Tiny House Magazine- Issue 24

I'm happy to announce the December issue of Tiny House Magazine, issue 24 is here! This month marks the two year anniversary of THM and we're so proud to be a part of it. In my monthly column, "The Cozy Kitchen", I show you how to make my Grandma's famous "Anytime Crepes". With just 5 ingredients, they're so good and simple you can literally enjoy them any time, day or night! Plus 66 pages of other tiny house information for you to enjoy over the holidays!

Save 25% on any issue you order using the code 25FOR5 for the next 5 days! You can get your issue by clicking here.

The First Ever Tiny House Calendar!

The first ever Tiny House Calendar is here! It features photos of a beautiful tiny home for each month of 2015 so you can enjoy Tiny Houses all year long. Our bus is featured in both July and August so hopefully we'll be seeing you next summer!

An 8x11" version is available for $14.99 or you can get an 11x17" for $24.99. To purchase click here: http://www.createphotocalendars.com/Store/Tiny+House+Calendar-4263418873

Tiny House Magazine- Issue 23

I'm happy to announce the November issue of Tiny House Magazine, issue 23 is here! This month features some really great articles including my monthly columns "The Cozy Kitchen" where I show you how to make squash soup on the grill! Below is a short excerpt from this month's column:

"To celebrate our friends in the cold white north I thought a cozy, homey soup would be appropriate for this month’s recipe. Cooking indoors will help provide some ambient heat from your stove and oven to keep your family toasty and your tiny homes smelling delicious. For those of us in tiny homes in the south, cranking up the oven when it’s 80* out can result in also cranking up the air condoning.  So, for those of you who are still in the grilling weather but holiday mindset I present to you: barbeque squash soup!

This soup, prepared either on an outdoor grill with side burner or on an indoor stove/oven, would make a delicious meal on its own or as a side dish for your next Thanksgiving feast. It uses minimal utensils and appliances and doesn’t have to cook for hours to be tasty. Some alternative cooking methods could include cooking squash in a microwave or cutting it into cubes and frying in a pan. Some chopped Andouille sausage would also add a hearty bite for those who prefer their meals to be consistently omnivorous. Enjoy!"

Soup on the Barbie anyone? 

You can get your issue here! http://goo.gl/OBHMO3

Fellow Bus Conversions Page

We just launched a new page on our website where we will share links and pictures of fellow bus conversions, both completed and in progress. If you'd like to be included all of the info is on the site. Check it out in the sidebar or by visiting http://www.justrightbus.com/p/fellow-bus-conversions.html

Calling all Bus Nuts, Skoolies, Bus Converters and anything else you call people who live in buses!

This post is going out to everyone who reads this blog that is building or lives in a converted school bus.

Our bus wouldn't be half of what it is if it weren't for the inspiration and encouragement of our fellow bus friends. I decided to create a page on our website to act as a catalog for future bus nuts that will be dedicated to sharing the links and info of other bus conversions, completed or in progress, so that others can continue to be inspired and fascinated by the ingenuity that is the skoolie community.

If you would like your bus to be included on this page please email the following information to JustRightBus@Gmail.com

All of the requested information is optional. Don't include any information you don't want public on this page.

• The name of your bus and website/page, 
• Your Name(s)
• The Make, Model Year of your bus
• Your home state and/or city
• 1 or 2 Pictures of your bus

I'll make the page live once I get a few people who are interested.

The Cozy Kitchen

I have a very exciting announcement.  Starting this month I will be writing a regular column in Tiny House Magazine called "The Cozy Kitchen". Each month I will share tips and tricks to cooking in a tiny home as well as a recipe. The October issue of Tiny House Magazine, #22, was just published. To get this month's  magazine including my first column of "The Cozy Kitchen" along with my Tasty Turkey Burrito Recipe, click here:
http://goo.gl/Rt1dsf

One Year Later

Well, we did it! Last Sunday marked one whole year living in our Just Right Bus. A month ago I thought about doing some sort of grand celebration, a big blog post, lots of pictures, maybe a party. Instead, we did exactly what we wanted. That's the beauty of our lives right now. Though there are things we have to do to stay up to date with our lives and jobs, during the time that's ours we can do whatever we want.

