# Outhouse construction?



## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Hi all,

I just bought an acre of land (!) that I'm planning on building a small cabin on and the first order of business is to build an outhouse. I helped my dad build one maybe 11 years ago, and can definitely bumble through it, but I was wondering if you guys had any tips on what to do/not do to with respect to venting and in general. 

It is only going to get weekend use (unless I win the lottery), and usually only for 2 people. The hole will be about 4 or 5 feet deep, and around 3 or 4 foot square. I read somewhere that lining the hole with boards/plywood is a good idea, and that moisture is your biggest concern (ie, keep it out of the hole), so earth should be mounded up around it. At the back of the building, is it a good idea to put a screened over vent near the bottom, or a 4" pipe from the pit through the ceiling?


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## papawd (Jan 5, 2011)

build the toilet with a little step under it to give height run pipe into a hole maybe 5-10 ' away install 55 gallon drum then have a pipe for discharge if needed darining away ..this is a simple septic tank and will work for a long time if needed can drop a little RID X in the toilet and flush when ya leave the property the bacteria in that stuff will eat your waste and with 2 people only weekends probably starve to death every othe week


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Interesting!

I don't think I can get away with that around here (nearish to Gatineau, Quebec), if you're going to do something septic like that, I'd need permits, and I don't think I could get a permit for that.


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

Make sure you sand the seat really well, don't want splinters!

seriously, this might help

How to Build a Modern Outhouse for Your Back Yard that Isn't Smelly


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Rob

Do You have running water out by your out house ?
I'm sure glad I'm not your neighbor, they did out law them for a reason .
Winter time is coming and it will be a big block of ice then.

Just build a port-a potty house.then use chem.to keep it neat and clean .
Portable Camping Toilet Reviews - Portable Toilet - Portable Toilets For Camping - Portable Camping Toilet - TheLAShop.com

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bobbotron said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I just bought an acre of land (!) that I'm planning on building a small cabin on and the first order of business is to build an outhouse. I helped my dad build one maybe 11 years ago, and can definitely bumble through it, but I was wondering if you guys had any tips on what to do/not do to with respect to venting and in general.
> 
> It is only going to get weekend use (unless I win the lottery), and usually only for 2 people. The hole will be about 4 or 5 feet deep, and around 3 or 4 foot square. I read somewhere that lining the hole with boards/plywood is a good idea, and that moisture is your biggest concern (ie, keep it out of the hole), so earth should be mounded up around it. At the back of the building, is it a good idea to put a screened over vent near the bottom, or a 4" pipe from the pit through the ceiling?


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

bobbotron said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I just bought an acre of land (!) that I'm planning on building a small cabin on and the first order of business is to build an outhouse. I helped my dad build one maybe 11 years ago, and can definitely bumble through it, but I was wondering if you guys had any tips on what to do/not do to with respect to venting and in general.
> 
> It is only going to get weekend use (unless I win the lottery), and usually only for 2 people. The hole will be about 4 or 5 feet deep, and around 3 or 4 foot square. I read somewhere that lining the hole with boards/plywood is a good idea, and that moisture is your biggest concern (ie, keep it out of the hole), so earth should be mounded up around it. At the back of the building, is it a good idea to put a screened over vent near the bottom, or a 4" pipe from the pit through the ceiling?



I don't think you need a hole 3 or 4 foot square, a round hole about 12/15" in diameter would be sufficient .

The larger the hole the bigger your base platform has to be to prevent cave in.

We oldies can remember when such outhouses were in towns,,,,,


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## del schisler (Feb 2, 2006)

Don't forget the SEARS catalog. For reading sure


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Hi Bob,

I don't have running water nearby, there aren't any streams for a good while. They sure haven't outlawed them here? (Ie, out in the sticks in Quebec.)



bobj3 said:


> Hi Rob
> 
> Do You have running water out by your out house ?
> I'm sure glad I'm not your neighbor, they did out law them for a reason .
> ...


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks for that! 

