Our Outhouse

[coreshot]

The wife and I decided this year that we needed an outdoor bathroom up at our cabin property. We entertain quite a lot, and our RVs take on quite a bit of traffic that I would prefer didn't happen. I bought a refurbished 8X10 shed from a local manufacturer. Actually the sheds were the display units at Lowe's, and the builder decided to pull them off the lots and fix them back up and sell them.

My plan was to build a full service restroom, complete with toilet, garden tub/shower, and sink. I plan on using a propane on demand water heater, and a propane ventless heater to keep things comfortable. I framed off the 2 feet of shed by the original door, and built a divider wall for a small utility area.

I installed a new entry door for the bathroom area, as well as a window for ventilation. A few pics...

The lizards were a father's day gift from my boy. He bought them for me on a recent trip to Baja Mexico with his mother. What a boy!!

 

[wv cabin]

that looks really nice, it should last a long time. great idea

 

[coreshot]

On a side note, the entire project got under way when I had our septic system installed earlier this spring. It includes several dumps around the pad, a concrete 1000 gallon septic tank and around 80 feet of leach feild down below the pad. They did an excellent job of installing it all. It was a challenge placing the shed precisely over the vertical dump when we brought it in, but all went well.

I installed raingutter down both sides of the shed, and plumbed them underground out to irrigate the scrub oak around the edge of the pad. Once I had trimmed out the window and door that I installed, the outside was pretty much complete. Now on to the inside...

We were trying to decide whether too go with a shower stall or a tub/shower combo. After going back and forth over the issue, we found a brand new garden tub on the local adsite for $100. We couldn't pass that up, so tub it is. The tub couldn't have been any bigger for an 8X8 foot bathroom, or we wouldn't have been able to use it. The new tub required us to replan the placement of fixtures in the rr, as there was only one way to install the tub.

Now I hadn't ever done any of this type of work, with framing and installing fixtures and all, so it was a learning process as I went. I ran the neccessary wiring for three light circuits and two outlets. The electrical will eventually be a solar/inverter system, so it will be a stand alone unit. Right now I have everything wired to my generator. After insulating everything with R-19 fiberglass, I started installing the tongue and groove. I went to a local log home manufacturer to purchase the wood, they had several different types/colors of wood. We went with one called blue stain pine. It has all different tones in it from browns to grays the yellows and reds. It really looks great when you apply the polyurethane waterproofing over it. Of course, I had to add a log up in the top for good measure. A few more pics...

 

[coreshot]

After getting most of the wood done, it was on to tile. I put this step off as long as I could, because I had never done tile, and I was rather intimidated by it. It went well, and turned out as well as I had hoped. My boy had the idea to do the cut tiles along the front top on the tub, and it worked out good. Next, I installed the propane heater. It is a 300 sq. ft. unit, so it heats up my 65 sq.ft. area quite quickly. As for now, I am at a standstill as winter has arrived up there. I will post more photos as I make progress, but I am sure progress will be slow until next spring when I can get water to the building and install the water heater. What do y'all think?

 

[firefighter9208]

Just an Idea, but you could put tile on the wall behind the tub and put in a shower head. Take a long piece of conduit and curve it to make a shower rod. Thread each end and attach it to the wall with bases. Then hang a curtain from it for those that like to shower. I hate to take a tub bath .

BTW.... Your outdoor shower/restroom is nicer than a lot of those I see in houses. My FIL just built one for the hunting club, but he just used OSB inside and a fiberglass shower unit. He put a 50 gallon gas hot water heater in his.


Chris

 

[coreshot]

Just an Idea, but you could put tile on the wall behind the tub and put in a shower head. Take a long piece of conduit and curve it to make a shower rod. Thread each end and attach it to the wall with bases. Then hang a curtain from it for those that like to shower. I hate to take a tub bath .

Those are exactly the plans we have. I have been holding off on the tile behind the tub to make sure I have everything plumbing wise done correctly. A long shower rod with a curtain on each side is the plan, so they close in the middle. The shower head actually comes out of a knothole in the ceiling.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[firefighter9208]

sounds great. Hadn't thought about putting the shower head in the ceiling.

Chris

 

[GPintheMitten]

Great idea and looks good too. When you said outhouse I thought you meant the kind with a hole in the ground. I'm going to suggest something similar to the rest of the family for our cabin up north. Great job. Thanks for sharing your project and pics.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

How's the skiing.??

Nicest outhouse I have ever seen though Snowbasin has the nicest bathrooms ever....but you already knew that, right.??

 

[czechsonofagun]

That's really neat. Great idea and well done project.