I did write a little post about what we've learned over the last year for the Tiny House Listings blog. You can check that out here.

Here's a cool comparison shot of the day we moved in to the bus vs a year later.

Thank you to all of our amazing supporters. We hope the next year, or two, or ten are just as great as the last.

Butcher Block Countertops

The pictures below are of our butcher block countertops and show the process of me oiling them last week. I wrote about the pros and cons of living with butcher block countertops in a post onTiny House Listings. You can check out that post here! Be sure to subscribe to Tiny House Listings to see my weekly blog post on tiny living!

Chris cutting the countertop with our brand new saw blade

Marking out the opening for our sink

Every 4-6 months I oil the countertops to keep them from drying out too much or cracking. Although I originally used mineral oil on them I switched to Teak oil. Though it gives them a nicer shine, it has a strong smell so I plan to go back to mineral oil after the teak is used up.

Teak oil going on the countertops

 

Let the teak oil sit for about 30 minutes before wiping

I removed the stove in order to oil the cut edges of the countertop around its opening

 The stove area and directly around the sink get oiled extra throughly. They're most prone to damage due to the dry heat of the stove and the excessive moisture from the sink.

After the teak oil is wiped it leaves a nice shine.
Wait 3-4 hours before putting things back on the counters.

Tiny House Decisions by Ethan Waldman

We had to make thousands of decisions when building our bus and a lot of people ask us what we would have done differently. A new tiny house resource launched this week called "Tiny House Decisions" by Ethan Waldman. It highlights some of the choices you may have to make when building your tiny home and some of the things that other tiny home builders would do differently. If you're on the fence about going tiny or concerned that you might "forget something" during the build, this resource may put you at ease.

To save 15% off your purchase you can use the coupon code FB15TINY until 8/22!

Check it out by clicking here.

Origo 6000 alcohol stove in the Just Right Bus

This week I shared my experience living with an Origo 6000 alcohol stove on the blog over at Tiny House Listings. You can check out that post here! Be sure to subscribe to Tiny House Listings to see my weekly blog post on tiny living!

 The Tiny House Conference 

 Photos by Christopher Tack 

Some Good News

It's a truly lovely evening. I'm curled up on the couch with the laptop listening to the Edward Sharpe station on Pandora. A thundershower is rolling through the area with rain pitter pattering on the metal roof and hood of the bus. Poor Willow is cowering in her nook. Chris is across from me at the table sipping coffee and reading a textbook about some crazy medical ailments, I'm sure. He just asked me to look up the word "fecundity". I was about halfway through the wikipedia article on fecundity (found here for those who can't resist) when I suddenly started reflecting on all of the moments that led up to this one. So many moments of stress, frustration, mistakes, excitement and many more emotions but mostly moments of happiness. Looking back at the 6 months it took us to build the bus I feel happy. I actually miss the days of waking up early, going out to the bus with a cup of coffee, sitting on the floor and planning what we wanted to accomplish for the day.

My view of Chris studying at the table

These days we're much busier than we were when building the bus, or at least it seems like it. Chris spends 50-70 hours a week at school and I started a new job at an art studio last month. We don't see each other as much but still find ways to enjoy evenings like this one. Doing our own tasks but still together.

We have some good news. We've been living in the bus for almost 10 months now and we are still happy. No regrets, no worries that we made the right choice, just happiness and pride that we've come so far. This home that took so much of our time and energy and most of our money to build has been good to us and we're trying to be equally good to her.

As with any, home ownership has its trials and tribulations. We changed our house' oil last month (now that's an infrequently used sentence). It was something that we were intending on doing right after our trip in April but time got away from us. I was stressed about it at first but it turned out to be really simple and much less expensive than taking it somewhere. As always, thoughtful planning and patience paid off.

