The Loo

This project really started years ago. And I mean years. It feels so good to bring this to fruition. When we installed our pool in 2013, we knew we would eventually build a pool “house” next to it. I use that term loosely because it wasn’t going to be living quarters… no heat or AC, not sealed up. But I did envision a mini kitchenette, a changing area or two, and of course a bathroom, or at least a toilet. We already had an outdoor shower up next to our house. But our plans and needs changed over the years, and we realized the biggest thing we really needed was shade. We also had quite a large area of concrete next to the pool, so we didn’t want to add a ton more, we just wanted to shade it. The rest of the pool house became workshop, staging storage, and landscaping/ pool supplies. The idea of running water to the pool house was abandoned long ago, especially after I dealt with frustrating years of trying to winterize our outdoor shower.

We still knew we wanted an outdoor toilet/ bathroom, as going inside while using the pool makes you cold and gets water all over the floor. So we settled on extending the outdoor shower pad and attaching another enclosure where we could have a toilet. It is right next to our septic area and the idea was to “tie it in”. Now, I know this sounds vague because it was. We would have to get a permit for it at least, and I really didn’t know what that would entail. Heck I didn’t know if it would be allowed. But regardless, this was an issue for future Marianne as at the time we were just dealing with getting the pool house designed and built.

As time moved on, and we roughly planned, I still became worried about the outdoor water needed for a toilet. And, would the porcelain be ok out in the weather? This made me start looking into waterless toilets, which led to waterless urinals, which led to urine-diverting self composting urinals. Although this would be used for #1 only, I couldn’t find any decent waterless urinals, which resulted in the urine-diverting piece. These things were upwards of $700. We wanted something that wouldn’t really need maintenance. After all, we could just use a fancy bucket, dump it out and call it a day. But these toilets seemed like a real possibility.

My idea was to dig a gravel pit where the urine would flow to, then simply cover with dirt and grass. We wouldn’t know it was there. A pipe would extend through the conrete pad and into the gravel pit. We would then connect the urinal to the pipe.

I sat on this idea. In the meantime, we decide that moving the toilet to behind the pool house, where it would be much closer, made a lot of sense. But as we went out there, we were posed with a few issues, the biggest was getting past the filter, where there were cords and hoses going between the pool house and the filter and we would need to go through that each time we used it. Secondly, there is a french drain installed around the perimeter of the pool house, and I didn’t want to interfere with that. So, in our minds, we moved the location back to sitting next to the outdoor shower.

Now that the pool house is done, and the landscaping around it is done, I’m ready to get the rest of the yard fixed. We thought this could happen last year, but things drug out and took too long. Now, I’m hoping to get the yard reseeded this fall, and so I want any heavy work done beforehand. Time to move forward on the urinal.

Something in the back of my mind was holding me back though. This felt like a permanent solution, with a new concrete pad and accessory structure added to the house. I was worried… what if, despite my best research, it smelled? What if we didn’t like it? Now that it was time to pull the trigger, I got cold feet.

In the meantime, we continued to work around the pool house and filter, adding landscaping and cleaning up. Last year I had bought a privacy fence panel to install in front of the filter to help hide it. As we held that panel up, we realized this would be the perfect place for the outdoor bathroom. Not attached to the building, but free-standing. And so I started thinking something more “temporary”, something that we could take down or modify if it didn’t work as we had hoped. And suddenly, after years of thinking and planning, I jumped in with both feet.

Our solution provides so many benefits: a place to change, no outdoor plumbing, a bonus spot to wash hands, is close to the pool, minimal maintenance, no dumping needed, no smell issues (I can confidently say this now!) and a prettier view from the pool.

Here is the before and after!

This post here was the tipping point for how to do this. Thank you so much to This Dad Does! I had seen so many outdoor urinals that went into a bucket or were just for hunters out in the woods. That wouldn’t do. When I saw this, the wheels really started turning.

My husband thought we could partially bury the barrel to help give enough height to ensure gravity worked well to clear the pipe. I then thought that maybe could do something straight along the edge of the structure and make it look like a flower planter. Then it would look pretty, it would block the ugly filter, it would be easily accessible from the pool, and it would give guests a place to change clothes.

I originally planned the size to be 3′ by 4′. I wanted to build only 3 walls, with the third wall being the door. But after standing in the outdoor shower to do a mock up, my husband thought it felt too small. So I modified it to be 4′ by 4′. This would ensure we had enough space to change clothes.

