks to get our school bus livable for a family of four. It probably wouldn’t be such an undertaking if our bus wasn’t an hour and a half away from where we are currently living, and if money wasn’t short.

Our bed is finished, but both kids will need a place to sleep. The key is that these beds will double as two couches. We will need a bathroom because even though the build site where the bus is parked has an outhouse, getting to it at night is a challenge. Finally, we will need a kitchen. Having to get so much done in so little time means we’ll need to stretch our money and roll with the punches.

So we went shopping.

We bought a propane camp stove top for cooking, and two fancy mattresses for the kids that are just a bit thinner than traditional twin mattresses so there will room to walk between them. We also bought a small round sink from Ikea.

Now it was time to really get to work.

First thing on the list was to get a kitchen up and running. We had a great plan to make a kitchen counter and purchased 1-by-3s and 98-cent fairings. We cut the wood to size and began to screw them together. Immediately the wood began to split. Not only that, when we stood it up, the counter was wonky. This was not going to work.

So we went with plan B and headed to the nearby big box home improvement store and bought a wood work bench for $80. We topped it with a piece of birch plywood and cut a hole for the round Ikea sink. Then we sealed the plywood to make it water-resistant and paint the body light turquoise. We spiced things up with a gold spray painted skull bottle opener.

Once everything is dry we drop in the sink and add a bowl to catch our grey water.

Next we tackle building a composting toilet. This consists of 2-by-4s, a bucket, a leftover piece of plywood for the top, and a no-slam toilet seat (because kids will slam everything they can). This is probably our easiest build. When we start using it, the plan is to line the bucket with compostable trash bags, and add in a bit of peat moss and sawdust cat litter.

Next on the list: Lighting. For the time being we purchased two sets of six small disks that light up with a remote control, and we also have a camping lantern. Our end goal is to have white Christmas lights hooked up to solar power.

Finally, we are ready to build the kids beds/couches. We measure the mattresses and build the frames, much like the way we built the frame of our king-size bed. Then we add the legs and set them up, one of the bed legs won’t touch the ground. Quick fix: We unscrew that leg, move it level to the floor, and screw it back into the frame. Done and done.

There is still so much to do. The bus ceiling need insulation, walls need to be finished, parts of our floor needs to be redone. Much like fixing up a house we will have to do it while living there. Not ideal, but it is what it is.

Next time on Redefining the American Dream: Is this the real life? Is it just fantasy? Wait, that’s a Queen song. What is life like in a skoolie with a family of four plus a cat? This answer and more. Same bus time, same bus column.

This story was originally published April 22, 2019 at 11:48 AM.