He Built His Dream House In A $2,200 School Bus And The Results Are Beautiful
In 2015, Michael Talley was just your average Texan. He worked a 9 to 5 job in Austin while living in a studio apartment. Then, one day, Talley decided to test the limits of his DIY abilities in a very unique way. Tired of his ordinary life in Austin, Talley did something not many people would do. In six months, Talley went from being a regular Joe in a studio apartment to the owner of a school bus home. That’s right, he built his dream house himself, along with some help from friends and family, inside of a school bus.
While building the whole thing, Talley learned more than a few life lessons. Click on to see how Michael Talley went through the process and what his house ended up looking like!
1. Who Is Michael Talley
Michael Talley is a Texan, born and raised. Living in Austin, as a graphic designer, he really was living the millennial lifestyle. Talley also had a dog, a loving girlfriend, and an excellent relationship with his family.
From the outside, it seemed as though everything was going well. The thing was, Talley always thought that maybe there was something he could do differently in his life. It’s not that anything was wrong with his life, but this twenty-something always felt there was more for him out there.
2. Fed Up With Living Conditions
Living in today’s America is expensive. You have to pay bills, rent, buy food, and so much more. Whatever your job, all of these expenses continuously eat away at your income. In 2015, Michael Talley was fed up. He was paying $1,200 a month for a studio apartment in Austin and felt it was simply outrageous.
Especially if you factor in the 40-minute commute Talley endured every morning and evening. As time went on, Talley got more and more fed up with this lifestyle and decided to drastically change everything…
3. Are There Alternatives For A House?
Talley knew he no longer wanted to live in his small studio apartment. The only question was – would he find a better home anywhere in the city? After searching, the answer was no. After looking in both the city and the suburbs, he found nowhere to live that wouldn’t be too expensive on his current salary.
So, Talley started thinking outside the box. Where could he live that would be comfortable, inexpensive, and innovative? As a graphic designer, Michael Talley was quite creative, and so he came up with a very original idea…
4. What About A School Bus Home?
One day, Talley came up with a wonderful idea. He would buy a school bus and make it into a home. This way he would be mobile but also have a house with everything he needed. While some people have made homes from vans or regular buses, few have ever made a home from a yellow school bus.
Feeling quite sure that this was the best solution for him, all Talley needed to do was find a bus and actually design plans for it to become a school bus home. This was the beginning of quite the adventure for the young man.
5. How Does One Find A School Bus For Sale?
Obviously, Michael Talley faced a variety of obstacles and challenges. He was, however, focused on getting his project off the ground. The first challenge was, of course, sourcing a school bus for sale.
Since he needed it to be functional, he couldn’t buy just any old school bus. Talley said at the beginning of the project that he wanted to travel around the country in his school bus home. To reach this goal he had to buy a school bus that wasn’t a complete wreck.
6. The Armadillo Factor
After searching high and low for the right school bus, Michael Talley came across a special one. He knew it was the right bus for him as soon as he spotted the armadillo image. It was, amazingly, his old elementary school’s bus and he had “two friends who actually rode this bus when they were kids.”
Unfortunately, this armadillo is no longer on the bus because Talley had to remove it in the process of fixing up the bus. Although this picture is no longer on the bus itself, Talley can hold on to this memory forever.
7. The Initial Plan
After finding the armadillo bus, Talley had to buy it. In the end, he purchased the bus for a mere $2,200 off the website PublicSurplus.com. According to Talley, “I got in an exciting bidding war with one other guy who [ended] up buying the other 9 buses.
Now that Talley owned the bus, he needed to make a plan. The photo above is one of many initial sketches he designed to try and find the perfect plan for his school bus home. Interestingly, Talley said he was most inspired by the live-in bus The Lost World: Jurassic Park. However, soon he realized he would have to change the bus substantially to make it livable…
8. Some Height Problems
One of the bus’ most obvious flaws was its inside ceiling height. As a bus intended for children, its maximum height was a mere 6’1″. While this might be a tight, but OK, squeeze for most, Talley is 6’6″. This meant that he couldn’t fully stand up in his future home.
