Couch Potato
Between Talley’s movie watching pleasures and kicking back to eat his favorite food, he knew he needed to be efficient with the space in his new home. So he ended up bringing in his couch from his old apartment. “I took my IKEA Karlstad couch from my apartment and took off the back, arms, and feet so I was left with the cushions and the box spring base,” he said. “I built that into the bus for added comfort and style.”
Birds Eye Design
Another design that Talley made in order to get a clear idea of how his home would be structured was this birds eye one. “I went through about a dozen floor plans for the bus. This early one was inspired by the adventure vehicle from “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” he said. “Since I was a single guy, a twin bed didn’t seem like that bad of an idea…I like the idea of the bathroom in the back.”
Warning! Danger!
Everyone knows that if you want to get into the hands-on side of a construction job, you need to be prepared to do things that could be pretty hazardous. Whether it was fitting in a light bulb, fixing a pipe, or using electric equipment, Talley would make sure either taking safety precautions – or get someone else to do it. In this photo, Talley is taking matters into his own hands, “cutting the holes for the bathroom and living room windows,” he said.
Home With An Engine
When transforming a bus into a house, Talley needed to decide if he wanted to strip away all the key components of the vehicle. The other option was to keep these components and have the home act as one that he could actually drive. “Engine work. I got stuck in the mud and messed up my power steering trying to get out,” Talley wrote. “You have any idea how hard it is to try and parallel park a 40-foot school bus with no power steering? I do.”
Everyone Makes Mistakes
Even someone as skilled and meticulous as Michael Talley is prone to the odd mistake from time to time. He even admitted that when he took down the roof panels. “I wish that I had ended up keeping this insulation in, It was in remarkably good shape and would have saved me a few headaches if I kept it in,” he wrote. “Removing these panels was the absolute worst, but mostly because in my dumb-assery I had never heard of an impact drill.”
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Not only did Talley make a couple of mistakes during his project, but he also had a handful of injuries. He even has evidence for some of his painstaking efforts. Apparently, things got messy! “The first side is done,” he said. “Easily the most painful and bloody part of the build. Got a sweet permanent scar on my forearm from when one of these steel sheets fell and sliced my arm open. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the gory photos!”
Seeking Advice
Seeing that Talley wasn’t alone, he made sure to listen to the advice of his helpers. “I wanted to go 24 inches, but my helpers felt 20 inches was enough, out of fear of pushing our luck,” he said. “You can see the screw jacks at the bottom of the scaffolding. Each one of us turned our respective jack in unison and raised the roof perfectly level in one try. Pictured here is also the steel sleeves I had made that I then riveted onto the existing ribs.”
Blast From The Past
Once Talley had stripped the inside of bus of all of its seats and furnishings, all that remained was the mainframe of the vehicle. There was now so much space, it seemed like the possibilities were endless. However, while sweeping away the remaining dirt and debris from years of usage, he stumbled across a funny note. It was an old post-it note that read “kick me,” a classic school prank that had probably been used during one of the rides to school.