Ha, I think I might buy a premade seat.



kp91 said:


> Make sure you sand the seat really well, don't want splinters!
> 
> seriously, this might help
> 
> How to Build a Modern Outhouse for Your Back Yard that Isn't Smelly


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Rob,

About... 18 years ago (sheesh!) I built one for my cabin up at the lake, out in the boonies, about fifty miles north of Anchorage, Alaska. We have a fair number of guests and usually go up there for weejends and a couple of week-long vacations in the summer.

When I made it I decided I wanted it to be the last one I ever needed to build.. so I built it so I had 4x4's vertical for underground with 2x6's running crosswise between them to serve as pit "walls". I left about a 1/2" gap between them to permit fluid escapement. The base was sized so sheets of plywood (for the above-ground walls) went on full-size. Above-ground was framed with 2x4's. At that size I had plenty of room to build shelves between the vertical studs for storage on 3 sides (canned goods, bug spray, oils, flammables such as lantern fuel, as well as toilet paper, etc. Also, iy was built from pressure-treated lumber, with the below-ground portion with the additional "ground-contact-rated" treatment. With the brown color from the treatment we didn't bother with paint and even now it looks like new.

We installed a 4" PVC vent from the seat-level through the roof and I located some scrap metal roofing material to put on the top.

The large footprint was also convenient for storage when we weren't up there, especially for 5-gallon cans of fuel, propane, etc. We later built a separate storage shed but still used it for storing a can or two of gasoline, to keep the fumes from permeating everything else in storage.

It wasn't cheap but with a 4'x4'x7' deep hole, I know I'll never need to build another and it won't cave in... ..or as a friend once told me "With *that* outhouse, you can invite ALL of your sh*tty friends up here!"


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

I have to share a short story on this subject. My mother grew up on a farm in Ontario, Canada. One popular Devils night prank was to knock over out houses. Her youngest brother went out for his first Devils night prank, ready to knock over a neighbors outhouse. He got a good running start and had the surprise of his life: his older brothers had already been there and moved the out house back behind the pit! Nuf said?
Rob, you can save yourself a lot of work by using a 30 gallon drum with both ends removed as the neck of your pit toilet and placing a handicapped portable toilet over it.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Mike

That would work out great, but I would suggest using a plastic drum and cut out some holes on the side of the drum..add a bit of chem.and let it do the work..

After all it's just a hole in the ground in the woods..add a Sears Cat.and he is set .....so to speak .. 

The ones (4 ea.,20 gal. ) I have, I got them from the trash can out behind the car wash for free, they get them full car wash soap, I use them for water storage ,you just never know now days. 

see below


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Mike said:


> I have to share a short story on this subject. My mother grew up on a farm in Ontario, Canada. One popular Devils night prank was to knock over out houses. Her youngest brother went out for his first Devils night prank, ready to knock over a neighbors outhouse. He got a good running start and had the surprise of his life: his older brothers had already been there and moved the out house back behind the pit! Nuf said?
> Rob, you can save yourself a lot of work by using a 30 gallon drum with both ends removed as the neck of your pit toilet and placing a handicapped portable toilet over it.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Hi all,

I just wanted to say, thanks for all of the advice. The outhouse is almost finished, we got the roof on last weekend, now it's just a door away from being ready for winter! Here's a photo of me on top of it. 

It's been a slow process, the site doesn't have any power so I've had to do most of the wood working at home, then carry everything in. Thankfully we had a friend's pickup truck to carry the bulk of the lumber up!!

This is the first structure I've totally framed and built by myself, I'm pretty happy with how it went. Thinking of making a small cabin next year....

I've framed in a roughly 2'x2' window frame in the back, I think I'm going to try to make a window for it this winter.

