Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Weekend Project: A New Outhouse

We have a recreational property in Central Washington and it's a bit rough, but very very peaceful and wonderful.  When we bought it a decade ago, the previous owners had an outhouse that was one of those Dept of Fish and Wildlife fiberglass models (looks like a fat rocket) which was crudely set up over a hole on some bricks and cement blocks. Over time, the floor started to rot and become a little squishy.  The entire thing sort of rocked on it's base and felt  quite tippy  and, to make matters worse, my husband stored the chainsaw in there which dripped some chain oil and made the floor very slick!  Even more hazardous, the seat was never attached!  So, it was time to replace our "bathroom" facility!  Now, to be honest , we didn't complete this in a weekend!  But I think if you are very organized and remember EVERYTHING you need, you can do it.  In all so far we have spent 3 afternoons working on it.  it is nearly complete, just needs the metal roofing, ventilation and a door!  Then a bit of finish work.  But here are some photos of the work in progress....  

Bottom of old outhouse




















Here's the base of the new outhouse framed out with the old rocket shaped one in the background. When we pushed the old one over we were surprised how little effort it took to send it rolling down the hill!  We spent a fair amount of time debating the size of the new one but finally ended up with a 4x4 frame, 8 feet tall.  This eliminated a lot of cutting as it just used standard sizes for lumber.



We will build the door at home and bring it over to attach it.   We found one of the things that slowed us down was just forgetting little items we needed!  We do have electricity on site and used a couple of extension cords to power our tools which was great.  I hope very soon to have a picture of the finished project to show you !  I'm excited to have a great new outhouse!!  Clean, not tippy, and so far, no spiders!!!   

8 comments:

  1. Nothing like being outdoors working on some projects. Weather looks great. I've been trying to find someone in northern AZ that needs help keeping up with their second home. I'd gladly spend time up there cleaning and doing projects for them since I can't quite afford my own second home yet lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. That would be so nice for you! It's always nice to be outdoors and have some peace and quiet. This place has no phone, no internet, barely any cell phone coverage! But it's close enough that we can get there easily yet feels far away.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't tell you all the trail running I would get in if I had somewhere to go in the north. I would never be home lol.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It would be nice and cool! No 4 am runs needed :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Omg that would be amazing lol. But no snow runs, that would be no bueno

    ReplyDelete
  6. Running snow is awesome! Not your thing huh? Funny what you get used to. Those runs in heat would be too much for me!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah I guess your right, you acclimate to your environment. Although read trail runners running in micro spikes and that sounds like it could be fun. Don't have to worry about the slipping and falling.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That would be good! I fell twice on ice last winter! argh! and a couple of years ago I fell just on dirt. Ouch did it hurt! it was a cold day and my hands were cold and they got scraped and it took me a good 20 mins to shake that off! Regular old snow though, that's a lot of fun! especially to go out while it's actually snowing. love that!
    have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete