Architecture Student & His Gorgeous DIY School Bus Conversion - $10k Build

when i started this project i had no idea how to do plumbing i had no idea about electrical or sewer i was just willing to get out there and learn on the go and i think you know you can't really live life unless you're willing just to jump out there and learn as you go you don't have to be an expert before you're passionate about something so i would encourage you just to find out what you're passionate about and just go for it so my name is caleb brackney i'm from knoxville tennessee and i got this bus from rome georgia it is a thomas international 1995 school bus and i've been living in it full-time for three months [Music] so this is the front of the bus being a design student i've always learned that you want to lay out spaces to where um it really reflects like the lifestyle you live i wanted the kitchen to be up front because when i you know bringing groceries i wanted just to be able to walk in throw stuff in the fridge so i have the fridge down in here right when you walk in i'm usually a pretty heavy refrigerator user as far as like getting fruits or vegetables or whatever and so that's definitely kind of been a challenge but i started realizing there's a lot of things i just didn't use as far as like condiments and things and so for right now it's been working great down the road if i want to get a larger one i have plenty of space in here to put a you know full-size refrigerator i've got my microwave up here got storage at these different places have a convection oven here um one of my favorite things is just this um or this cooktop that's here so i can you know bake like scrambled eggs stuff like that for most of my cooking i use an instant pot and air fryer which really is one of my favorite parts of this kitchen because i can just throw it up here i don't have to worry about like cleaning a lot of pots i don't have to worry about the power i just can throw it on and it's really easy for cooking like rice and vegetables and stuff like that right now i'm running everything off an inverter and so i've ran everything while i'm driving the battery bank is enough to use it for a little bit i've not really tested those limits yet but when i'm plugged in everything works fine other things in the kitchen so obviously i have my sink here with upper cabinet storage and lower cabinet storage i have a instant hot water heater underneath the kitchen sink here so you know as soon as i turn water on it's warm water i don't have to wait for it to run all the way back from from the front so one of my favorite features are these countertops so these were actually semi-truck beds and so i got all all of these countertops for like forty dollars and so i planed them down and stained them and it was really cool to be able to like see that raw semi truck bed and then now to see how it's my kitchen countertop it really seemed the most economical way and durable so as we walk further through the space i'm like 6'1 and so headspace was a big issue for me so i definitely wanted a way to be able to like walk through to not be able to have to duck all the time when i'm in here and so i cut out this hole in the ceiling and you know reinforced it with metal tubing and then two by fours and then built the way up this is plexiglas i got and then up here is just plywood with insulation and then tin on top and so this really gives me a chance to let in natural light it gives me a space to where it makes this area feel a lot bigger it's really just a cool feature it's one of my favorite parts of this build and so it kind of opens up this dining room area so in the dining room area of course i have like under cabinet storage the ones that the lights are in are my drinking cups because they're always going to be clean this countertop is actually my senior year in college i lived with five friends and everyone who came over that year but like the first time they came over would sign this wall we had this is a part of that wall so it's really cool to have you know these memories to like see different names of people that i used to spend a lot of time with and then also i play several different instruments and so in order you know to feel like home i needed instruments in here and so i have this keyboard that slides out to where i can just sit here if i'm doing homework or just like to de-stress i can play so as we moved to this side now this is my closet space so i made these with a cnc router these closet doors and so they you know kind of look unique and match you know both this pattern but then also the pattern of the walls and so as you can see i have uh seven feet of closet space which is plenty like i have more than enough and then i have bins underneath for other clothes or different storage things and then i have my shoes down here i have my inverter and breaker boxes right here it's all my fuses and then here is my voltage reading from the battery so i can tell when those are getting lower my water pump and then just usb chargers which are plugged right into that [Music] inverter [Music] so budget was a really big issue especially being a college student doing a project like this i you know despise the thought of paying rent you know seven or eight hundred dollars a month and so i saved up for a couple years and had a ten thousand dollar budget for the entire thing so i got the bus on facebook marketplace for three thousand dollars so that that left seven thousand dollars to do all of the interior renovations and so of course you know taking the seats out taking the sheet metal out that's free just a lot of time but you know starting to think through materials and what i wanted to put in here i had to repurpose a lot of things i got a lot of things on facebook marketplace and really kind of took the cheap route on some on some projects that really didn't need more attention so an example is the ceiling is actually just siding you know instead of having wood sealing which is really heavy which would hold moisture this is these are just pieces of siding from lowe's that you know come in like a 12 foot strip and so they're super light they're cheap and easy you know to bend and move the rooftop deck is a repurposed utility trailer so i didn't have to buy any steel for that um a lot of the wood for like the bed frame the closet the walls actually comes from furniture i already had i just you know took it apart and cut out like the backs of dressers and used it for things like that and then like these couch cushions are from my old couch i just got cushion covers for them and really i think one of the most fun parts of this journey has been figuring out ways to do this economically because you know part of this sustainable lifestyle is leaving as little impact as i can like on the earth but also on my wallet i feel like and so i wanted to be able to model a lifestyle where you could take things that you already have and then use those to build something else this is the living area this is probably where i spend most of my time if i'm doing homework or just hanging out with friends like watching tv or whatever so the tv is on a swivel to where if i'm in the kitchen i can watch it or on this side i can move that and so i have storage underneath the couches this slides out to where you know i can turn the cushions and make like a bed for someone to