I also went round and round on materials. I wanted at least the outside to be weather resistant, and originally planned to use vinyl siding that matched the pool house. But I decided to just use wood siding. I may potentially cover it with the vinyl down the road. The posts are vinyl covered and the door is made of Azek.

The last major hurdle was building this without digging post holes. There are pipes running to and from the pool and to the slide as well as landscaping drainage pipes underneath the ground at this spot. I needed to build it all above ground.

Prepping the Location

I cut out the sod a bit bigger than my dimensions. I wish I had just done it even bigger as it would have helped with leveling and squaring up the structure. I probably should have gone with a 5′ x 5′ square.

The earth was rock hard at this point because we were hurting for rain, so it didn’t really need any tamping. I then laid landscaping fabric for good measure and a layer of paver base. On top of this I laid stepping stones around the perimeter and along the lines of the floor joists and ensured they were all level. This was the least fun and most frustrating part. But, thankfully we got through it.

I began with simple wall frames, 3 at 48″ wide and 1 at 17 1/2″.

Walls – all 2×3
6 @ 4′
11 @ 6′
2 @ 1′ 5 ¹/₂“

I laid them all out flat, then screwed them together from the top and bottom, ensuring they were square.

Attach the foundation

The foundation and floor joists are made of treated 2×4. For the two side walls and the back wall, I predrilled 1 1/2″ pocket holes into the ends of the 2×4, then screwed the 2×4 into the bottom of the 2×3 wall frame, flush to the inside. Repeat this for the front wall with a 17 1/2″ 2×4.

Posts

(Note: Because of underground pipes for the pool and landscaping, I designed this to be all above ground. Otherwise, I would have dug holes and anchored the posts with concrete. So you may need to adjust your 4×4 measurements to account for this.)

I cut down 5 4×4 posts and 5 4×4 vinyl post sleeves to 7′ and slid the posts into the sleeves. For each of the side walls, I screwed through the 2×3 into the vinyl covered sleeves, with the 4×4 posts flush to the bottom of the 2×4 foundation board. I then used 2 ¹/₂” pocket screws to attach the foundation board to the 4×4 post. The picture on the left below shows the wall from the outside, so the wall frame and foundation board are flush to the inside of the 4×4.

Assemble Outer Walls

We stood each of the walls up (those babies were heavy!) opposite each other and then clamped on the back wall after squaring it up. I then screwed the back wall into the 2 back 4×4 posts and screwed in the 2 1/2″ pocket screws on the foundation board to the 2 back 4x4s.

I then attached the framing for the front/door wall, and lastly screwed it into the 5th 4×4. The two 4x4s on either side of the doorway are connected with the last foundation board at 2’3″.

Select Your Sink

Before you finish your foundation, you need to be sure your sink will fit inside the floor joists, as they serve as the support for the bench frame.

It was actually harder than I thought to find the right sink that balanced price, size, depth and shape. I wanted it to be at least 6 or 7″ deep to minimize splashing outside. I finally found this option at $69. It’s 7 1/4″ deep and the rim holds it right in place.

Finishing the foundation

There are 3 2×4 floor joists, each 4′ long: one in the middle and the other two set 6 1/2″ in from each of the side walls. I attached them to the front and back foundation boards with pre-drilled pocket holes.

Bench Framing

I did the framing for the bench and the handwashing shelves before hanging the siding, as it made it much more accessible.

The bench frame is all made of 2×4:
1 @ 4′ – front of bench
4 @ 21 ³/₄” – horizontal supports in wall frame
3 @ 14 ¹/₂” – legs
4 @ 16 ³/₄” – bench top supports

To begin the bench framing, install 4 horizontal supports along the back wall and the back half of the two side walls. I used a combination of screws and pocket screws facing out. The bottom of the 2×4 is 13″ from the top of the floor joists.

Next install the 4′ bench front. The back is 16 ³/₄” from the back 2×4. See illustration.

Install the 3 legs on top of the floor joists, using pocket holes and screws on the bottoms into the joists, and screws from top of bench front into top of leg.

Next install the horizontal bench top supports. These are screwed into the front and back 2x4s, as well as from the top down into the legs. I then installed one additional bench top support 11″ in from right hand side support. The urinal sink will sit inside this spot.

Shelf Supports

4 2×3 @ 21 3/4″

Install shelf supports at desired heights. The bottoms of mine are 25 1/2″ and 36 1/2″ from top of floor joists for the sink bowl and the water dispenser, respectively.

Next Up

At this point, I was stoked! I was ready to hang the siding! Next I’ll show how I finished off the bench and floor, made the handwashing shelves, and anchored the whole thing to the ground.

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