Roof up

Roof is on! by bobbotron1, on Flickr

Carrying the sheet goods and base

Untitled by bobbotron1, on Flickr


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Ahhh, brings back fond memories, Bob! I built my first and last one about 25 years ago. My local (Saltspring Island, B.C.) Health Inspector was very helpful with advice. There were some guideline restrictions regarding proximity to wells and property boundaries.
Basically ours was backhoe excavated, and tidied up by hand...about 7 feet deep x4'x2'
Vertically vented from floor level...4" PVC, commercial toilet seat, corrugated clear fibreglass roof for lots of light inside. Interior painted with white exterior gloss paint everywhere...made 'housekeeping' a LOT more pleasant!
Pressure treated lumber absolutely for the floor platform. For the minimal amount of material required, I'd use PT for the whole project.
One other bit of advice; make it rodent proof (the platform). Nothing like looking down and seeing a rat scurrying around down there...
Cheers, eh
-Dan


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## sourdough (Jan 31, 2010)

Egads, what a trip down memory lane. Built a log cabin in Yukon Territory back in early 70s'...nice place with 30" well dried logs. Me work, log builder guy supervise. No power tools. Not a nail in the cabin. All raising done with simple A frame and hand crank winch. You shoulda watched the 30' ridge log go in place.
I built outhouse out of rough cut spruce boards about 4/4. First dug hole so deep had to holler for help getting out. Made my own window out of sheet of glass from Whitehorse. Used 5" brush and liberally soaked the thing in linseed oil/used engine oil/Penta. It is still standing and as far as I know still being used. Came back from morning grouse hunt one time, no luck. Was out sitting in outhouse and grouse landed right in front of open door and looked at me. I laughed so hard I........


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## Doctor Atomo (Feb 23, 2012)

If you haven't heard the old skit by Chic Sale, "The Specialist" about an outhouse builder, this is the perfect place to post a link!! It's very funny and topical!

The Specialist by Chic Sale Read by Jean Shepherd: Part 1 - YouTube (Part One)

The Specialist by Chic Sale Read by Jean Shepherd: Part 2 - YouTube (Part Two)


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## eccentrictinkerer (Dec 24, 2007)

Sorry, I can't resist. This was one of my uncle Vernon's favorites:

Ma was in the kitchen fiddling around when she hollers out, "Pa! You need to go out and fix the outhouse!"

Pa replies, "There ain't nuthin wrong with the outhouse."
Ma yells back, "Yes there is, now git out there and fix it."

So Pa mosies out to the outhouse, looks around and yells back,
"Ma! There ain't nuthin wrong with the outhouse!"

"Ma replies, "Stick yur head in the hole!"
Pa yells back, "I ain't stickin my head in that hole!

"Ma says, "Ya have to stick yur head in the hole to see what to fix."
So with that, Pa sticks his head in the hole, looks around and yells back, "Ma! There ain't nuthin wrong with this outhouse!"

Ma hollers back, "Now take your head out of the hole!"
Pa proceeds to pull his head out of the hole, then starts yelling, "Ma! Help! My beard is stuck in the cracks in the toilet seat!"

To which Ma replies, "Hurts like heck, don't it?!":laugh:


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## ggom20 (Feb 1, 2012)

Tested, it works!
Composting toilet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Regards


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## argoknot (Dec 7, 2009)

"Quote from the Mrs" Back when in northern ND we had an outhouse and I dreaded going out there in winter. It was terrible. As Bob said if you go that route get a portapotty and put it in a small shack.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Haha. I'm happy to say, it wasn't too bad, even at -15 C, it's holding up strong, though it's still early days for it. Still have to fill in some gaps at the back of it before a varmint moves in, install a breather pipe, and maybe put some real siding on it. Still plan to do a green roof on it at some point, but can't say it's high priority right now. Would make for a fun weekend project!


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

DaninVan said:


> Ahhh, brings back fond memories, Bob! I built my first and last one about 25 years ago. My local (Saltspring Island, B.C.) Health Inspector was very helpful with advice. There were some guideline restrictions regarding proximity to wells and property boundaries.
> Basically ours was backhoe excavated, and tidied up by hand...about 7 feet deep x4'x2'
> Vertically vented from floor level...4" PVC, commercial toilet seat, corrugated clear fibreglass roof for lots of light inside. Interior painted with white exterior gloss paint everywhere...made 'housekeeping' a LOT more pleasant!
> Pressure treated lumber absolutely for the floor platform. For the minimal amount of material required, I'd use PT for the whole project.
> ...


