A Bathroom for the Spatially Challenged

I'm a very visual person. I know that some people can lay out entire floor plans for multi-level buildings in their heads and know the exact dimensions of every room, where every wall will go, and how the end result will look.

For the record, I am NOT one of those people. I can't envision what something will look like. I can't imagine what the final result will be. I need to actually see it plotted out in black and white. Or in living color, if that works.

So how does one's husband (notably: MINE) go about explaining the thought process behind installing a bathroom on a bus to someone who is spatially challenged (notably: ME)?

They create a makeshift bathroom using chalk lines, bamboo poles, and paper. Of course.




I was having trouble figuring out exactly how much floor space that was going to be required to build the bathroom and the exact location that Jim had in mind for it. So he used bamboo poles and the paper we had covering the windows when we painted the ceiling to build walls and create the exact way that the bathroom enclosure will look.





I also couldn't quite wrap my mind around the exact positioning of the compost toilet and how it was going to work, mostly because it will be placed on top of the wheel well. I just couldn't understand how there would be enough room for us to sit, do business and clean up afterwards in that small of an area. The toilet (bucket) will be built into a squared off platform that fits over the wheel well.



He was even kind enough to demonstrate that there will be plenty of room to take care of all the business we need to take care of in there. Sure, it's not like we are going to be hanging out reading the Sunday paper in there, but who really does that anyway?




Then there was the issue of a place to shower. We intend on having a solar shower system in place and honestly didn't expect to have much room at all, but I couldn't quite figure out if there would be enough room to move around, wash hair, shave legs, etc. Truth is, we did have to adjust the length from our original plan. Otherwise, there would not have been enough room at all.


Jim wants to get the bathroom done as soon as possible so we can start going places in the bus sooner rather than later. That means we have to be sure about the placement and size of the area, especially with the plumbing and tank placement being somewhat permanent - ya know? So now I feel better about the whole thing. I now have a good understanding of how it's going to be built and what it will look like. That will make the next step much easier, which is trying to figure out what to line the shower stall with and how to set up the compost toilet and where to run the plumbing and set up the tanks.

Oh, what fun!

Making our Mark: the Ceiling

We spent the better part of yesterday on the bus, finally making our first mark and claiming it as ours. Up until now it's been all about the deconstruction: removing the seats, pulling up the floor, taking down signs, etc. But we finally spent some time working on the first "project" that would allow us to officially say that she is ours: we painted the ceiling.


This is what we started out with - the factory painted "kind of funky green color" ceiling. While it may not look like it in the photo, we had spent several hours with scratch pads to remove a lot of the glossiness so the new paint would stick to it.








We really wanted to use a low VOC paint since it is going to be inside where we will be spending a lot of time in close quarters. Jim did some research and found out that Sherwin Williams carries several kinds of low/no VOC paints. We decided to go with the SuperPaint, flat white. I was concerned about the price, considering the fact that low VOC paints are usually quite pricey. This is where knowing people comes in handy. I just so happen to know the asst. manager at Sherwin Williams and she gave us the "contractor" discount, making a gallon of paint that normally runs about $30/gallon come out to a cool $17/gallon. Score!



We ordered some ThermaCels for insulation and they arrived via FedEx in just a few days. Some people refer to them as "ceramic beads". I was quite shocked to see that it really just resembles powder and not at all ceramic like or bead like. We ordered enough to do 5 gallons of paint, hoping that it will be enough to do both the inside and outside.


Jim took one of our 5 gallon buckets - intended for a composting toilet in the future - and mixed the ThermaCels and paint together.


Here it is, all mixed up and ready to go.


It was definitely a group effort to get the two coats painted on to the ceiling. Once mixed together, the paint and ThermaCels form a liquid that has the consistency of sand or grit.



Two coats later, this is what our newly insulated ceiling looked like.



Once everything was dry, Jim started on our sky ceiling. The idea is to have a fading day sky (in the front) to night sky (in the back). We bought 4 quarts of various shades of blue paint - low VOC of course - to combine and create the transition that we are looking to achieve. Once the sprayer was hooked up to the air compressor, we were in business. We started in the back since that is where we started with the insulation coats and it was the driest.


Instead of just switching colors, we mixed them so they blended together more seamlessly. Check out that homemade funnel action we had going on.


Here I am, hanging out at the picnic table while Jim takes a turn at spray painting the ceiling. Since we only had one respirator between us, the one not working had to take a break outside while the other worked. It was a nice way to break up the day.


This is the view I had from the picnic table.


Here is the end result of day one on the sky ceiling. This is the view from the middle of the bus looking to the back. A moon will eventually go on that back panel and some (glow in the dark?) stars will be added, as well.


This is the view from the middle of the bus looking to the front. A sun will eventually go somewhere on the front/top with rays shooting across.


This was all we had time to complete before we ran out of daylight and realized the lamps we had hooked up weren't going to be enough to finish completely. As I said, we still have to add a sun and a moon and some stars. Some of the areas need a little touching up to make them look like we want them to. And we have yet to really use the lightest color of blue on the front to finish it off. So we still have a little work to go on the ceiling, but it really has turned out like I envisioned it. We are all super excited with it and can't wait to finish it up and take our next step to further claiming Resurrection Fern as our own.


Check out the video:








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Edited to add:

We had a really hot day yesterday. The sun spent an entire day beating down on the top of the bus while Jim and I were at work. In the late afternoon, we both went out to check the ceiling temps - just to see if the ThermaCels were doing their job. I'm happy to report that we could actually touch the ceiling and even hold our hands in place over the metal ribs without developing severe burns. Which, by the way, was impossible prior to putting the two coats of ThermaCels on. So, while it's not a scientific and definitive conclusion, it is our opinion that the ThermaCels are working and doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.