Destruction Construction

Oh what a difference a week makes.  Yes.  I know.  I said that before.  I'm saying it again!  We are onto tCarpenter #3.  #2 was lovely and really wanted to work with us, but his schedule is too busy to accommodate our needs (read: full-time and a half!)  tCarpenter #3 is a keeper (I hope!)

More changes.  (What else is new?)  So remember the double decker idea?  Scrap that.  No more building on top of the bus.  We have decided to buy what we thought was a steel shipping container from our landlord (that is already on the land):

It turns out that it is not made of steel, but is a wooden frame covered in metal sheets.  No problem.  We will strip the metal off and create a wood finish.  The reason for this change in plans is that this is the structure that we wanted on the bus, but
1. it's much cheaper to buy this than to build our own from scratch,
2. we save time building from scratch
3. we are recycling,
4. we don't have to figure out how to mount and secure it onto the bus roof,
5. the logistics of moving it are less complicated than removing/moving a structure from the roof.

So today, tCarpenter and I got to work!  tCarpenter emptied all this:

from inside the container.  Then it looked like this:

Notice the 70s wallpaper - eek!  tCarpenter and I pulled off all the wall covering.  My garden gloves came in handy, not to mention my backpacking hiking boots cum steel toe boots :)!  We managed to get all the walls down to the insulation + frame:

So to recap.  So far.  Our school bus construction project has included grinding and removing all the bus seats.  Ripping out rubber bus flooring.  Ripping out existing wall covering in the container along with window frames, built in heaters etc.  Nothing has been built yet :(!  I guess destruction then construction is the order of things thus far.

So what are we doing with the container you ask?  Well.  We are connecting the back of the bus to it - making an L configuration.  The bus will house the living room + kitchen and the container will have the bedroom + bathroom + dining room (2/3 of container). 1/3 of the container will be the shed with a separate entrance on the outside.  The use of the container means that we do not have to build a new structure (upstairs) or an independent shed - which saves us $$$ (always a plus).

Today, the landlord tilled the soil in the garden.  It inspires me to get on it!  I hope to make it to the gardening store tomorrow to get some seeds.  If I have time, I'll mix some compost into the soil.

Tomorrow's (Wednesday) agenda includes the removal of the carpet in the container, building the walls of the bathroom and removing the wooden structure that is around it.

Thursday: Electrician will wire bus and container.

Friday: Another electrician will give quote re: prepping pole + submitting permits to utilities company.

Saturday+Sunday: Taking apart the brick house structure that is currently located on the site where the bus/container will sit.  This requires many hands.  All friends are invited to lend theirs.  You will be rewarded with food and beer.  Please contact us if you want to join in the fun!

Monday: tBOY is taking a day off work to take part in the destruction/construction.

Lessons learned today:

A mask is your friend in house demolition projects.  It is not a good idea to rub your eyes and face after having handled fibreglass.