wall and door advice

oldfordlover36 · July 09, 2014, 09:44:03 PM

Hi I'm getting close to building a few walls and doors and looking for some insight as to good materials. I was thinking about split studs and pocket doors but will 2x4 walls be too thick? Or should I just build hinged doors to fit? Looking foreward to the ideas and thanks for the advice thus far!

grantgoold · July 09, 2014, 11:14:39 PM

I used steel for my interior walls. Light weight and sturdy.

Jeremy · July 10, 2014, 02:24:01 AM

Me too - steel box section with plywood panels on each side. It's the only way to get the necessary stiffness and rigidity while still having a thin wall, and also enables the wall to be properly attached to the frame of the bus. My interior doors are regular hinged doors, but are made in the same way with an internal steel frame

Jeremy

shelled · July 10, 2014, 05:17:17 AM

2 by 4 means the walls that go from front to back end up eating as much as 10% of bus width. Splitting the stud and putting in pocket doors in these particular walls brings the wasted space to over 15%.

You can theoretically reclaim this space by building shelves, broom closets, etc into these fat walls but I've never seen it done.

edward

Debo · July 10, 2014, 06:24:50 AM

Just another data point...

I used a bit of a hybrid system for my bedroom/bathroom wall. The bedroom side of the wall is wood studs ripped in half, and the other side of the wall (my bathroom) is 3/4" birch plywood. My bathroom is located immediately in front of the bedroom and I wanted to be able to tile the bathroom wall, but also put some plumbing and electrical wiring, as well as a pocket door inside the wall. I also want to be able to hang a TV on the bedroom wall, so I put spacer blocks inside the wall between the studs and the plywood in places the pocket door wouldn't need to occupy to stiffen it up. It's very solid, and I have no doubt I could hang a large TV on it with no problems. I should also mention that my pocket doors are 3/4" thick, although I think the space needed for the hardware was about 1-1/8". There's hardware available for smaller pocket doors like mine.

For the bathroom wall that runs lengthwise down the bus, I used 3/4" plywood on each side of the wall with a 3/4" pocket door in the middle. I wanted to minimize the thickness of the wall so it didn't eat up walkway space. That wall is 2-5/8" thick. My doors are all 24" wide pocket doors. I have three. One that separates the kitchen/living area from the bedroom and bathroom area, one for the bathroom door, and one for the bedroom door. The forward bathroom/kitchen wall is a wood stud split down the middle with a pocket door inside and oak paneling as the wallboard. It's the thickest wall in the whole bus at 4-7/8", but allows more room for plumbing and electrical.

I really only have three "walls" in my bus, so for the most part I was more concerned about the wall construction meeting it's design purpose than anything else. I think my hybrid bedroom/bathroom/pocket door wall ended up at 3-7/8" thick, but it provides space for plumbing and electrical, is strong enough to hang a TV on one side and tile on the other, and houses a pocket door.

All of the forward walls in the bus added together is 13-1/8", which for me is pretty much the cost of doing business for having walls, pocket doors, and a place to hide some plumbing an electrical.

oldfordlover36 · July 10, 2014, 06:40:39 AM

Thanks for the ideas I was considering welding up steel walls just thought it may be easier to attach plywood/paneling to the wood. Debo do u have any pics of your bus? Sounds like u have a side isle and was considering that myself. Thanks again to all.

Debo · July 10, 2014, 07:33:04 AM

I'll take some pics this afternoon and try to post them. Mine is really not so much a side-aisle as an off-center aisle because there's (going to be) a wardrobe with drawers and a sliding half-length closet on top. The aisle (or hallway) will be 24" wide.

mike802 · July 10, 2014, 10:48:05 AM

I used 3/4" plywood and paneled over that, had to cut the finish nails in half. I used a pocket door for the bedroom and just mounted it between 2 3/4" plywood sheets. The plywood makes a nice stiff wall that can be used to mount cabinets, tv's etc. If you choose plywood make sure to pick out nice flat sheets without bows or twist.

Seangie · July 10, 2014, 12:18:51 PM

I did the same as Mike and used the 3/4" plywood. None of my walls are freestanding they are all "built in". Our kids bunks have a wall on either end as a "cap" that runs floor to ceiling and the plywood is drilled into the bunk bed steel frames. The bathroom walls are 3/4" plywood and it is built in as a box. The wall between the kitchen and the Fridge is a box built to hold the refrigerator but it also screw into the cabinets to hold into place. All the walls are pocket screwed to hold in place and I also used L brackets for additional support.

The only real "wall" is the one separating the bedroom from the front of the bus. All the others we could do without. I think if I did another bus I would build out each section to include the wall part instead of having a separate piece for the "wall". The problem that I have had with wood is going from the heavy humidity of the mid eastern coast and then traveling to places like Las Vegas. The wood has shrunk as much as a 1/4-3/8" in some places.

-Sean

eagle19952 · July 10, 2014, 01:43:11 PM

Here is a picture (not the best) of my pocket door, there is a flat screen on that wall now and a sink, cabinet vanity light and mirror on the opposite wall...inside is wiring and heat A/C duct, the wall is covered with laminate, Wilson Art a white and gray/tan wood grain. The other pocket door supports the shower and the refrigerator

TomC · July 10, 2014, 09:27:46 PM

You need to conserve every fraction of an inch. That's why I used 3/4" furniture grade Birch covered plywood (that also has no formaldehyde). For the bathroom walls I put the finished side out and gloss clear coated it. On the interior I glued Chemlite fiberglass for moisture. The corners are screwed and glued. The in between panels that are less strong are reinforced with 1.5 inch painted angle iron. It is a bit commercial looking but also is still in great shape after 20 years. And with me over 300lbs, I've bumped into the door and walls many times without problem. I am using the same technique in my truck. Good Luck, TomC

scanzel · July 11, 2014, 03:28:27 AM

My only walls are 2x4 or 2x3 with 1/2 plywood covering. We went with a side isle configuration as we do not like center isle. We have a bathroom that looks like a residential bathroom a 36"x36" acrylic shower, toilet and a vanity sink. We liked this idea better because if someone needs to take a dump or use the shower it doesn't restrict use of the bedroom. We all have are own thoughts on things so that's why we do it our way.

chessie4905 · July 11, 2014, 06:21:06 AM

Since this subject has come up, how does one attach walls to the ceiling/roof. I'm sure there are different approaches to this. My 4104 had screws through the roof to secure the walls to the ceiling. Never had any leakage from them though.

Seangie · July 11, 2014, 06:40:33 AM

On the Eagle its a steel frame so anywhere there is steel you can screw into it. I used furring strips to the frame and then screwed all my wood into the furring strips. The furring gave me an extra 3/4" for insulation.

Fulltiming somewhere in the USA
1984 Eagle 10S
www.herdofturtles.org

TomC · July 11, 2014, 08:30:24 AM

I have a normal 36" x 36" shower stall with it's own door to the hall way in addition to the normal shower door to the bathroom (so you can enter the shower if someone is using the rest of the bathroom). My bathroom is on the passenger side and is built around the rear door (transit bus) so you can enter the bathroom directly from the outside to avoid tracking dirt through the bus. Nice when working outside. Plus I have an external shower. Good Luck, TomC