Timeline of Skoolie Build

I just wanted to keep a running record everything that has happened with our skoolie conversion.  If you are considering living on a school bus, maybe this will give you some idea of what to expect.

2017

May 7, 2017: Agreed that we would travel full time.

 

2018 (Finding a Skoolie Builder + Our Rolling Home)

Jan 10, 2018: Found a builder to build the school bus.

March 15, 2018: Finalized contract with builder

March: We started our Instagram account

April 21, 2018: We found a bus and set up an appointment for our mechanic friend to inspect it.

April 27, 2018: We purchased our bus.

 

The Beginning of the Skoolie Build Delays

May 2018:

∇We took our bus to a mechanic.  They told us it would not pass inspection and gave us a 16,000 estimate.

∇We showed the inspection to a friend who works for a diesel engine rebuilder.  He said the estimate was a joke.

∇We found a second mechanic to look over the bus.

∇The second mechanic said our bus passed inspection without any issues!

June 2018:

∇We take the bus back to the mechanic to have hoses tightened and a new oil pan put on.  These are issues our friend found before we purchased the bus.  The mechanic discovers that our instrument cluster had been replaced with one that wasn’t right for our bus.  This all had to be repaired.

∇We tell the skoolie builder we are ready.  He tells us he took another job and can’t start until Fall.

∇We panic.

∇We decide to start the skoolie demo ourselves, which is a more active role than we ever planned to take in our skoolie conversion.

Selling the House + Skoolie Demo

July 2018:

∇We already had plans to list our house for sale.  We decide to list and find temporary housing.

∇We list the house and it is under contract on day one.

∇We try to move the future school bus conversion to a friend’s property to begin the demo.  It won’t start.  The battery kill switch isn’t working and something is draining the batteries.  We get new batteries and discover an oil leaker.

∇We start ripping out seats in the storage lot.  The skoolie conversion begins!

∇We took the bus back to the mechanic to address the new oil leak.

∇We touch base with the builder and decide we are going to continue on our path with him taking the lead on our skoolie conversion.  Since there is a delay, we are still going to continue working on the demo as a family.  This is going to save us a little money and save him a little time so he can start on the build faster.  The build begins in September.

July 15- We pick the bus up.  The oil we saw was from when oil was spilled during the oil change.  No leak.  We take the bus back to the original mechanic.  They need to fix the battery kill switch they installed.  Our batteries are still draining unless we unhook them completely.  A home stager comes and buys a lot of my decor.  Chris begins listing all of the garage stuff we kept in case we needed to do repairs.

July 16- We wonder if we made the right decision to sell the house.  The answer is yes.  This is so much better than moving in the winter.  The market is in our favor.  Yes, yes, and yes.  We talk about moving into a short term rental.

July 21- Demo begins

July 28- More demo.  We secure an apartment to live in once the house closes.

August-

Chris and Rylee pull out the school bus flooring.  There is sunshine coming through the holes in the floor.  Rust!  I panic.  Our amazing IG community tells me to take a chill pill in the nicest way possible.  I fall in love with our Instagram community just a little bit more.

The back door safety feature is preventing the skoolie from starting.  It ‘thinks’ the back door is open.

Our contractor tells us it will now be closer to the end of September before he can start the school bus conversion.

Chris and his dad mess with the back door wires.  The skoolie starts again.

We hire someone to weld holes in the floor and sand blast the rust.

We buy kitchen cabinets from a storage unit, in the dark, on the shady side of town.

We finally figure out the floor plan!

September 2018

We hire someone to sand blast the floor for $200.  Goodbye rust!

We decided on a floor plan.  See it here.

We bought a lot of stuff for the skoolie.  See the list here.

The bus was dropped off with a welder.  He welded the holes in the floor.  No more sunlight when we look down!

We drove the bus to the builder in Illinois!  Read about it here!

 

Click here to see what happened once the skoolie was turned over to the builder!