# Low cost housing alternative?



## valannb22 (Jan 6, 2012)

I came across this link and thought it was really pretty cool.

http://beforeitsnews.com/self-suffi...-comfortable-bus-home-with-9-000-2475202.html

This guy converted an old used school bus into a fairly nice little home for about $9k


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

I like the extensive use of wood in that one.

I have seen a lot of folks spend that much and have something not near as nice


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Nice! Lots of potential. My wife and plan to do this so we can design a motor home that's arranged as we want it. Ours will have solar power and a wood burning stove along with an electric fridge. We want one where we canstay afield indefinitely so no dependence on propane allowed!

His biggest hurdle will be finding someplace to park it long term. Camp grounds can be expensive in the long haul.

I love the roof opening!


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

I converted an old transit bus, it was not this nice. The bus I found was 8 1/2' wide and had a rear engine. 

The rear engine gave me good traction and I really liked all the space underneath unencumbered by a drive line. I had plenty of space underneath for propane tanks, sewage tanks, and water. Had I kept it I would have added storage for food and supplies as well as additional fuel.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

mosquitomountainman said:


> We want one where we can stay afield indefinitely so no dependence on propane allowed!


I wouldn't do that... propane can be a real time saver (very fast to cook with) during an "adjustment period" and makes no smoke.

If you go in with the knowledge "it WILL run out some day", a 20 lb bottle can last a very long time with a small cook stove, and can be a real "life saver" on special occasions, like those days when you were out working ALL DAY and just don't want the hassle of cooking over wood before you enjoy the day's last meal.

Consider it a "transition tool". 
There will be other things that will demand your time and attention far more than meal preps. Propane makes the transition easier.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

*Great way to start,information.*

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/:partydance:


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)




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## valannb22 (Jan 6, 2012)

I have all the stuff to make that one sitting on or around my porch right now. :2thumb:


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Geeze sentry I'm not inviting you to the lodge again if you are going to post pics of it on the net :brickwall: :brickwall: :brickwall:


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

That's actually a house. An artists take scraps and makes houses for homeless people. They're pretty amazing and show how little people actually need to be happy and comfortable.

http://www.viralnova.com/used-garbage-homeless-shelters/


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## helicopter5472 (Feb 25, 2013)

I know at our dump I could find enough stuff to make a Mc Mansion


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

In my hometown, was an odd family of folks. The story is that one brother traded his wife with his other brother for a cow. Who knows? They were odd. George was tearing down a house, and while working on the chimney, it fell and he went to the hospital. One of the first tasks at hand was to give him a bath. He said it was his first bath in years. 

So for a while, George managed the local dump. He built himself a house there from stuff that was dumped there. Eventually, the city made him tear it down. George had no concern about eating food that he found at the dump.

Have you ever considered that there is so much new stuff thrown away that it could be used to build houses and homes? I used to go to church with a woman who was a dumpster diver. I have pulled a few things out of dumpsters, but have never climbed in. There are some people, like her, that equip themselves to climb in and out and it is a regular thing to do.

Much of what she found went to a Christian charity. She told me that many people throw away stuff that is brand new and in the original packaging. Some people would rather throw it away than return it. She lived in an area with high end apartment buildings. She said there was no way she could take everything she found that was good because there was always so much. She just couldn't deal with all of it.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

weedygarden said:


> In my hometown, was an odd family of folks. The story is that one brother traded his wife with his other brother for a cow. Who knows? They were odd. George was tearing down a house, and while working on the chimney, it fell and he went to the hospital. One of the first tasks at hand was to give him a bath. He said it was his first bath in years.
> 
> So for a while, George managed the local dump. He built himself a house there from stuff that was dumped there. Eventually, the city made him tear it down. George had no concern about eating food that he found at the dump.
> 
> ...


Most of my life has been built of other peoples rubbish. My second house was 95% other peoples throw outs. A few examples...... The kitchen and bathroom floors and splash backs were made from roofing slate rescued when a local council building was updated, the Ponderosa Pine board ceilings through the whole house were taken from a burning pile, they were discarded as they had run off line when put through the tongue and groove molder, the lining in the bedrooms were rescued plywood 'cover sheets' from a kitchen manufacturer, all the plumbing was from the garbage tip, rainwater tank was an old rescue with the bottom full of holes (I concreted the bottom), the entire structure was made from a building I demolished after a storm went through a local farm.
House I'm building now is much the same, throw out windows and doors, lining plaster from rubbish piles at building sites or building suppliers damaged stock. Fire place in the lounge was a throw out. Half the kitchen cabinets were destined to be burnt as they had become dirty and marked, beautiful cedar cabinets! Only problem is we spend a bit of money on fuel and time traveling but it's certainly worth it.

