It is time to get back to bus business. It has always been there, my primary residence since I started this journey. But some of the love slipped away and it is time to find it again. Some of the ways I am going to spice things up are by giving the interior a face-lift, getting it mechanically sound enough to tackle the Rocky Mountains before the summer solstice and getting out into the wild even more frequently this year.
Look for construction photos and videos in the coming weeks, reminiscent of the early days of building the bus. Except I have a little more technical skill now.
I have been working on remodeling a couple of houses with a friend. He actually has the bulk of videos and pics on his phone. When I get them I will add them to this collection. For now, here is a look at what I have been up to...
The biggest, most satisfying single project has been stripping, staining and poly-ing the hardwood floors. I have only done it once before. It turned out great! These are from the stripping process.
The edger- for that detail stuff. I would have taken up baseboards but we were time/cost conscious.
Be careful using this beast, it aggressively chews the layers off.
Do as I say, not as I do. Always go with the grain, never across. I had to make a judgement call based on our equipment rental time. It didn't turn out bad but I could tell after I restained and poly-ed. It bristled my perfectionist side.
Stripped bare
Video of floors. Not the best video of them, as it was a week or more later and it became a construction zone again. The wet poly in kitchen and bathroom is from a touch-up I wanted to do. (side note: I also did the back splash in the kitchen and bathrooms)
At the end of December I moved into one of the houses for the convenience of getting work done and the comfort of hot showers, central heat and unlimited electricity. At first, I stayed on my queen size air mattress but then up graded to a twin mattress and box spring. My pets enjoyed the change of scenery.
Priss wants to be nice but Nala doesn't like her hovering over her shoulder.
The picture doesn't really capture the coating of dust, but I have been sanding drywall for hours. (During all these projects where I was working solo, I listened to the entire Gunslinger series by Stephen King)
Wake up call by Priss.
I had a birthday a few days ago. A group of friends treated me to Hibachi. I haven't had hibachi in over 3 years. It was even more fun than I expected. This is also a case where all the good video are on my friend's phones.
Well that is all for now. I have other stuff to post from the past but I am really looking forward to what the future is going to hold. I will post again soon.
I know that drywall dust experience well, even with having a shop vac tied into the output on the sander, a buddy and I still wound up coated in it sanding down the base coat on a wall job we'd been working on at my mum in laws :).
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