The ceiling would also prove to be one of the most challenging issues to resolve. Taking the challenge head-on, Talley got back to his computer and came up with a way of making his school bus a true home. What came out of this planning session is awe-inspiring…
9. The Final Design
Michael Talley came up with a stylish and innovative plan for his school bus home. In it, he removed a portion of the existing roof, built extensions, and then re-attached the roof. This plan also allowed for more room in the living room and kitchen, which were located at the front of the bus.
Overall, the idea seemed realistic and not that expensive to execute. It did, however, require Talley to learn many new skills because he did not know the first thing about construction. Building the house would also bring some significant changes to his day-to-day life.
10. Major Sacrifices
One of those big changes was not living in a house anymore. To save on costs throughout the six-month building period, Talley lived in a tent. While this might seem like fun at first, remember it was not just for a week or two. Six full months of living outdoors on a friend’s farm is not ideal, but Talley braved through it.
The hardest part was the long commute into Austin each day for work while living out of the city. The upside of living in a tent was that he was at nearly $0 a month in expenses which allowed him to save a lot of money to spend on his school bus home.
11. Taking The First Step
Now that Michael Talley had his bus and his plans, all that was left was to begin rebuilding it. The first step is quite apparent – remove all of its insides. While this task is obvious to see, it is rather hard to complete. Talley had to work night and day at completely stripping the interior of the bus.
Unfortunately, it was just not getting completed on schedule and Talley didn’t know what to do. One thing that was really important to him was to be as independent as possible. However, as time went on, he realized this wasn’t entirely possible.
12. Dad Comes To The Rescue
As soon as Michael Talley realized this was not a one-man project, he got his dad to come on board and help him. “Props to my stepdad for crawling under the bus and helping me remove every single bolt.”
The grueling process of removing the seats took even longer than it should have since Talley didn’t have the right tools. Since this was the very beginning of the school bus home project, he was still unsure of how to handle the different aspects of building his house. Luckily for Talley, his dad was very supportive and helped him through all of the early hiccups.
13. A Helping Hand From Strangers
One thing that was also made easier when others got involved was getting rid of all the bus’ scraps. After tearing out all of the bus seats, Talley and his father created a big old mess outside the bus. Unexpectedly, a family helped out.
“A nice man came with his 7 months pregnant wife and 8-year-old daughter to cart away all these seats to the scrap metal yard. I was super impressed his wife was lifting these heavy seats into the trailer!” It is not every day that you hear of strangers helping each other, especially with bus trash!
14. The First Mistake
After clearing out the inside of the bus, Talley moved on to his next mission – the ceiling. Talley had to remove the paneling from the roof to replace them with something newer and more fitting. It was during this step that he made the first of his many mistakes. But this one would come back to haunt him.
For reasons he does not quite remember or understand, Talley chose to remove the insulation from the ceiling. Later, he realized that just leaving it would have cost him less, as he ultimately re-insulated it. Alas, these are the sort of things that happen when taking on a project with almost no help.
15. Lacking The Proper Tools
One thing that plagued the early part of the project was Talley’s lack of power tools. Both in the case of the bus seats and the ceiling panels, the process took significantly longer because he worked by hand with manual tools only.
This was not because Talley was lazy, but because he was both afraid and uninformed. He was not aware how crucial an impact drill or an angle grinder were for such laborious projects. Soon enough, Talley caught on and purchased the correct tools that would help him get his school bus home made.
16. The Kind Of Gross Bits
There always comes a time in renovation projects when things get a little bit gross. Like every other DIY-er, Michael Talley had his gross moments as well, though perhaps not when you’d think. Apparently, rubber leaves quite a disgusting substance behind once it’s lifted off surfaces.
The pinkish colored stains on the floor in the photo above are what Talley had to clean after removing the rubber floor paneling. This was also a grueling process, but one Talley will remember especially for how unpleasant it was.
17. The Things You Find In A School Bus
One thing Talley found in the bus, apart from the armadillo, was a small note. On it was a reminder that kids are not always the kindest to each other. The “kick me”sign is a well-known trick kids play on each other. Finding it made Talley think back to his school days and reflect on how he and others acted back in their early days on the school bus.
