Plumbing & Bathroom

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I am not a licensed electrician, mechanic, plumber or contractor and do not represent myself as such. All information is offered for illustrative and anecdotal purposes, only. To the extent permissible by law, I disclaim any and all liability associated with the reading, use of or reliance upon the information provided herein. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. Any action undertaken based upon the information provided on this website is strictly at your own risk. We assume no liability for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website. Due to the serious inherent risks, all plumbing, contracting and electrical work should be performed by a licensed professional.

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When we decided to convert a school bus into a home, one of the requirements we set for ourselves was a full bathroom. We toyed with the idea of setting up a shower and plumbing it in in the future, but we decided that if we were going to go 75% of the way, we might as well go 100%. With that in mind, we made sure to set aside space for a wet bath in our build. Thankfully the Nature’s Head Composting Toilet is suitable for wet areas, so our plans were set. 

 

We decided to use an off-the-shelf shower pan to keep things water-tight. Once we had that in hand we were able to start building up the shower walls and the adjoining cabinetry. We put our shower on the same side of the bus as the electrical conduit had been, which did present its own considerations for our build. We’re not electricians, but we’re fairly certain that electricity and water aren’t the best of friends. In order to keep everything beyond the shower powered, we had to figure out a water-tight conduit. What we settled on was a section of aluminum square tubing. We attached the tubing to the ribs of the bus before and after the shower walls, so there weren’t any areas for stray water to sneak in.

 

For obvious reasons, we wanted the wet bath to remain water-tight, so we carefully considered our options for that. We considered using FRP or another waterproof substrate, but ultimately decided on PVC shiplap. We sealed all of the materials behind the shiplap with an elastomeric waterproofing membrane, as would be used in a tiled shower enclosure. We then installed the shiplap in a vertical pattern, to allow water to drain down. The ceiling proved to be the most difficult part as we needed to heat and bend the planks to conform to the curvature of the ceiling. We broke more than a few, but we ultimately got everything in and looking great! All of the seams were sealed with a caulk and then we installed some trim pieces, including a window sill. We wanted our bathroom windows to remain functional and still allow in light, so we added a frosted-look window film and a flexible weather stripping to allow the partial window to open and close.

 

The sink we used in our kitchen is a stainless steel bar sink that we chose to undermount. We prefer undermount sinks because they make counter cleanup super simple and it’s easier to keep an eye on leaks. In order for that to work we had to ensure that our countertops were well sealed and waterproof. We made our own counters out of plywood which we stained, sealed with water based polyurethane and then coated with epoxy resin. We opted for a pull-down faucet for the sink, along with an under-counter water filter. Rounding out our plumbing were an on-demand propane water heater and a 24V water pump. We decided to include an on/off switch for our water pump in order to be able to cut off power to the pump in case of emergency.

 

Next up was getting our fresh and grey water tanks installed. We were fortunate enough to have space between the bus frame and the floor in which to install our tanks. Before painting we had built some access panels into the skirt of the bus through which we could install the water tanks, so getting them in place wasn’t too big of a challenge. We bolted some angle to the bus frame, followed by plywood, to support the underside of the tanks. The tanks just fit between the plywood and the floor, so we have a nice, tight fit. A water filling panel mounted to the side of the bus allows us to fill the tanks or connect directly to a water source. We chose to use a filling panel that included a pressure regulator, but an external pressure regulator could be used if another filling panel is used. We also added a one-way valve between the filling panel and the water pump. Doing so protects the water pump from backflow damage and prevents the water tanks from being over-filled. Our water tanks are interconnected with flexible rubber tubing to allow them to function as a single tank. The tanks are then plumbed into the bus using PEX tubing. We chose to use PEX because of its freeze-resistance and tolerance of movement and vibration; we didn’t want to worry about solder joints cracking and failing when we drive over a bump in the road.

 

Finally we installed our propane tanks below the bus. We opted for two 20 lb. tanks to make it easy to keep plenty of fuel on board. We also chose not to use an automatic changeover so that we didn’t risk completely running out of propane. By having to manually change the regulator from one tank to the next, we will always be aware when one of our tanks runs dry. To prevent damage to the propane lines, we only used a rubber line for the regulator. To pass the propane through the floor, we used black pipe. A valve was added so that we have the option to shut off the flow of gas from inside the bus. From there, we used flexible stainless steel gas lines to our stove and hot water heater.

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