Outhouse ?

[Dolly Ryan]

I don't know if this is the right forum to post this. I am an outhouse fanatic . One of my bathrooms is decorated in an outhouse motif . My husband wants to build an storage shed outside and I would like to have the shed built to look like an outhouse. Does anyone know of any web sites that has an outhouse plan? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Dolly

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Google "outhouse plan" and you'll find about 163,000 results. Here's one:

http://www.newwoodworker.com/outhouseshed.html

[Dolly Ryan]

Thank you !
Dolly

[Ben Grunow]

I once went into a house where the powder room was decorated like an outhouse (even had a pine box built over the toilet). The lady was a little nutty and had a peep hole built into the wall, actually a knot that had been knocked out, that was the perftect height for someone sitting on the toilet to see through. Behind the wall she had a carpenter build a shadow box into which she installed different scenes that she painted over time. Some were of kids playing on the playground, another was of ducks in a pond, the next was of people skinny dipping in that pond and so on. Worse and worse (actually better and better in my opinion). Pretty cool idea. Changing the scenes depending on the company.

[lou sansone]

my c1730 home still has an out house. I will take a few photos of it for you ( I would estimate the age in the early 1800's )
lou

[Matt Meiser]

They used plans? :D

If you do a Google image search, you will probably get a ton of idea photos. I often do that when designing a piece of furniture. Make SURE you have "safe search" turned on though. :o :eek:

[Jim Becker]

There was an article in the "Peculiar Postings" section of MSNBC.com recently about a woman who actually collects old outhouses. (for display only...they are all "decommissioned") Her most interesting one as bullet holes in "uncomfortable places"...........

Hey Dolly...welcome to SMC!!

[Roger Everett]

Dolly:
Don't be afraid to get fancy. When I was a young lad, my parents had a house they bought off my great aunt. My great uncle had built it for her around turn of century. It had a 2 door, double out house out in back yard, with a radiused trelis, about 5' long, leading up to it, with some plant ( vine ) growing thru it. My dad used it for storage. I'll bet in it's day, a person would have been glad to walk out to it with an old Sears catlog.
Roger

[Lars Thomas]

Well, I'm glad I don't have any neighbors named Dolly.

[Travis Johnson]

On a serious note, you can try the forestryforum as they had a lengthy post on outhouses. This was a few months ago on the general forum, but a use of their search feature should bring up the posts. I know there was a lot of discussion and pictures of forestry forum members outhouses so I am sure it would generate ideas for you.

On an interesting note, we still use a working outhouse out where I go lobstering. Its a house out on the small island of Criehaven Island, Maine. It is the furthest inhabited island on the east coast and at 32 nautical miles from the mainland, has no running water, electricity, phone or cell service, so outhouses are very much in style when you need to go. It is split into two sides. An outhouse side and a side for the solar shower.

On a funny note, you might not want to make the double-decker that my Uncle made back when he was in high school. Apparently the shotgun style design, (Over and Under) just did not work for an outhouse even if it could house two people to once! :) :) :)

[Bill Grumbine]

On an interesting note, we still use a working outhouse out where I go lobstering.

We still have one in the back yard! We actually have two, but someone filled one in years ago, and used it (yeeccchhh!) as a smokehouse. We use it to hold kindling wood. The other one is still a working model, and in fact several people here on this forum have had opportunity to visit it during the Five Barns Picnics. With four women living in the house and only one inside privy, it has come in handy plenty of times.

Dolly, my experience over the years is that there are very few "standard" dimensions to an outhouse. The most important are ones that you will probably not be incorporating into your shed. The rest are just cosmetic. I would say build the shed to contain the tools you need to to contain, and then saw a crescent moon out of the door. Ours has one! ;)

Bill

[Chet Parks]

my c1730 home still has an out house. I will take a few photos of it for you ( I would estimate the age in the early 1800's )
lou

When I was a small kid, we lived in rural Nebraska. We had a two hole'r out house. I can remember spending some "quality time" sitting and talking with Dad out there. --One of the memories our kids will never have. And yes, we did use the old SEARS cataloge too. But boy was it cold in the winter!

