Floor Plan?

Jim Eh. · October 11, 2014, 06:30:43 PM

I am pretty much done with mechanical side of thing 2 do on my bus so I am about to start on the interior layout. I have worked through a couple of different floor plans and decided on a curbside hallway with the kitchen on the curbside. Most of the camping locations that we have been to are set up to favor the campsite on the curbside of the unit when backed into the site. My wife requested a kitchen window and the counter (with stovetop and sink) to face the campsite. I am not knocking any other design but I noticed that most units have the counter facing the roadside? Is there any design or mechanical reasoning behind this layout?

sparkplug188 · October 11, 2014, 06:58:46 PM

The kitchen is usually on the road side because the hookups are on the road side. A curbside kitchen is more costly to build because all of the water pipes, waste pipes, and electrical wires have to be longer. Most production RVs have the kitchen and bathroom near each other on the road side.

The nice thing about building your own RV is that you can build it the way you want it without being too concerned about every penny.

yvan · October 11, 2014, 07:15:18 PM

in mine kitchen is CS and Bathroom RS across from each other , the central hall being the kitchen work space.

Ed Hackenbruch · October 11, 2014, 07:37:21 PM

Kitchen and bathroom on the curb side, side aisle hallway on the drivers side...doubt if much difference in money doing it either way, only difference in our setup would be maybe 10 ft. more of cold water line from the pump.

eagle19952 · October 11, 2014, 07:46:36 PM

curb side kitchen road side bath offset from each other here....no window.
waste plumbing is basically 90 degrees from tankage. i can divert the kitchen to the black tank, shower, sink dedicated to grey, kitchen sink divertable to grey.

sparkplug188 · October 11, 2014, 07:48:55 PM

To a RV manufacturer, that is 10ft of pipe multiplied by 3 (hot, cold, and waste) multiplied by 10,000 units. 300,000 feet of pipe saved by changing the layout-- that is why you see so many road side layouts. Of course, none of that really applies to us bus converters.

Jim Eh. · October 11, 2014, 08:25:37 PM

Quote from: eagle19952 on October 11, 2014, 07:46:36 PM
curb side kitchen road side bath offset from each other here....no window.
waste plumbing is basically 90 degrees from tankage. i can divert the kitchen to the black tank, shower, sink dedicated to grey, kitchen sink divertable to grey.

Would this arrangement have any bearing on weight distribution or was/is that a concern?

akroyaleagle · October 12, 2014, 12:39:37 AM

Our kitchen is on the roadside.

I have head savers on my ZipDee big awning so it raises up plenty high with the roof raise.

I have seen buses with the kitchen on the curbside and you couldn't see out from under the awning.

I suppose it is a long stretch for the RV builders to think that out. Most of the time, I believe they have never been inside of an RV.

Just my story and I'm stickin' to it.

86102A3 · October 12, 2014, 06:48:19 AM

Here is my layout, have been contemplating the possibility of having too much weight in the driver side. I am going to try balance things out in the bays.

Jim Eh. · October 12, 2014, 08:15:42 AM

Hey Jeff, funny thing is your drawing is what started me to thinking. That and in another post it was mentioned that in a center design the isle way becomes usable space for the bathroom by simply closing the hallway door(s). I guess I am stuck on an older RV mentality where the designers usually put the bathroom as a separate room I would assume based on having 5+(?) people tramping through the unit. Maybe some being distant relatives or friends where privacy is a higher requirement. The last RV show I went to the designs were leaning to dual access to the bathroom. One from the dedicated hallway and one on the wall from the bedroom. I really don't know where the designers were going with that one, such a waste of wall space.

With the mind set of multiple visitors the concept of the throne being visible to the access-way to the rear bedroom seem so foreign to us. But taking a step back and realizing this design is meant for my just myself and the wife, I may re-think my original desigh choice.

I think the discussion in the post I read was centered around having a commode in front of or in view of the shower but I guess that depends on the openness with your partner (politically correct term lately?).

Thanks for everyone's input. I does open my eyes to reasoning behind other designs.

eagle19952 · October 12, 2014, 08:33:00 AM

Well, while we're at it, I have often wondered....
How often in your home do you actually use 4 burners on a stove ?
We have a two burner (electric) stove top, a Sharp Convection microwave, and a largish counter top oven.
In ten years we have used two burners about twice.
I move the oven to a dedicated space in a baggage bay in the summer and counter space in the winter. ( think AC cooling and heating)
The microwave is under counter built in.
Rather than a 4 burner stove top I would
A. consider a two burner
B. add a portable induction burner if I ever needed a third.
C. counter space is more of a premium desire than the extra two burners.
D. if the oven won't hold a turkey, why bother.
E. These are simply things to think about.

TheHollands! · October 12, 2014, 08:35:52 AM

I found taping out my layout on the floor of the bus really helped with feeling out the flow of the space. we went with a hybrid centre isle deal because I didn't want to lose usable space with a side isle. We enter the bathroom from the street side of the kitchen but exit centre isle to the bedrooms. It created separate room feeling rather than one straight shot through the bus. I'll try and post a picture. Craig

Jim Eh. · October 12, 2014, 08:50:02 AM

Don - a two burner with no oven was the design choice form the get go. It will be a flush mount coutertop style. Had our 5th wheel for 14 years and never once used the oven for anything other than storage. I told my wife we will not be having 24 people (like we will today) for a sit down turkey dinner so why do we need more than two burners?

BTW - Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canucks out there!

Craig - that set up would cover my issue with the "straight thru" effect. Thanks in advance for the picture.

86102A3 · October 12, 2014, 08:52:27 AM

I do not like having to go "through" the bath to get to the bedroom. Especially if someone is using the facilities. I guess I like the privacy of this design, and I figured I have the space so for me it's not wasted.

akroyaleagle · October 12, 2014, 03:33:41 PM

How often in your home do you actually use 4 burners on a stove ?
Ours works very well with 3 burners. That allows skillets and 2 pans. I guess that covers most of our meals.

We have a two burner (electric) stove top, a Sharp Convection microwave, and a largish counter top oven. In ten years we have used two burners about twice.

We do not have an oven. We do have the Convection/Microwave. Our style doesn't require an oven. I know folks that enjoy baking though and wouldn't be without and oven.

If the oven won't hold a turkey, why bother.

We carried a electric roaster the first couple of years we only used at Thanksgiving. It went away and we ate out on Thanksgiving.

Asking for input is great. Building what works for you is what's needed. If Mama doesn't like what you built inside, it will be hard for you to live in the bus.