Homestead mailing list

[Rob <becida AT comcast.net>]

Seems there is more in these old files than just Tvo posts, this one 
seemed interesting and useful and almost 8 years old... What the heck?

Rob

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Date:   Wed, 8 Jul 1998 10:51:11 -0600
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From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ozcool.com>
To: homestead AT listserv.oit.unc.edu
Subject: The Heartwood outhouse
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Thanks to The Big Blabber Bonner, I have yet another inquiry as to the
details of our outhouse.

>Gene -
>
>Could you post (or e-mail off-list) you plans/instructions for your outhouse?
>
>TIA, Catherine

Catherine, I suspect that the reason people respond positively to our
outhouse is because it is clean, well-ventilated, has some interesting
reading material and has only a (brass) screened door, so if you use the
north position you have a rather nice view to the east. Makes a morning sit
quite pleasant.

It sits on two layers of concrete blocks that are plastered on the outside
to keep out bugs. Standard two-by-four construction, covered on outside by
plywood, painted white, as is the inside. The two-seat bench is against the
west wall, is short about eighteen inches of north and south walls, which
space is used for the buckets of sawdust/wood shavings for covering
deposits. There is a deep shelf on the south wall, now awaiting delivery of
Vern's collection of New Yorkers.

I cut a hole in the west wall below the seat platform, centered between the
two seats, and installed a six-inch PVC pipe which ells outside and extends
to well above the metal-covered shed roof. The top of that is screened.
There is also a small screened window opening above the bench, just under
the plate. There is a light and an outlet, which is used mostly for
vacuuming before guests arrive but is handy for plugging in tools in that
area, which is about a hundred feet from the house, under large white oak
trees. The in-use toilet tissue roll waits in an old teapot fastened to the
wall with one screw through its bottom. The floor is covered with carpet
remnants I found in a dumpster behind a carpet warehouse.

If I build another, I will make the floor high enough off the ground--three
or four courses of concrete blocks--so materials can be removed from the
outside. I would also build a tight-fitting, screened, hinged door on the
south wall for this purpose and then make and fit an extra-long handle to
an old shovel for compost removal. Would experiment with covering that door
with glass in the winter, to provide solar warmth for the microorganisms at
work.

I have recently built two block-bucket toilets (Hillbilly Loo by Gene
GeRue) for the house--one for our bathroom and one for the guest room, so
the outhouse is now mostly used during parties and outside emergencies.

Gene "Bumpy" GeRue
Author: How To Find Your Ideal Country Home
"I am gently mad myself and resolved to live cleanly."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)