Tag: Bus

Bus Update

It’s been some time since I’ve shown a bus update. Yes, we are still plugging away at it. The thing is that every day I look around and wonder, ‘What’s changed?’ obviously some things have changed, but it doesn’t translate that well into a photo.

We are out here every day doing something. For months it’s been all work and very little sense of progress.

The last few days though, that’s all changed. It feels like, huzzah, it is actually coming together! We have a couple of frames (or partial frames up), we have our ceiling in and Henry has been sanding…actually sculpting…the three walls of our room into a perfectly smooth shell. It’s starting to look quite schmick and Henry’s vision is becoming a reality.

This little space, above, is where our cupboard is going. Building the framing for this is soon to be done.

Here’s the bed, we have actually taken the bed base off for the moment. It needed a slight adjustment and the work which we are currently doing is made way easier without this thing hanging around.

The pic above was taken a few weeks ago. Below are photos I took yesterday, and you can see that a couple of the walls are in and the entire roof here has been replaced.

Some framing below indicating where one of the bathroom walls will go. We are using 25mm aluminium held together by Qubelock and a whole stack of glue. Mostly Sika Flex as Henry likes to use the best of everything.

Oh yes, here’s my handy organiser. I got sick of our bus turning into a junk heap – it slows down the work flow considerably – and so I made an organiser which Henry laughed at, but it has been incredibly useful and worth the scrap of time I spent to literally whip this together. It is not pretty, it is functional.

The dust from all the sanding Henry has been doing over the last few days is insidious.

Okay, so here’s a frame which I actually made, figured it all out and made it fit all by myself (Henry helped polish it up a bit). An example of Henry’s quest for quality is that, instead of allowing the wall to cut the window in half, he came on the idea of making a smaller window. Part of what he loves about this bus are all the lovely curves, and why not capitalise on them?!

Bog. Bog is what is making this bus beautiful. In fact our bus is going to be all Bog, Glue, Aluminium and Alucobond. Not your everyday building materials.

We are intent on not having a window sill here. At first we thought about the ‘framing’ (I am not a big fan of framing), but I love the way the light can just flow in without a window sill here. We found a way to make the sill without a window frame. It involves a multi-layer of ply, built up to the wall and a trimmer router to get that edge just perfect (keeping those wonderful curves) and then of course a bit of bog in any holes. And a few more sands and bogs. It looks so great in the flesh and I can’t wait to paint this room white and see it shine!

This square metre section (900×1600) is our entire bathroom! You didn’t think you could fit an entire bathroom into that space, did you? Well, Henry is a genius and he has done it. When that floor is completed in copper (yes) it will look…interesting.

So, that’s the tour so far. There’s not too much of interest to see so far, but hopefully we will keep the ball rolling and there’ll be a few more updates in the coming weeks.

xo

September 19, 2013
Building Our Bed: Part 1

Finally an end to the destruction is in sight and construction is beginning!

Well, as I write this there has been (and continues to be) an ongoing struggle with our drawers, involving a bunch of unforgiving, push-to-open, drawer runners.

But…we have installed our bed.

This involved a 12mm piece of ply for the bedhead, an insert into the window, glued and screwed into place. We built a frame for the top of this piece to hold it all straight and carpeted the inside to keep things nice and soft. The ply will be veneered with rosewood and a rosewood shelf installed on top.

I am trying to convince Henry to paint the insides of the drawers in bright turquoise, fuschia, blue and yellow – don’t you think that will look amazing!? He is not sold. Yet.

It seems very appropriate that we made this first. It is our bedhead, but it is also Henry’s guitar cabinet. Music is important to Henry and therefore it is important to me and therefore it is important to our family. So, guitar cabinet, item one: check.

Henry built a base for our mattress, which is designed to lift up on gas struts so that we can access the storage behind the drawers and under the bed. He is contemplating a shelf in that space which raises with the bed allowing us to simply slide things out. I can’t believe I haven’t yet got a photo of the bed, but that will come once the drawers are in – that will definitely demand a celebratory picture – ’till then you’ll have to wait.

We did this work late into a night, when Henry was on a roll and not prepared to stop for sleep, even though it was super cold it was nice to wonder around his dads shed with no kids to worry about. For some reason I just love looking around this shed. I’ve taken photos of it for a past blog and it was one of my more enjoyable photography projects. I love taking photos of interesting objects, object that are usually glossed over and not really seen for the beauty they hold. From the way the grease has collected on a well-worn handle, or the pile of shavings around a vice or the bucket of metal shards and the well ordered sequence of tools and bits and bobs. This stuff fills me with content. There is surety about building things, these big European made machines are made to be of use and it is a privilege to know the person who can use them like an artist. His son also can use them and it is one thing that makes me proud to be that sons wife. This kind of usefulness is somewhat a dying art in the West, it’s presence is a rarity, so I consider myself lucky.

July 24, 2013
Slow steps forwards

We have taken two steps backwards and another forwards. For some reason – we think it might be some latent paint stripper, which somehow made it through the paint prepping stage – the paint in a few areas blistered and came off.

But, if there’s anything I’ve learnt from Grand Designs it is that building projects come with inherent setbacks, additional costs and continual time delays.

So when I look at our project and am overwhelmed by all the many details that will need starting and completing before we can finally move in and call it home, I remember all those people who have felt the same and broadcast these feelings to the world through this and other such programs. Thanks you people.

If we do fail – which we won’t – I can also remember: “If you never fail at something you were never doing anything interesting.”

July 14, 2013
Today I used an Angle Grinder

I have never been one for power tools.

But today I used an angle grinder.

There was a sanding job to do and so, like a woman, I pulled up my socks, sucked it up and got on with it. This is my building education, my exercise regime and my day job (in between my other day job of being a mum and my other part-time job of being a wife).

We are back in Young and slowly (oh, so, painfully slowly!) we are getting it stripped back and fit out. <sigh>

These photos are from the last time we were here in Young, little has changed from the last picture. There is incredibly more dust (from sanding) and there is now a large hole in the floor where the shower will be and the bed frame is nearly ready to go in. My MIL said today ‘There’s one thing worse than women talking – and that’s men talking!’ And it is oh, so, frustratingly true!

Please excuse Henrys lackadaisical approach to OH&S…at least there were no children around…Gee Whiz.

February 15, 2013
Vacuum Packing

Sorry for the long and dreary absence. I am currently vacuum packing and wandering around wondering what on earth we are taking, tossing or passing on!

Good news on the bus front, it’s all stripped and plans are underway (and almost finalised) for the big transformation. I tell you what, the bus is a gleaming, spaceship of design in my mind, so let’s just hope the transition from brains to brawn is seamless. I have faith in hubby who is very (really, actually, very) clever and has over-thought this to the max, explored practically every single option available and almost knows where every single bolt and screw will be positioned.

We spent a week stripping the dear thing, chiseling away at decades old lino and crumbling, acrylic 70s carpet. Sweaty, covered in itchy, plastic fibres, we finally completed it, sketched out the outline of our home on the plywood floor and started to see the full picture (which changed a number of times). I actually really enjoyed this and it might have birthed a new passion: Renovating and perhaps also: Restoring. I love ‘brainless’ physical work as busy hands free up the brain to daydream distractedly – one of my favourite past times! I have also found that I enjoy talking and spending time with people while doing something useful together. I seem to talk and listen more freely.

That is why there’s been little action here, all the action has taken place in rural NSW on our hot little (rather big, actually) bus.

Pics to come.

February 8, 2013