Chris putting in one of the new oil filters

We've also had an amazing increase in supportive followers on our Facebook page and website. They seem to be from all walks of life and though we've never met most of them, they're as easy to chat with as old friends. We frequently receive messages with questions from fellow bus converters and it's a real honor to see that people are going out of their way to ask us for advice. We rarely go anywhere without thoughtful comments or questions about the bus from friends and acquaintances. It's become more a part of us than we ever imagined.

Last week, a friend we made through the Florida Tiny House Enthusiasts Group came out and did a video tour/interview of the bus for a new mini series on Florida Tiny Homes. I'll share more information on that soon but we're very excited to finally be able to offer others a better glimpse into what it's like being in the bus other than just in pictures.

A last bit of exciting news is that I started writing posts for the Tiny House Listings blog 3-4 times a month. It's an amazing honor to be able to share my interest in Tiny Homes with such a wide audience. I share my posts on the Bus's Facebook page each week so check there if you're interested in reading what I've been writing about.

I'll leave you with this adorable picture of my two favorite guys. Good Night All!

After conquering fecundity, Chris relocated to the floor for some Winston Snuggles

The Eccotemp L5 and L10 Hot Water Heaters: A Review

We purchased an Eccotemp L5 unit back in December 2013 for $109 and were very excited. We had been living in the bus for two months with no hot water and it was starting to get chilly out so cold showers were no longer acceptable. We easily mounted the unit on the side of the bus and plumbed it into our relatively simple system of one tub and one sink. We saw other Tiny Homes using the same units in a similar way and it worked well from the very start and gave us plenty of heat, was relatively quiet and fairly efficient. During that time we were going  though a five gallon propane tank every six to seven weeks or so.

It seemed to hold up well and worked fine after several rainy or windy days and we carefully watched the temperature to ensure it was drained properly when it got below freezing (only one night this winter here in Florida). Plus it was pretty cute.

About a month ago we started noticing that every once in a while after running the hot water for a while we'd hear a "squeeeeeel poof" sound coming from outside. We tried to make it happen for a while so we could observe but it seemed to be random.

Then, one night, I heard heard an exceptionally loud whine and boom from the water heater and rushed out to see if it had completely exploded off the bus. Fortunately, it was still mounted firmly to the side (with the recommended clearances) but the top guard was glowing red from heat. We immediatly switched it to the off position and turned off the propane. The next morning we inspected it more closely and could see a very obvious black mark from the ball of flame that had erupted from it the night before. At that point we were very thankful for our steel exterior shell, which survived unscathed.

Chris took down the water heater and took it apart to see if he could figure out what went wrong. The inside was a wreck and pretty crispy. I took a bunch of photos and sent them to Eccotemp as the heater comes with a year warranty and it'd only been about six months.

Inside the front cover

A melted ball of metal, not sure where this went

The back of the water heater was all warped

The ignition

I was a little disappointed with the service from Eccotemp at first. It took four email exchanges and over a week before they actually addressed the problem. At first, they said we voided the warranty by permanently mounting the unit to which I responded with several direct quotes from the users manual indicating that the unit could be permanently mounted. For example, under the "Getting Started" section of the users manual, the manual says "Use the top tab on the unit to suspend from a screw adequate to holding 15 pounds. Place at a comfortable height without putting stress on the gas hose. If the unit is to be permanently mounted, use screws to attach the bottom tab firmly." There were also several explainations as to how to plumb the unit into a garden hose or an existing system. Additionally, the warranty said nothing about mounting the unit permanently.

I also explained that there were many raving reviews on their website about this product being used in a similar way as ours and that I felt it was a defect in something inside the unit that went wrong, not an issue with quality of the overall unit. I also made it clear that I found direct communication via phone to be more efficient and pleasant than email.

Three days (and two more cold showers) later I got a call from Mike at Eccotemp. They use an internet phone service there and his call was dropped three times during our conversation. That was pretty frustrating. At first Mike was a little defensive, he made it clear they would not be replacing our unit and apologized that the manual was misleading and said they would be rewriting it.