Though he didn’t save the note, Talley did take its picture to remind himself of the type of thing you find on a school bus. We’re sure this is just a drop in ocean of pranks once played on this bus.
18. The Roof
As time went on and building progressed, it was time for the most ambitious and dangerous part of the renovation. Talley could finally raise the roof. At first, he got into a disagreement with his friends regarding what the final height of the bus should be. “I wanted to go 24 inches, but my helpers felt 20 inches was enough, out of fear of pushing our luck.”
The project was a success, with the roof raised beautifully to accommodate Talley’s height. Talley also said that he hated all of the “raise the roof” jokes his friends made. We think they were entirely appropriate.
19. The Dangers of DIY Houses
If every do-it-yourself project has a gross bit, they all also have a tad more dangerous bit. Even the school bus home. Interestingly, installing the steel sheets on the sides of the bus proved to be the riskiest part of this DIY school bus home project.
Though no one was seriously injured during the six-month renovation, Talley does have a reminder on his body. Talley tells it best: “Got a sweet permanent scar on my forearm from when one of these steel sheets fell and sliced my arm open.”
20. The Holiday Spirit
After placing the sheets of steel all along the sides of the bus, Talley had effectively created a giant, steel coffin. To make it look more homely and have some sort of light until he created windows, Talley hung up some fairy-lights along the ceiling. This certainly created a look most people on Pinterest would love.
This also allowed Talley to get into the holiday spirit and celebrate Christmas a little, even if he was living in a tent at the time. These lights, though adorable, did not make the final design of the school bus home.
21. Power Steering Issues
As if it weren’t enough that Talley had to redesign the whole interior of the bus, he also had to learn how to fix cars after an accident. “I got stuck in the mud and messed up my power steering trying to get out. You have any idea how hard it is to try and parallel park a 40-foot school bus with no power steering? I do.”
After this mishap, we are sure Talley was far more cautious in how he used the bus and where he left it. However, every bad experience Talley had made him a better school bus owner.
22. Getting The Kitchen Done
What is a home without a kitchen? Michael Talley knew that getting this part of the house done would be challenging but also extremely rewarding. Talley got quite lucky and came to IKEA exactly when they were phasing out one of their kitchen models. For this reason, he was able to buy the model he wanted for only $30!
The butcher block was also a steal that Talley got for a mere $120. All he needed to add was a fridge and faucet. Creating such a functional kitchen in such a small space is very impressive, and the final result will blow you away.
23. Reusing And Repurposing
Since Michael Talley lived in an apartment before building this school bus home, he did have some furniture he could bring over to the bus. One of them was an IKEA couch. All he had to do was play with its location and design so that it would fit his plan for the living room.
Above it, Talley hung an American flag he found, cleaned, and decided to hang up on his wall. This way, it was both a curtain and a decoration in a prominent place in the school bus home, befitting of the flag.
24. The Beard Incident
Apart from the scar on his forearm that he got from the steel sheets, the project caused another incident. While re-insulating the ceiling, Talley damaged his beloved beard. While spraying the insulation, he accidentally sprayed it on his beard but failed to notice. After many hours of the substance drying in his facial hair, Talley had to shave it all off.
This is a lesson to all the bearded men out there: when spraying chemicals on walls and ceilings do watch where you’re spraying!
25. The Burning Bus
While working for such an intense period, stress can run a little high. And sometimes, you have to make jokes to release a little tension. So, Michael Talley played an amusing prank on his friends on April Fools Day.
In 2016, when he was still working on the project, he uploaded the above photo to his Facebook page. He suddenly got dozens of calls and text messages from worried friends who thought everything he had worked on was gone. The person most concerned was Talley’s mother who according to him “nearly had a heart attack.”
26. Decorating The Bus
After having the fairy lights up for so long, it was finally time to really furnish the school bus home. Since it is a small space, Talley had to think carefully about how exactly he wanted his home to look. Talley chose a very minimal design that highlighted the wooden panels he used all over the house.
He decided on shelves in several places, American flags, and movie posters to hang up on the walls. This made the bus home feel particularly like home for Talley since he loves intricate poster designs, being a designer himself.