I think most people would be shocked at the amount of clothing that gets thrown out at charity shops over here. If a button is missing, has a small tear, a small mark, out they go. The bags of 'rubbish' they send to the tip have clothed me and my family for years . Some of it damn good stuff too.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

LincTex said:


> I wouldn't do that... propane can be a real time saver (very fast to cook with) during an "adjustment period" and makes no smoke.
> 
> If you go in with the knowledge "it WILL run out some day", a 20 lb bottle can last a very long time with a small cook stove, and can be a real "life saver" on special occasions, like those days when you were out working ALL DAY and just don't want the hassle of cooking over wood before you enjoy the day's last meal.
> 
> ...


The key word was "dependence." Never said I wouldn't have it. Also, propane will be in bottles ... not tanks that are permanently attached to the vehicle. That way you can take the tank in for refilling instead of the whole bus. We've been living our winters in motorhomes the last several years. We have definite ideas on building one.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

mosquitomountainman said:


> The key word was "dependence." Never said I wouldn't have it. Also, propane will be in bottles ... not tanks that are permanently attached to the vehicle. That way you can take the tank in for refilling instead of the whole bus. We've been living our winters in motorhomes the last several years. We have definite ideas on building one.


I am wondering about your idea about what base you would use? Would you use the frame or main frame of an RV? Have you considered a tiny home that you tow?


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

weedygarden said:


> I am wondering about your idea about what base you would use? Would you use the frame or main frame of an RV? Have you considered a tiny home that you tow?


Our " first" motor home conversion was a 14 foot U Haul truck with 110 watts of solar power and a wood burning heating stove, and propane cook stove. Our second .was a 33 foot Coachman. We used 270 watts of solar with a 400 watt wind turbine. It has everything but we plan on putting in a wood stove. I changed it to where we could use 20 lb. propane bottles in addition to the frame mounted propane tank. It's okay in a lot of ways but we're wanting something with a tougher frame and better ground clearance for back country use. We also want one with better insulation. We're looking at converting a school bus next. That way we can build one like we want. Most modern motor homes are designed for parking in campgrounds with full hookups. We want something we can use in the back country and stay out for weeks or even months withoutcoming back to "civilization."

We also want a rig that's family friendly. Most motor homes and campers are either designed for retirees or made for a weekend away from home. Plus they cost as much as a house if buying one new.

My wife lived in a converted school bus for several years with her first husband. They did a good job fixing it up.

I'm typing this in our 22 foot motor home in a rest area in MN. We love the floor plan but it's too small for long term use with a growing family and not nearly rugged enough to go where we want to go.

We prefer motor homes over pull campers but pull campers have some good points too. They just wouldn't work the way we use them in the size we need.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Sentry18 said:


> That's actually a house. An artists take scraps and makes houses for homeless people. They're pretty amazing and show how little people actually need to be happy and comfortable.


I built one kind of like that for a homeless man not too far from here. It's a lot taller and a little bit wider. I used a truck topper for the roof and a real (no fridge!) solid door cut down to 6 feet tall, with locking knob. He uses a 20lb grill bottle to heat it with a small propane stove in the winter, he only needs it at night (he works for a temp agency in the day) and can heat it for a month on one 20lb tank. It has two harbor freight solar panels (from a 3 panel 45 watt kit) with one plain car battery. He uses it for the lights, to charge his cell phone, and watch DVDs on a little portable player. A 5 gallon water jug with spigot sits on a shelf over an old sink basin that drains into a rock pit. Only thing he can't do there is "go #2".


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

mosquitomountainman said:


> The key word was "dependence." Never said I wouldn't have it. Also, propane will be in bottles ... not tanks that are permanently attached to the vehicle.


My apologies, I misread. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a "mounted" tank due to their horizontal configuration making use of often otherwise wasted space. It can always be converted to a gasoline/diesel storage tank when the propane finally runs out 

I gotta admit, propane fascinates me (as a cooking fuel) due to just how much food you can heat/cook from one simple 20lb tank. You could even use it to provide "supplemental heat" to a solar oven on days with partial/broken clouds and it would last many months.

Using a solar oven as a "primary cooker" equipped with a small propane burner as "secondary heat" (only as needed) and you could make one 100lb tank last for many years!!!


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

LincTex said:


> My apologies, I misread. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a "mounted" tank due to their horizontal configuration making use of often otherwise wasted space. It can always be converted to a gasoline/diesel storage tank when the propane finally runs out
> 
> I gotta admit, propane fascinates me (as a cooking fuel) due to just how much food you can heat/cook from one simple 20lb tank. You could even use it to provide "supplemental heat" to a solar oven on days with partial/broken clouds and it would last many months.
> 
> Using a solar oven as a "primary cooker" equipped with a small propane burner as "secondary heat" (only as needed) and you could make one 100lb tank last for many years!!!


We also used our solar cooker to heat water for washing dishes, hair, etc.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

mosquitomountainman said:


> We also used our solar cooker to heat water for washing dishes, hair, etc.


I want to build a great big parabolic solar cooker from an old "C-band" satellite dish and use it for pressure canning!!


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