Mike suggested that the Eccotemp L10 would be a better model for us as it is made to be mounted permanently outside and had a rain guard. I agreed that we should upgrade to the L10 for our next unit and fortunately, they were willing to work with us on the price. They essentially gave us the price of the L5 off of the L10, normally $260. They also covered the cost of shipping and shipped out the new unit that day. Mike became much more pleasant to work with and talk to after we decided on this resolution; he was actually a really nice guy.

Yesterday, we mounted the new unit. It's 8" taller than the first plus it has a flue at the top. It worked right away and seems to be doing just fine. We are able to run it at a much lower gas to water flow ratio than the L5 and the hot water gets to our faucet in under a minute. I'll write an update on our experience with the L10 in a few months, but for now we're satisfied.

We chose the L5 originally because of the size, the fact that it had a battery start and the excellent price. We never had any issues with it as far as leaks or traveling, though I wish we had gone with the L10 from the start to avoid this whole experience. I know of several people who have been living with the L5 for years with no problem so this experience may just be an exception, not the rule.

Overall, Eccotemp puts out a great product for the price that meets the unique needs of many tiny home dwellers. However, in the event that you do have an issue and need to contact them with something you need to be diligent and firm otherwise it may not be resolved in a timely manner. No one has time for cold showers.
_____________________________________________________
Update! 2/2016
We had some minor issues with our water heater since installing it. Several times the heater has simply stopped working due to a poor connection in the battery compartment. Chris had to rig up a aluminum foil contraption to ensure proper contact between the batteries and the ignition. The compartment becomes rusty easily because the seal isn't completely waterproof, thus resulting in the poor connection. Also, The hot water heater got frogged up (as in, a frog got stuck in it and clogged it up pretty bad). We had to back flush it and it started working again. While putting it back together Chris tried to tighten a screw that controls the amount of gas that flows and it broke off, meaning we had to replace the entire gas/water valve. Even though our eccotemp L10 is still working, I'd never get another eccotemp product in the future.

Tiny House Magazine

We're so honored to announce that an article we wrote about the Just Right Bus is featured in this month's Tiny House Magazine! This month marks the 17th issue of the magazine and it is jam-packed with 66 pages of beautiful Tiny House material. From a review about a composting toilet to coverage on the Tiny House Conference and a story about two weirdos that live in a bus, this magazine is Just Right for anyone who has an interest in Tiny homes.

You can purchase the 17th issue of the Tiny House Magazine for $3.99 and if you use the "Buy Now" link below we will receive a percentage of the proceeds. Thank you for your support!

Living with a Water Trough Bathtub

We get more comments on our water trough bathtub than any other part of the bus so I’d thought I share what it’s like living with one. The idea to use this kind of tub came to me one morning as I was drinking my coffee (as most good ideas do).

Shortly after we got the bus we discovered that a traditional shower wasn’t going to work. Although Chris can stand up straight in the middle of the bus, he has to duck when he gets to the sides since the ceiling curves. With the added height of a shower pan and tile, he wouldn't have the most comfortable bathing arrangements. We brainstormed various ideas of solving this issue and came to the conclusion that a tub would be best for our space. We would sit down in the tub and use a hand held shower nozzle so we wouldn’t have to take a full on bubble bath every time we bathed. I’m not sure what caused me to search images of “water trough bath tub” but when I found the pictures below and learned the price compared to a traditional tub, I was sold.

That same day we went to our local feed depot and purchased our new 48”, 100 gallon water trough bathtub.

Water trough’s go by various names including stock tanks, horse troughs, livestock tanks, and galvanized metal tubs, among others. For the sake of this post I will just call ours a tub. They also come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. I recommend visiting a feed depot or local hardware store and trying out the tub you’re interested in. We almost purchased a tub that was about a foot shorter than the one we got to save space but changed our mind and opted for the wider one as we felt it would be more comfortable to sit in.