Chet Parks

[Jim Becker]

This was THE facilities where our girls came from...boys on one side; girls on the other. No seat. Hole in the floor. No paper. Not even Mr. Grumbine's crescent moon in the door! I don't suggest this model for the tool shed... ;)

38736

[mark koopman]

You gotta have the crescent moon. I would think that would be a staple in outhouse lore.

[Tom Berninghausen]

Not sure if this should become a show and tell, but since I did just that recently...I found my plans by Google. There are agricultural plans available on the net that will show you how to build a town. Great stuff.

These are "Garden Art". I guess the picture policy won't allow posting the photos again. They are in the G0555 guide block thread.

Tom

[Tyler Howell]

Many different designs over the years with camping and sailing.
The camp I worked in had a competition from site to site.
Ours had Electric reading lights book shelf and wall paper.
One of my favorites is on Thompsen island just off Thunder Bay in Lake Superior.
The house is on the top of a hill with a picture window that over looks the largest fresh water lake in the world. Talk about a view.
You could get some serious work done in there;)

[Mike Henderson]

My memories of the outhouses in the South where I grew up are not nearly as romantic. I remember them as smelling pretty bad (after all, they're sitting on top of a cesspool), and filled with insects - flies, roaches, mosquitoes, gnats, and especially spiders which inhabited the area directly below the seat. They were definitely not places I wanted to spend a lot of time in.

By comparison, a modern PortaPotty is sanitary and luxurious. And indoor plumbing is heaven.

Mike

[Dev Emch]

I am embarrassed to admit this but i might one of the few SMC members who has actually built an outhouse before.:rolleyes:

During high school homcomming, we had a big bon fire. Standard homecomming celebrations, etc. In our case, we used to prepare by piling the football team into some pickups and appropriating old vintage outhouses which were then piled up and lit. Often the owners did not care as they did not wish to both remove these themselves nor pay to have them removed. So in this case, it was a service.

And when it was our turn, wouldn't you know it that the old guy who owned the outhouse actually wanted to keep it. Upon finding out that my class stole his two holer, he reported us to the police and we were taken to stand tall in front of the man!

Our punishment was the purchase of new lumber and a group effort to rebuild his two holer. I still think the judge was laughing his behind off all the time this happened. And wouldn't you know it that we scroll sawed a cartoon cow jumping over the moon into the door along with our two number designation of the year of our high school class. So now every time he uses the two holer, he will be reminded of the delincquents who stole is original and torched it.:p

[Dev Emch]

my c1730 home still has an out house. I will take a few photos of it for you ( I would estimate the age in the early 1800's )
lou

.... better chain it down when homecomming season arrives!:D:D:D

[Dev Emch]

There was an article in the "Peculiar Postings" section of MSNBC.com recently about a woman who actually collects old outhouses. (for display only...they are all "decommissioned") Her most interesting one as bullet holes in "uncomfortable places"...........

Hey Dolly...welcome to SMC!!

When you grow up in the wild west, you learn of the stories of our lore. There is one case in which some horse theives or bank robbers tride to hide from the possey by hiding in the outhouse. Too bad as the possey saw them tuck into the outhouse. Now in the old days, a possey was not always required to bring the outlaws back alive. So they opened fire on this outhouse with copious quanties of winchester 30-30 and colt peacmaker 45s. When done, the outhouse resembled a pasta collander. Clearly no one could have surrived this onslaught of lead so they left. Job Done.

Well, not so fast kiddies! Both outlaws not only survived but neither one had any holes in them. I will let you figure out how this is possible as a homework assignment.;);););):D

[john looser]

Here is a picture of my outhouse/ shed. 4 ft x 4 ftx 7 ft. this one is made from shipping crates.
john