Popular Mechanics - USA (2019-12)

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The vinyl flooring we used snaps together. Vinyl is a durable and inexpensive option

that comes in all sorts of styles.

WHICH SIZE BUS TO BUY

School buses cost $2,500 to $5,000 and come in three sizes:

short, midsize, and full-size. A short bus offers the maneu-

verability of a van and is popular for people who spend most

of their time outside. Midsize offers a good blend of drivabil-

ity and space. Plenty of couples live happily in their midsize

buses. In a full-size, you can live with all the elements of a

home, including space for kids or pets.

Short

LIVABLE SPACE

75–112 sq. ft.

CONVERSION COSTS

$5,000–$10,000

Midsize

LIVABLE SPACE

131–188 sq. ft.

CONVERSION COSTS

$7,000–$14,000

Full-size

LIVABLE SPACE

206–263 sq. ft.

CONVERSION COSTS

$10,000–$20,000

INSULATION

AND FLOORING

You’ll get much better energy
performance—and therefore
will be more comfortable—if you
replace the old insulation with
new material before buttoning up
the walls, ceiling, and f loor. The
best all-around option is rigid
foam insulation board. Almost
all rigid insulation board is load-
bearing and designed to function
under concrete f loors, so you can
install your wood subf loor right
on top of it.

INSULATE YOUR WALLS AND
FLOOR / Cut each piece of rigid
insulation to size and fit it into
place inside the wall cavities,
then use canned expanding spray
foam (such as Great Stuff) to fill
in gaps and keep it in place. Most
buses have wall cavities roughly
2 inches deep; however, that dis-
tance can vary slightly even in the
same bus, so it’s safer to install a
slightly thinner insulation type,
such as 11⁄2-inch-thick foam-
board insulation panels. The best
all-around option is rigid foam
insulation board. Rigid insulation
panels can be scored with a utility
knife and snapped off to fit.
To insulate the bus f loor, mea-
sure the full width of the f loor
from side to side. You’ll run the
insulation boards across the bus,
perpendicular to the bus sides.

If the f loor is 90 inches wide and

your rigid insulation is 96 inches

long, you simply have to score

and snap the insulation boards to

fit. Apply construction adhesive

to the bottom of the insulation

boards and if you have anything

heav y, such as sandbags, place

these on top of the insulation

boards to hold them down while

the glue dries. Use seal tape to

cover the cracks between the indi-

vidual boards.

INSTALLING THE SUBFLOOR

AND FINISH FLOORING / The

best material for a bus subf loor

is sanded plywood. Plywood sub-

flooring should be at least 1⁄2 inch

thick, but if you have the budget

and headroom, 5⁄8-inch or 3⁄4-

inch tongue-and-groove plywood

subf looring is ideal because the

pieces lock together so there’s

no movement along the panels’

edges. You will trim the subf loor

panels to fit the width of the bus,

and it’s all right to cut them a lit-

tle short to make it easier to drop

them into place on the floor. To

secure the subfloor to the bus, I

recommend using self-tapping,

wood-to-metal screws (about 10

per panel) to go through the sub-

floor and insulation and into the

bus’s metal f loor.

Finish f looring is the final layer

you will walk on. Vinyl click-to-

gether, imitation-wood flooring

works wonderfully for skoolies

because it is extremely durable, rel-

atively thin, and easy to install with

great results. Carpet, laminate, or

engineered hardwood can also be

laid right over the subf loor, and

each is relatively easy to install.

68 December 2019