Here are a few examples of how others have used water troughs in their bathrooms.

(Source)

 

(Source)

After about 8 months of living in the bus I thought I’d share our personal pros and cons about using a water trough bathtub.

Pros:

• Inexpensive: We bought our tub for around $100 at the local feed store. They had one in stock so we were able to take it home that day. Similar sized claw foot tubs can go for over $1000!
• Easy Install: To install the tub we drilled a drain hole, two holes for the faucet and attached the tub to the wall with 2 bolts. It’s nestled between our closet and kitchen counter so we’re not worried about it shifting during travel.
• Light Weight: These tubs are considerably lighter than traditional bathtubs. I’m able to lift the tub on my own. It’s a little big and bulky but this is a huge plus to those who are weight-conscious when building. We were also able to store it in the bus while building and use it as a makeshift bench since it was so easy to move around.
• Stylish, for some: I’ve seen a big increase in the number of people using these tubs and we always get compliments on the chic, rustic look.
• Durable: Though they’re available in plastic, our tub is made from galvanized metal and meant to withstand abuse from livestock. We don’t have to worry about it chipping or cracking like a traditional porcelain tub.
• High Sides: Since the tub has such high sides, we don’t have to use a shower curtain. Though we could easily spray water on the floor with our handheld claw foot tub shower nozzle, we’re careful and aware. Any spray is quickly and easily wiped up after we’re done showering.
• Great Storage Space: When we travel we store many things inside the tub including a basket full of small, semi-fragile items that normally live on the counters. Our vacuum also lives in it from time to time. Additionally, we planned to install a foldup countertop over the tub for additional counter space, though we’ve found we don’t really need that space right now.

The tub was a great counter space for tools while working on the bus

 

 The Tiny House Conference
 Photos by Christopher Tack

 The Tiny House Conference
 Photos by Christopher Tack

Cons:

• Alterations Necessary: The tub came with a drain plug in the side, about an inch from the base so we had to drill one in the floor. They’re also flat bottomed so we designed our tub nook to have a 1-inch slant so the water would flow toward the drain.
• Not built to bathe in: If you’re looking for a luxurious bubble bath then a water trough probably isn’t for you. They’re straight walled and high sided so getting in and out may be difficult for some and if you want any sort or recline you’ll have to install a seat of some type. Additionally, they’re made of thin metal so the water stays warm for a relatively short period of time. Since we only really take showers in the tub, I hit the sides and bottom with a spray of warm water before getting in so that I don’t have to sit on the cold metal and that usually does the trick.
• Not that easy to clean: Though the tub rarely looks dirty (and I suppose that’s a pro) it has a rubber seal around the base and up one wall that seems to be a magnet for soap scum. I’m constantly scrubbing it clean but do so very carefully as this seam keeps the floor and wall waterproof and I don’t want to damage it. The strange curves to the walls also make it a little awkward to scrub.
• Negative stigma: I’ve seen these tubs referred to as “Red Neck Bath Tubs” but I suppose it’s up to you if that’s an insult or not.
• Placement: These tubs take up a lot more floor space than a shower pan. To keep the open feel in our bus we essentially bathe in the kitchen/living room. I understand this may be a con for some so that’s why I included it here. However, it’s really no big deal to us. Just the two of us live in the bus and we can easily shut the curtains and the whole bus becomes our shower room. To be honest, this is the case for every room. We have a 200 square foot kitchen when we’re cooking, bedroom when we’re sleeping and bathroom when we’re…well, you know.

My mom told me that when she was little, her family used a bathtub to water their horses because they were cheaper and easier to find than horse troughs. An image of a horse relaxing in a claw foot tub immediately popped into my head when she said this.

Overall, we’re satisfied with the tub. It gets the job done and is a great conversation piece though I don’t think I would put one in my home if I had space for a standard shower. A water trough bathtub is not for everyone but it’s Just Right for us.

What kind of tub or shower would you build in your tiny home?