First construction

Today, after checking various avenues, it was decided to start construction. Certainly sanding the floor would have been a good idea but speed is currently of the essence. After a trip to Lowes to check drop in cabinet prices which turned out to be a horrendous $179 average, the idea of cheating and using drop-in cabinets was shelved. The next idea was to build a countertop and stick a vinyl surface on top. The cheapest vinyl surface was $43 which was ludicrous.

The eventual decision was to cut the steel from the former bedframes and use the steel to support the countertop then steel for the legs and wood/OSB for just about everything else. Needless to say the angle grinder purchased earlier for removing the rear shelf off the bus came in handy for cutting the steel bed frames. Of course that was after I dropped an entire steel bed frame on my foot. Ouch! That had the air colored blue for a few seconds. That's going to be sore tomorrow.

Speaking of sore, my muscles from yesterday's scraping action are tender but bending down in Lowes to pick up a can of paint from the lower shelves. For a bit of fun I decided to make the inside bright and cheerful. The outside is grey. The inside behind the driver's partition (which will be an austere grey) might be sunflower yellow. The bedroom will be largely fuschia color. There will be a partition between the bedroom and the kitchen/dinette area. The toilet & shower will be opposite each other, right between the bedroom and kitchen/dinette area.

Measuring the wheel arches, they protrude 23 inches in from the sides. Thus, the cabinets will all be 23 inches wide. The kitchen countertop will be 31 inches high as that's level with the bottom of the windows. The driver compartment will be large enough to hold bus tools and possibly a spare wheel.

Before it went too dark, the first two girders for the kitchen countertop were cut at 65 inches wide. The plan is to have the kitchen and toilet done by the 7th in order to be ready to beat the insurance companies deadline. The bus needs to be livable fairly soon.