{"id":2881,"date":"2018-10-20T05:53:23","date_gmt":"2018-10-20T05:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/?p=2881"},"modified":"2022-03-11T06:25:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T12:25:25","slug":"prepping-bus-floor-painting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/prepping-bus-floor-painting\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prep a Skoolie Floor for Painting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before you can paint the metal floor of a school bus, you have to do some serious prep work!&nbsp; Get ready for this to take&nbsp;<em>way<\/em> longer than you ever imagined. The key to prepping the floor is removing and then converting rust.&nbsp; Untackled rust on that floor can jeopardize your whole bus conversion, so this is really important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/j2DAcr8UPzs\" width=\"760\" height=\"415\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Required Tools &amp; Materials:<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Angle grinder with metal brush attachment and sander attachment<\/li><li>Drill with a wire brush attachment.<\/li><li>Utility knife<\/li><li>A degreaser (we used Simple Green)<\/li><li>Cleaning supplies: bucket, rags, scrub brush<\/li><li>A rust converter (we used Ospho)<\/li><li>Access to a hose<\/li><li>Paint brushes<\/li><li>Safety glasses and a mask so you don&#8217;t breathe in that rust dust<\/li><li>Time.&nbsp; Lots of time.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Full disclosure guys, some of these are affiliate links, so we get a commission if you buy something from the list.\u00a0 As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.\u00a0 Not much, but something.\u00a0\u00a0<strong>This is really important<\/strong>: we\u00a0<em><strong>only<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0link to tools and materials we actually used and\u00a0highly\u00a0recommend. We do these guides completely for free, so these links are the only way we get a little something back (except for the satisfaction of knowing we helped\u00a0<em>you<\/em>\u00a0build your dream skoolie, of course!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t have Amazon Prime yet?\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/tryprimefree?ref_=assoc_tag_ph_1427739975520&amp;_encoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=pf4&amp;tag=artwethereyet-20&amp;linkId=74f461080ddf921de48118000bf197db\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Here\u2019s a link for 30 days free.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1 &#8211; Initial Rust Removal<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We were lucky that we only had surface rust.&nbsp; If you have major holes, you should keep searching the net for help on how to handle those.&nbsp; If they are really bad, you might even consider halting your conversion right now before you put more money into your bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Remove as much rust as you can with the angle grinder.&nbsp; Remember to wear a mask because that dust is&nbsp;<em>nasty!<\/em><\/li><li>Use the drill with wire brush attachment for tight spots or grooves you can&#8217;t reach with the angle grinder.<\/li><li>If you are painting your lower wall panels like we did, do a pass over with the angle grinder + sander attachment to create a rougher surface.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 2 &#8211; Clean and Degrease the Floor<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Use a degreaser, the hose, and your mad dance skills to clean that floor!&nbsp; Your aim is to get rid of all the rust dust, grease, and grime.<\/li><li>Give the floor enough time to dry.&nbsp; You want to end up with a bone dry floor.&nbsp; Don&#8217;t be hasty now, Precious.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 3 &#8211; Second Pass of Rust Removal (Optional)<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We went across the whole floor with a rust removal gel.&nbsp; However, we feel this step ended up being a waste of time and money for us, because our remaining rust really was minimal and was easily taken care of by the rust converter.&nbsp; It is entirely up to you whether you want to do this step.&nbsp; If you do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Apply your rust remover and follow the product&#8217;s instructions for amount to apply\/wait time.<\/li><li>After it&#8217;s done its work, completely wash away the rust remover.<\/li><li>Again&#8230;give the floor time to completely dry.&nbsp; Argh..<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 4 &#8211; Rust Conversion<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Applying a rust converter has two key purposes.&nbsp; First, is to convert any remaining rust into iron phosphate.&nbsp; Second, if your floor is galvanized steel like ours was, the rust converter serves to also etch the floor.&nbsp; This is necessary if you plan to use a Rustoleum primer like we did, as that primer will not adhere to galvanized steel.&nbsp; The rust converter will etch the galvanized steel and make it compatible with Rustoleum primer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Apply a rust converter to the floor, following the product&#8217;s instructions!<\/li><li>Tip:&nbsp; We used Ospho and applied it&nbsp;<em>WAY<\/em> too thick.&nbsp; After 72 hours it still hadn&#8217;t dried correctly!&nbsp; This was partly because the humidity was so high, but also because we applied so much.&nbsp; If you are using Ospho, a thin layer is all you need.&nbsp; If you can leave the bus windows open to allow for air circulation, this will help it dry faster too.<\/li><li>Rinse the floor thoroughly so that an acid film does not remain.&nbsp; An acid film can result in your paint not sticking.&nbsp; Which sucks.<\/li><li>Wait till the floor is bone dry again.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now,&nbsp;<em>finally,&nbsp;<\/em>you can start <a href=\"http:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/07\/painting-patching-bus-floor\/\">painting that floor<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&lt;&lt; Back to the <a href=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/skoolie-bus-conversion-ultimate-guide\/\">Skoolie Conversion Ultimate Guide Homepage<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2896\" height=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel.png\" alt=\"art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel\" class=\"wp-image-5344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel.png 2896w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-1536x164.png 1536w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-2048x219.png 2048w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-1170x125.png 1170w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-1920x206.png 1920w, https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/art-we-there-yet-skoolie-bus-travel-585x63.png 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2896px) 100vw, 2896px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"so-you-re-building-a-skoolie-huh\">So you\u2019re building a skoolie, huh?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We feel your pain, my friend! We also know how good it feels to finally make a dream reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/skoolie-bus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Our skoolie<\/a>&nbsp;took 9 months and $28,000 to complete. We documented the entire build and are slowly building<a href=\"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/skoolie-bus-conversion-ultimate-guide\/\">&nbsp;a series of guides<\/a>&nbsp;on every step of the bus conversion process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We spent a&nbsp;<em>crap ton<\/em>&nbsp;of time figuring out how to do this and that. We also could have saved a few bucks along the way.  We hope our tutorials help save you some time and money!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"our-top-5-bus-conversion-tools-materials\">Our TOP 5 Bus Conversion Tools &amp; Materials:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3v7iFjJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">5-in-1 Painters Tool<\/a> (you will use this a MILLION times)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3LSJ2Qj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Impact Driver &amp; Drill Combo Kit<\/a> (there won\u2019t be a day you won\u2019t use this)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3IeX1gX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">100% Silicone<\/a> (buy in bulk to save a LOT of money!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/36y3vtA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Angle Grinder<\/a> (get used to using this ALL the time!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3513I7Z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Table Saw <\/a>(it will be nearly impossible to complete your conversion without this. It\u2019s WORTH the investment!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This\u00a0page contains product affiliate links. We may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before you can paint the metal floor of a school bus, you have to do some serious prep work!&nbsp; Get ready for this to take&nbsp;way longer than you ever imagined. The key&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-school-bus-conversion-tutorials","post_format-post-format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2881"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5671,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2881\/revisions\/5671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artwethereyet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}