stay in i wanted to keep the existing side door right here just because that lets in a lot of light it lets an airflow and it's you know fun for my dog just to sit here and she looks out all the time so for my air conditioner i have a dometic 15000 btu unit so when i'm plugged in to 50 or 30 amps it runs and if i'm on the road it will run also but the bus has to be on when i'm not when the bus isn't on i've got a 12 volt fan that can circulate air all the way through and then one reason i wanted to keep all the windows is that i could open all them and it lets really nice cross flow in so that really hasn't been an issue and that's been through a summer in tennessee so so for the layout of the bus the study space and living space i wanted to kind of be together and then you know i have a queen size bed in here but how could i use that other than just for sleeping and so right now i can use the first stage seating so if people are over they can like sit up against the headboard they can sit right here my dog can you know lay here and look out the windows and it really just makes the space feel bigger because i'm not hiding it away in the back so for the wheel well i just put some insulation and then carpet over it and so it makes a nice seamless transition sometimes people don't even realize it's the real wheel well until they're walking over it um it also since it's carpet it's a nice place for if someone wants to sit and watch tv also if everything else is full so when i'm watching tv or listening to music i didn't want just the normal audio from the tv so i put in surround sound so i have a speaker here over here and then i've got a 10 inch sub underneath the couch and so that's all wired through alexa also so i can just talk to her over here play music when i'm doing homework or studying or driving and so that really makes the space also feel homey to me so you know with loving being outside i love handmaking and so i made sure to put hooks there's a hook here and a hook up front that i can hang my hammock from that way if you know someone wants to stay over they can just sleep in a hammock or if i'm doing homework or reading i can sit in it and it's pretty cool so for the bedroom area i have a 50 gallon fresh water tank underneath here with my 12 volt pump of course there's a bypass when i'm plugged into city water i don't have to use that my hot water tank for the shower is back here and then some of these doors i made to open to where i can have storage or you know just kind of have multi-purpose space if i need to put anything back there i have a cover over the light of course right now it's open but this lets a lot of light in and then this light lighting feature is actually pvc pipe i spray painted with copper spray paint and then just drilled holes and dropped in outdoor string lights basically like these so it's really kind of a nice cheap touch that really like makes the space pop i think so as we move back to the bathroom i still wanted to let some natural light in but also you know have privacy of course so i left the door open there'll just be a curtain over here when i'm finished with that i have storage in here so like toilet paper kleenexes and then underneath here on this side is my sewer hose so when i'm outside like dumping i can just use that and it's kind of nice and out of the way i have a so i have a separate gray water tank for the kitchen sink which is 40 gallons i have a separate gray water tank for the shower which is 40 gallons and then i have a 25 gallon black water tank for the toilet so for the shower it's not finished yet i'm waiting for you know my next paycheck to finish that up but of course there'll be tile on these walls and then the plumbing's already finished but you know like i was talking about i love how it's open so if i'm like outside if i'm out somewhere i can just open the door let it vent out and then just have access to like fresh air also in the back so i studied interior design for my undergrad i'm doing architecture and landscape architecture for my master's work the way you move through space affects every aspect of your life it affects the way you sleep it affects the way you can work and be productive it affects your relationships with people and so taking into consideration all aspects of a project and all aspects of the way you live life really affects that you know you if you can take control of the way you live the way you use your space that you really can do anything [Music] so [Music] so for the door this is the existing bus door that i just reinforced in the middle and then i built out the frame a little bit to where i could get it to swing because to me i wanted to be able to have a door that i felt safe locking and so i chose to do this type of lock because down the road i would love to use it for like an airbnb maybe or you know if i'm living somewhere else i can just rent it out for the weekend and so something that's easy to lock also i don't have to carry a key all the time i can just punch it in so that's really been a time saver for me so with painting the bus um i did not want to have to spray it when i didn't want to buy a sprayer also i didn't want to worry about the paint getting everywhere so i rolled and brushed all of it and so i got valspar 360 duramax brown paint and so it's just like a tan colored paint for the top and it only took one gallon for the whole thing and then one gallon of flat black rust-oleum paint for the bottom i just basically took a paint brush and drew that mountain lion on either side and i think it really kind of adds a nice touch as we go along the bus i have outdoor outlets on either side and so these are pretty cool you know they they can pop out so where i can plug something in and then keep it closed so water doesn't get in there while they're being used so on the back i have this green wall this is actually just out of a pallet when i'm on the road it's sitting on a hook and so i can just put it inside and i can hang my bike up there i would love to be able to have some herbs or something on here eventually also and then i have my rooftop deck up top which is actually an old repurposed utility trailer we had so i just took the axle off bolted it to the roof and it's worked really good as a deck top i made this ladder i just bolted it together for access to the rooftop deck i didn't actually do any welding on this whole project so i just bolted everything together and i have my black water tank right here i have another outlet my water goes in there i've got a box in here for my 50 amp cord and then the battery box up front so you can follow this adventure on instagram at romerbus thanks for following along today i hope you saw something that inspired you and i really look forward to you know seeing other bus projects in the future that continue to inspire me and push me in my future as well [Music] you

Channel: Tiny Home Tours

Views: 369,871

Rating: 4.9683981 out of 5

Keywords: tiny house, tiny house on wheels, living big in a tiny house, tiny house england, tiny house uk, tiny house movement, tiny home, small house, small spaces, small house design, alternative living, architecture, affordable home, off the grid, small space living, tiny house life, tiny home uk, diy tiny house, diy home

Id: m5KpaW7DXj8

Length: 14min 50sec (890 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 14 2020