a bus house - High spec tiny home on wheels

The bus took myself and Allex 3 years full time to build, we began at the start of Covid after finishing our degrees at Oxford Brooke’s (mine in furniture design and making). A lot of the build process is on the bus instagram @abushouse. We’ve lived in the bus for the last 3 years full time, and spent 10 months on an 8000 mile tour of Europe, so the bus is very well road tested and all of the issues have been ironed out. We’ve only bought a house as we needed a garden for our dog Bo, a three legged hitchhiker we picked up in Bosnia.

We think the pictures of the inside speak for themselves. This is not a camper van, it’s a full blown apartment on wheels. Everything is built to last, from 18mm plywood and solid wood.

We fully rebuilt the dashboard from ply and oak to match the rest of the interior, and installed all new switches and switch board, the dash has the same 40mm oak worktop as the rest of the bus. Theres a 9inch CarPlay screen installed, with two big speakers in the dash. The drivers seat has been professionally reupholstered to match the sofas. We also rebuilt the steps into the bus to match the interior, and theres a shoe cabinet to the right of the door.

The seating area in the bus is two 3 seater bench sofas, which also pull out to a king sized bed. The slide out tables are our favourite feature of the bus, we use them multiple times a day as they require no setup. There’s a front facing seatbelt for a passenger, and another could be fitted for sale.

All of the cabinets were hand built from 18mm plywood, with all custom built drawers on soft close drawer runners with marine latches. The worktops are 40mm full stave oak which we machined and finished by hand, (I’ll refinish them before sale). The paint is professional 2pack kitchen paint so very easy to clean and hard wearing. Appliances include a full sized Dishwasher, Bosch washing machine, full sized integrated 70/30 fridge freezer, Gas oven, Bosch gas hob, space for a microwave, nicely sized Belfast sink with pull out tap, full sized lit oak pantry.

The bathroom in the bus features a custom made composting toilet, which is emptied from outside the bus. We built two spacious bathroom cabinets above and below the vanity sink. The doors between the bathroom and shower open into the hallway, which makes for one larger bathroom. The shower is large by house standards, (1200 x 800) with good pressure from the overhead or hand held shower heads. Theres also a storage shelf which keeps the bottles in place when moving. Theres a large airing cupboard above the hot water tank in the hallway between bathroom and bedroom.

The bedroom features a standard king sized bed (mattress and topper included) with ikea slats. Theres a surprising amount of storage under and around the bed, with the same oak worktops. We built two large wardrobes in the bedroom, which 60cm of hanging space and spacious drawers. The air-con unit is also in the bedroom, and cools the room very quickly using little energy.

The bus is built to be fully offgrid, with around 2500w of solar on the roof (4x 250w panels and 4x 450w) which feed a custom built 8kwh EVE 24v lifepo4 battery. The solar can run the 900w aircon unit and charge the batteries on a sunny day. If solar isn’t enough in winter, then the bus alternator can charge the batteries at 2kw via a sterling alternator regulator or the bus can be plugged into any plug to charge the batteries. The battery feeds a Victron Multiplus 24v/3000/50 which can handle the big appliances in the bus one at a time when off grid, and smaller appliances together. There’s sockets everywhere, just like a normal house. The bus can be connected to the internet via the included Starlink mini or via the included 4g router. This means power, battery and heating can be managed from a custom built app even when away from the bus (perfect for preheating before you get home). There’s also a security camera to monitor the bus when away from it.

It has automatic underfloor heating powered by a hydronic diesel heater which is under the bus so very quiet. Also an automatic modulating blown hot air radiator. This can heat the bus from cold very quickly and keep it warm just ticking over throughout the day. The heater is plumbed into the bus diesel tank, and could be run on heating oil for half the price if stationary.

Cooking is powered by a standard 13kg propane bottle housed in an airtight cabinet in the boot with a drop vent (A bottle lasts us 4 months, cooking multiple times a day). The gas is piped to the cooker and hob in a protected 10mm copper pipe, under the bus. The gas bottle also features a Truma bulkhead regulator which shuts off the gas in the event of a crash. The bus boot is large, with plug sockets. It houses the 400l grey water tank which is emptied with a smart valve (from the app) and can be connected to a normal waste hose pipe. The bus also has an air levelling system, which means when parked on a slope air can be taken out of one side of the suspension and the bus will tilt. It also has heavy duty jacks at the back for levelling. The water system if filled via a valve near the front door, into two 200L tanks (totalling 400l) which lasts us 5 days showering everyday. Theres two quiet Occulati water pumps, which automatically turn on and off to pressurise the water pipes. Theres a 117 litre stainless hot water cylinder (standard house size) which is heated by the diesel heater or excess solar automatically when the battery is full.

There’s currently a custom made 25mm insulated window cover for each window, which has worked well for us but could be replaced by curtains or blinds for ease of use. The front windows all have reflective film on them for heat rejection and privacy. Theres skylights front and back of the bus which provide good airflow.

Flooring is Karndean LVT which is incredibly hardwearing, waterproof and looks great after 3 years (and ithas a lifetime warranty).
The bus is fully insulated with 40mm xps and 25mm eps. The door is fully custom built from aluminium, with a code lock so you never have to remember keys.

A lot of blood sweat and tears went into building our first home, and we’ll be very sad to see it go.

Ben Allex and Bo