#14 BUILD PAGE FOUR - 4 APRIL, 2024

WHAZAMMO & THE GILLIG 

use the "Archives" link at the top left to get to #1

SPECIFIC TO LOW-FLOOR BUS BUILDING  -  WINDOWS

POSSIBLY NEEDS OUTRIGGERS WHEN PARKED ?

Aesthetics, Feng Shui chi, and ambiance.  (the beauty, character, and flow of a space) must be part of your design, maximizing space usage, space-saving and practicality do not go with feng shui. especially in a 250 square foot living space bus/boat... but the difference in your end results are fully dependent on the forethought you apply as you develop and build your design.

So, let's get personal ... we like windows view light glass and lots of it.  our home I built had ceiling-to-floor 8-foot glass on one 20-foot living room wall ! our boat is 270-degree glass, and our condo was all glass-walled facing the golf course, I like window vans, and busses because of the windows !

If you look at class A motorhomes, of any price bracket, look at the windows and sizes...  pretty pathetic huh?  all tiny, and not many, like living in a cave.

                                                                         EXAMPLE

This is why you build your own... so why duplicate the "no-window" design ?  the bottom of the GILLIG windows are 38" above the floor, a standard cabinet - sink -counter height is 36" (w/o backsplash), so everything can easily be built below the outside world seeing it, and without obstructing your view of them ..

The GILLIG  windows (there are eight per side), are 40" high by 48" wide, and the ceiling is 8 foot,  meaning you "could" raise the floor to gain that missing piping, electrical, storage, tankage space with a raised deck...the low floor cheats you out of, or...  design around it.   Of course, no one wants to walk by and look at the back of your refrigerator, and your shower toilet, galley cabinets and washer/dryer, mattress tops, and other "uglies" do not need to be seen either, so, you "will" have to have some solid or blanked areas (maybe only partially).

                                                                           

                                  NAKED  GILLIG WITHOUT THE BLACK PAINT BAND 

 IF you raise the floor 12"... now the passerby gets to see your faucets, dirty dishes, the backside of your stove, your toaster, and messy dining table, you can use a lower 1/2 window (day-sleeper) black-out film, but this cuts off your view, light, and feng shui...   NOTE: window tints (factory or DIY, are only a partial block, under certain light conditions (and at night) you are very visible.

Windows leach your heat out very badly... windows allow summer-sun heat intrusion very badly, almost all windows are single pane, so, windows can sweat, windows need to be clean, and windows do break, windows leak sometimes, and yet they allow ventilation.  on the other hand, like glass floor panels, skylights are (for me) a no-no. 

Where I must blank out a window, I am using the black-out film, keeping all windows intact, and the continuity of the exterior glass wall, I am only blanking what is needed, ... ie: the top 1/2 of the toilet/sink area can stay, as can about 10 "  above the reefer, the more ambient ight incoming -the better.

On this build, I also am doing my walls/bulkheads/dividers differently, by "not" going roof to deck... three reasons, 1) the A/C-Heat and lighting are all inside that top cornice that runs fore-aft on both sides, 2) the non-compartmentalized design allows air, scent, and sound flow over the top 3) the need for "privacy" or "view" in the toilet/shower areas have long been over-played, in doing so trapping condensation and a false sense of privacy... think about public toilet stall construction... 18" above the floor door, 3+ feet down from the ceiling... showers need no more than that, and only need water retention walls-not privacy walls. (IMHO).

Moving from "Schoolie" building to "Coach" building was/is a big step, as I have said, the "new" definitions of those two types is clouded today by design cross-overs, the remaining identifier is the gazillion small windows on a schoolie.  In now doing my second "Coach", this was one of the main points in choosing a candidate to build (window size-number-type), coaches transit bus, and shuttle busses all have maximum window-age... in leaving the schoolie mentality, one of the big dynamics to deal with is this new massive presence of "glass, rather than tiny windows aplenty.

Transit, shuttle, coach (tour) busses are very side-glass intensive, not good for roll-overs, but great for visibility, if you like Motor home pigeon hole windows, and blanking off with sheet metal, go for it.

I will take some local pictures in my storage yard as examples, I have built these sheet metal (armoured) dark holes myself, but "I have since seen the light", by living inside one of these aluminum beer cans over dark Minnesota, Northwest winters, if you are a part-timer, weekender, over-nighter you can survive in a UPS step van,  not being aware of your surroundings, or boondocking with no visibility is a hazardous undertaking, you are high enough off the ground (a low floor fault) to keep prying eyes away, they cannot claw their way in, and other than your tires, and unlocked hood/engine compartment, radiator vulnerability you can leave the area upon "seeing" problems arise ... if you can "see".

I think your build intent has a lot to do with choosing your candidate to build ... and your design that you build "to", the feng shui you end up with (especially if this is to be "HOME"), and "if" you have a choice of candidates to build (many times we do not) is very important, as you build you feel it coming, it forms around your design, it guides your design, whatever you end up with is, well, ... "you"... 

What I am saying in all of this bilge, is think about windows, the good the bad, from Prevost "wrappers" or "roll-top" to the Ford cargo van, the windows need to be considered, staying abreast of the times and the newer designs, materials, tech, and of the cultural changes all influence how we build, and how we perceive our "home", times and designs change, what we build today influences what the next generation of "alternatives" build.

Solar heating plus/minuses, (winter-summer), heat loss-rise, ambiance, potential air/water leaks, ventilation (or lack of it), smell dissipation (or lack of it), air exchange rates, and pollen count, dust, mites, on and on can all be considered... build to your needs and wants, figure it out.  special attention to cooking fans, humid air shower fans, entry door sealing, and air flow (fore-aft) really require a second-third think through.    Insulation plays in here big time... I will start by looking at the deck (flooring) as everything has to go "on top", and we want full wall-to-wall coverage... not just partial.   "the room is warm, but the water bottles stored under the sink froze up, partial", "my wet boots in the closet froze to the deck partial".

ROLL-TOP BUS

CAVE BUS  e-z to heat

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

UPDATE !

New toilet plan...  while crawling around on dry ground under the Gillig to place the concrete stepping stones for "drive-on" (to keep the tires from rotting in the dirt), and, while trying to figure out "under" ridgid foam insulation add-on feasibility... I found some access (not much) atop the fuel tank/aft raised floor area (where the bathroom sits).

Remember, "my" design is for no holding tanks-no boondocking, and "only" in-park docking (on the asphalt, fully connected to water/sewer/50 amp electric)...  

The 3 thousand dollar cost of my favored Incinolet, the size and weight, all were not helped by my failed month long search for a new-unwanted unit on craigslist, facebook marketplace, in RV websites, or around my boat building contacts, this new area of space became a "second thought" idea.

Since I have to be in port hooked to electric to use the Incinolet, being in port could also apply to being hooked to water/sewer and a conventional RV toilet... the piping was a  no-no before I found this new area... (and still "may" be).

Modern times... ABS has added in expensive rubber connectors for every ridgid pipe fitting made !  expensive yes, but far more forgiving than hard pipe.   I can wad up a rubber connector, cram it through a 2" slot, then let it expand back to full size once in the big void area I found...  so, to save $2,500 I begin a redesign ...  (remember, I warned you about this).

                                                 

Dometic 320, $285 delivered (new), 100 bucks of rubber ABS, change-of-plans !  very scary hole cuts, and hands the size of a three year old, working blind and by feel, we can do this !

Stay tuned kiddies,