27. Renewable Energy
Michael Talley got wiser and wiser as the project continued. As the school bus home was slowly coming together, he realized he could use renewable energy sources throughout his home. The most accessible source of energy, especially in sunny Texas, is solar panels.
Using solar, he is totally independent in his consumption and production and also does not pollute the environment. This also cuts the cost of living since the panels have a one-off fee and from then on cost no money.
28. The Final Color
In the end, this is a school bus home, not a functional school bus. To drive this point home, Talley decided to paint the bus a neutral white. He also explains that white was the only color he thought went with the wood interiors and at the same time allowed for more color to be added in the future.
Over time, Talley will likely change the design of the bus, to suit his evolving lifestyle and design of the school bus home. Now, let’s take a look inside this incredible school bus home…
29. The Living Room
If you take just a quick look at any of Michael Talley’s social media accounts, you can tell he is a huge fan of TV and film. His Instagram and Facebook are loaded with photos of him and famous folk like Matthew McConaughey and Jack Black. So, the living room, and specifically the TV, mattered a lot to the young homebuilder.
“I like movies. Film and television are my favorite things, so I wanted a great movie watching room,” he said. “I like to have people over to watch things so I knew I needed a sizable living room. I’m also a designer, so I needed a great workstation.”
30. The Kitchen
The kitchen is probably the most intricate and impressive part of the school bus home. Talley managed to create a spacious and beautiful kitchen that he can both cook in and be proud of. It has its own fridge, sink, kettle, and anything else you need. All of this inside a school bus!
The beautiful tiling on the wall really adds a luxury feel to the area and makes Talley feel “fancy.” According to him, the most expensive part of the kitchen was actually the faucet!
31. The Master Bedroom
Finally, Talley finished the master bedroom. After months of hard work building up to this moment, the home finally had a bedroom and officially became livable. Talley finished decorating the other rooms before he went on to the bedroom. The bedroom features the original back bus windows, as well as a queen bed, which is pretty impressive for a school bus!
Talley said that he initially planned to have this room technology free, but after a month of watching Netflix on his phone, he decided to install a TV. Don’t worry, we understand.
32. Personal Issues
Although this was an incredible journey for Talley because he learned so much from all of his experiences, it was not an ideal time. Through the course of the six months in which he built the bus, Talley experienced several hardships. First, his grandfather (pictured below) passed away.
This on its own would be extremely difficult to deal with during a transitional period in life, but it was not all of it. Talley also ended things with his long-term girlfriend. Finally, Talley’s dog passed away which just added to his difficulties. All of these hardships definitely made building the house that much more of a challenge. But Talley came out of everything stronger.
33. So How Much Did It Cost?
In the end, the cost of the project exceeded the $2,200 Talley spent on his bus. He had to pay the few professionals who did work for him and buy the materials for everything he re-did in his school bus home. All in all, the project cost him $15,000, which is a fantastic price for any new home.
This included the solar panels as well as the steel and wood, which were the most expensive part of the project. Now, Talley’s utilities stand at a mere $100 a month. That is definitely less than the $1,200 he used to pay every month on rent.
34. Was It Worth It?
Michael Talley learned a lot in the six months he built his school bus home. He gained even more in the year he has spent living in it since completing the project. Though the expenses are low and he is saving money, the home also has downsides.
Talley has said that he struggles to travel with his house since it is so bulky and heavy. This is a major problem as Talley’s initial goal was to drive across the country in it. Fortunately, since completing the bus, he customized his own van that lets him go wherever he wants.
35. Valuable Lessons
Michael Talley spent six months of his life building a new home for himself from scratch. Not everyone can say that about themselves! During this grueling period of constant hard work, Talley developed several new skills. Talley said that since he did most of the building by himself (apart from some things such as metal-work) he learned so much. He can now work with electricity and infrastructure, he can design functional homes, and, most of all, he can survive on very little.
This young man truly understands how much we consume and how little of it we actually need. We’re not saying we should all give up our belongings, but this is definitely food for thought for the new week ahead!
No comments: