What Does a School Bus Conversion Cost?
The Mayes Team • June 10, 2020
When we first started dreaming of moving our life, our family, and our world onto a Skoolie we realized pretty quickly the extent of research and thoughtful planning that it would take to make it a reality. To catapult the pipedream into an actual work-in-progress, we needed to put our heads together and create a strategic financial plan and timeline, in order to set our plan into motion. If I know anything about Gabriel and myself, it’s that where there's a will, there's a way.
One of the magical things about running a business with your spouse is that you get used to taking risks together. Part of saying ‘yes’ to the Skoolie dream, was saying ‘yes’ to the school bus conversation cost. It was saying ‘yes’ to rolling up our sleeves and taking on whatever elements of the conversion we could handle ourselves to keep the cost down. It meant having some misfires (wait until you hear about the rust bucket….) and having to look at each other in the eye and commit to moving forward rather than letting disappointment get us down.
Breaking Down Our School Bus Conversation Cost
The joy of creating a bespoke Tiny Home or Skoolie is that your design gets to be versatile and unique to your needs. It makes sense, therefore, that there is no fixed school bus conversion cost. Rather, the final cost will always differ from project-to-project.
In my online research, I saw huge variations in cost estimates – some articles claiming conversions for as little as $10K, others speculating $30K. Our brilliant conversion company, Skoolie Homes, cites $60K
as a broad estimate on their website for a basic floor-plan with solar panels.
The reality is that our entire conversion came to about $35K. That included 2 school buses, plus $2K of materials that Gabriel and I put into craftsmanship and decor, and just shy of $30K for Skoolie Home’s amazing services.
Know Your Needs
While the final total might look different for you, our $35K school bus conversion cost was based upon several unique needs that were applicable for us traveling as a family of four. Let’s breakdown some of our non-negotiable essentials for our 2000 Thomas 40’ Rear Engine conversion:
- Technical needs:
- CAT3126 Engine
- Allison MT643 Transmission
- Spatial needs:
- "high top" floor to ceiling height 6' 5"
- 250 sq ft of living space
- As much storage as possible
- An open-plan kitchen space
- Furnishing needs:
- 2 couches that convert into a full bed
- Fully functional kitchen with stove, sink & fridge
- Bathroom with mini bathtub & shower
- 4 bunk beds (72"x25")
- 1 private master bedroom with a full bed
- A table for family dinner
- A bathtub for the baby
Then, there were more luxurious or secondary details that we wanted to prioritize in order to build something that truly felt like ‘home’:
- A stylish, white exterior paint job
- A roof deck
- An awning extension for the outside
- This is actually something that we added 1 year into living on the bus and always wish that we’d done it sooner! I can’t recommend it enough!
- Matte black hardware
- Birch plywood countertops
- Peel and stick tile
Buying Your Skoolie
When considering your school bus conversion cost, your initial expense is going to be your second-hand Skoolie! There are skoolies available all over America. Whether you buy through a specialist company or through a craigslist posting, one thing we recommend is research, research, research! You should be able to find your potential Skoolie within the $2K - $4K range. We finally found the perfect bus through Skoolie Homes for $3500.
We want to save you the hassle (and money) that we went through. Buying two Skoolies was certainly never our plan….
The first school bus that we bought wasn’t usable. Can you imagine? All that excitement. All that hype. Thinking we’d found the vehicle of our dreams! Only to realize that under the seats, the entire floor was completely rusted through. There was no way it could be salvaged. It was unlivable. What’s worse is that since we’d already started the renovation process, we had already spent $5K before we realized that we needed to start from scratch. Don’t make this mistake! My biggest piece of advice is that you make sure your vehicle has been fully inspected before you purchase it.
The Mayes Secret Sauce
It wouldn’t have been a Mayes Team project without some DIY! While the entire Skoolie Home build took 6 months, Gabriel and I had done our fair share of updates and renovations to our Skoolie over the two years that we lived in it. We estimate that we spent a total of $2K on mattresses (for all 5 beds), décor, hardware, and paint. While any DIY project is hard work upfront, I know that this decision had a huge impact on keeping our school bus conversion cost low.
If you want more inspiration about where that money went, then I’d highly recommend you check out our blog post, The Mayes Shopping Spree, where I run you through some of the amazing brands such as Cotton and Flax, Charm Ceramics, Electric Sun Creative, and Macramama, where I bought our ceramics, our wall hangings, furnishing bits and bobs – everything that made our Skoolie into a beloved home.
Additional Costs and Things to Think About
As with any project, there are always going to be hidden costs or surprise savings that add some ups and downs to your journey. In the Skoolie world, that might look like unexpected rust-buckets, zoning permits, or insurance. Then again, you might have some unexpected wins and make a profit from what you sell during the minimizing process…
After two years of living on our Skoolie, we sold it for $50K. Despite all the upfront costs of the conversion, we still made a profit on the sale. The reality is the cost of the adventure, the cost of giving our kids incredible childhood memories, the cost of the inspiration that the Skoolie birthed – made it worth every single penny.
Interested in more about our skoolie bus conversion experience? Check out our post about Our Schoolbus Conversion aka "Skoolie" Layout!
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