The larger deck also keeps weight away from the actual hole in the ground, preventing erosion. I know this sounds silly, but it just makes the whole experience easier and better to not be opening an door and stepping up into the outhouse. The deck is big enough to stand on while opening the door. Or the tonuge and groove planking making it so pretty.Ī few things I think we did on this outhouse that really helped design wise are Maybe it's the found antlers as a handle and coat hooks on the side. We've built many other outhouses in the past, but this one if by far my favorite. Of course, you can modify this plan to use plywood (might I suggest t1-11?).įor the door, we used 1圆 tongue and groove leftover from the wall planking to keep the door light, with the cross bracing inside. Let me take that back - when the temperatures get below -20F, that toilet seat can get pretty cold.Īnd then there's the times when you know a bear in roaming the area, and you've got to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.įor our cabin outhouse, we used up scrap tongue and groove boards that were leftover from the wood ceiling and the loft floor. If built right and vented, it does not smell and is easy to keep clean. But I've actually never minded using the outhouse. Maybe it's because I'm from Alaska, where you just accept if you want to be outdoors, you have to be okay with a toilet that doesn't flush. Well, technically, we cut a jumping fish and a hook out in the door. In Alaska, what most people do is dig a big hole in the ground, build a small shed type building over it, add a vent, and cut a moon shape out in the door. We felt like this would take away from the experience of escaping to our cabin in remote Alaska. What about incinerating toilets? This option would probably work, but it would require us hauling fuel for the incinerating toilet, and everything we've read is they are loud and create odors outdoors.

And even if we did, we'd again have to add consistent heat to the cabin to keep water lines from freezing up or drain the water lines every single time we left our cabin. At our cabin, there is no access for heavy equipment, so could not excavate out a sewer system. So if we can't do a composting toilet, what about just putting in a sewer system? We've definitely considered this option, but there's two big issues. Or possible - in our second home cabin, we just have a wood stove and only keep heat in the cabin when we are present.

In a warmer climate, you would just have consistent heat to the building, but in Alaska, where it is so cold and heat is so expensive, this isn't always reasonable. Composting toilets need to be 55F degrees or warmer to do their thing. In Alaska, we've got quite the challenge to creating a functioning bathroom while living off grid. So today I thought I'd do two things - answer what we will be doing for bathroom facilities and why, and then share with you the plans for our cabin's bathroom. Many of you have been asking about the bathroom (or rather lack of one) in our tiny house build.

Spring time is always a busy time, isn't it? We've been so busy working on the tiny house, running Grace to sports and school and all the other stuff that keep mom's (and dad's so busy), it's been hard to keep up.

Out house design