Thanks for the kind words Dan. I definitely considered using more PT. Instead I stained all of the wood in the "line of fire" with exterior grade stain, and treated the ends with green wood preservative. Now that the temperature is going up again, I might give it one more coat, with some old tung oil I'm trying to get rid of.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Your cold Winter's make a huge difference, Rob. Ours, out here on the Wet Coast, are relatively warm and _really_ wet._ Everything rots._ The prospect of falling through the floor of my outhouse gave me the willies...


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

DaninVan said:


> Your cold Winter's make a huge difference, Rob. Ours, out here on the Wet Coast, are relatively warm and _really_ wet._ Everything rots._ The prospect of falling through the floor of my outhouse gave me the willies...


Haha, I hear you, yikes!!

I am concerned about the base rotting, but I think I've covered myself pretty well with that respect for a while at least. It's all PT including the plywood, doubled up 2x6's, with stainless steel foundation nails, painted with more green preservative, and then a coat or two of exterior stain. It was a real bear to move, thing weighed a ton.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobbotron/6253762532/


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

It can double as a bomb shelter!
I misspoke when I said "everything rots"...apparently only the wet stuff.
I tore down a crappy (rotting) garden shed this week, in the process of building a proper one (slab on grade) 8'X14'. I discovered that the reason the previous owner had built it with a slightly raised platform is that there's TWO large cedar stumps under it; one 3' dia..._.neither showing any sign of rot_. They were in very dry gravel under the shed.
Go to Plan B.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Rob; re the picture...shouldn't the crapper platform be flat on the ground?


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

DaninVan said:


> It can double as a bomb shelter!
> I misspoke when I said "everything rots"...apparently only the wet stuff.
> I tore down a crappy (rotting) garden shed this week, in the process of building a proper one (slab on grade) 8'X14'. I discovered that the reason the previous owner had built it with a slightly raised platform is that there's TWO large cedar stumps under it; one 3' dia..._.neither showing any sign of rot_. They were in very dry gravel under the shed.
> Go to Plan B.


That's neat, gotta love cedar. Are you going to build it on the logs again, or try to remove them?

As for the platform being level.. we don't like doing things the easy way?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

" bomb shelter " ?? == LOL,, that's the last place I would want to be LOL


==


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Surely I Jest*



bobj3 said:


> Hi
> 
> " bomb shelter " ?? == LOL,, that's the last place I would want to be LOL
> 
> ...


 ...Dust to dust; asses to ashes :jester:

Or how about 'bum shelter' 
I'll be here all week folks; try the veal.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Rob; I'm sitting out there staring at these monster stumps thinking "It's just a tool shed. It's just a tool shed"...


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

DaninVan said:


> Rob; I'm sitting out there staring at these monster stumps thinking "It's just a tool shed. It's just a tool shed"...


I'd say skip the concrete pad, incorporate the stumps and either build it on concrete blocks or sonotubes. The you get the added bonus of storage under the shed!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Storage? How about rats and raccoons...
That's part of the reason I tore down the existing one. All rotted to boot. (Concrete doesn't rot, at least not easily.)
I'm going with the principle of a suspended slab over the stumps. A bit more steel but it'll still be there long after _I'm_ compost.


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## sourdough (Jan 31, 2010)

The most delightful additions to our outhouse in Yukon was a STYRAFOAM seat for wint er use. Just ain't no fun sliding your butt onto a plastic seat when it is minus 40f outside!! Yikes!!
Oh. And we also placed a heavily tinted window in the door so you could sit and contemplate nature. I still remember a morning when we had hunted for two hours without seeing a grouse. Came back and was sitting quietly in the outhouse when a fat grouse walk within five feet of the outhouse door!


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