If you have any suggestions, on how we can prevent the sides of the hole from caving in on us, please leave us a comment below. We're looking for some advice here. We can't be the only people who have to deal with this issue.

@kman-mi7su

3 жыл бұрын

On the bottom half, which contacts the ground, use Hardie Siding or Azek which you can buy at Home Depot. It never rots.

@micmacpole

5 ай бұрын

Use a Sono tube which you can leave into the ground when you move the outhouse.

The dogs are so cute! I laughed out loud at the last end. 😂

I am beyond 50 years old, grew up with the outhouse as a normal use toilet. The pits where lined with wood boards. Typically 1x4 planks,( but back then wood was better quality, 2x4''s would be better now.) built as a bottom less box, from the inside, as the hole is dug , and as room allows, a new square "ring" of wood is pushed into place against the dirt, with experience nails are not even needed...using a method such as north and south boards are set in place, then east and west boards are cut to fit tightly, and wedged in to hold the north and south boards...then room for the next layer down is dug out, and the next "ring" of boards are installed east and west, with north and south boards wedged in to hold them in place.... if your skills are lacking..vertical boards are nailed inside... like the legs on a cheap treehouse ladder... I have seen a ladder built into the pit walls so the person digging can climb out... being just good enough to last until they finish the digging. >> the north/south >> east/west pattern must be alternating, or the soil will push the walls in.

Oh man. What a chore! No ideas here. I hope some super smart youtuber comes up with an awesome hole solution.

You guys are so fun to watch! Thank you for sharing tips. We just bought an off grid cottage and this was useful! I’ll suscribe to your channel

@1870s

4 жыл бұрын

Awesome have fun and enjoy your off grid time

Rachel I couldn't comment on the Eden garlic video, but lemme just say I'm from Texas and everytime you have sandals and shorts and you're in leaves in the woods my inner Texan screams "BUT SNAKES!!!" 😂😂😂

The music while hes digging out the hole!!😂 i feel like im watching a sitcom lol!

Looks like the dogs are helping dig the whole there at the beginning! 🤣

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

I think they could smell, whatever kinda creature was living there. There was a mouse nest a well we found under it, but that footage didn't make the cut.

The wood is still a composite, so you need to fix the toilet on bricks or pour concrete for the sides, and set the toilet up on bricks with rubber tires spliced, tread facing up to drain water, snow off. If the back of toilet has a cut out, you would not need to tip. Dig out, fill back. Grandpa used sulfur in the winter as we kids used the chamber pots.

have you thought about lining it with wood? The wood would break down and wouldn't need to be pulled up when you move the outhouse.

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

Treated wood might work, it'd take a lot longer to rot, and we could leave slats for moisture to work through.

you need to dig a wider hole coming out the back w/a cover you can remove the lid and dig it out in stead of turning that then over every time.

Sounds like you have a good plan 4 the surface to keep it from rotting, not quite what you want to be doing on vacation I'm sure, it will be nice when it's finished though

Loose sand will collapse. Probably need a light weight short piece of French drain or similar. Insert into hole vertically to prevent sand from collapsing. Also mix some powdered lime in with the wood chips. I like your idea of a treated lumber base to rest the out house on. Plus the added feature with the chicken wire to discourage animals that dig and stepping stones around the structure. I enjoy your videos. ☝👍...👉

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

Drilling holes in the culvert is something I had planned on doing, but didn't mention in the video. The moisture wicking should help, and would allow worms and other insects to get in and assist with the decomposition.

Nice end scene, ha!

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

The first time I watched it back, the way her arm / hand was on her leg, it almost looked like her pants were down LOL

If you could keep the sides of the pit from collapsing such that the hole would last a lot more years, you might just dig another pit 10' over whenever the hole does finally fill in, saving you from having to dig out anything gross, although if you're adding wood chips it may be well enough composted that it wouldn't be gross even then.

I know this doesn't help with the collapsing of sand, but when my parents had a cabin in Wisconsin, once a year they would pour in some kind of sulfur tablets during the winter months which would eat away at the waste and break it down. So if you did put a culvert in, that might work. Nice video.

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

We have a really large bag of agri LIME in the shed there, that the previous owner left behind. He would toss that in. We haven't really used it yet, cause with all the sand just caving in, I didn't think it would help breakdown much. We also struggle with letting nature decompose and compose vs. chemicals that would kill all the bacteria that would otherwise break things down naturally. Just gotta that that balance between I suppose.

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

You've been following us for a long time @Scott - we appreciate you sticking with us 💚

You could bury the plastic tube like you were talking about, but drill holes in the sides before putting it in the ground. As you use the outhouse, keep tossing in a handful of wood chips each time like you have been. Worms will get in through the holes in the sides and help break down the waste! If you dug it 6-7 feet down... I would think that would take YEARS to fill up... If it ever actually did!

@lizbertorelli6364

5 жыл бұрын

Also, I love how nice the inside of your outhouse is!

If u drilled holes in the sides of plastic tube inserted into hole it would allow insects in and air, and it should compost.

How about using the plastic covert that you suggested but poking a bunch of holes so Sand still fills it, but at a slower rate

I would put some lawnmower tires on it with four stainless steel all-thread as axles and just roll it to a new pit a few steps way and set blocks halfway into the ground and treated wood 2x4 would be a good choice as a sill and excavating the topsoil around the perimeter and back filling with the subsoil taken fro the pit and with a slight ramp away from the structure to provide drainage and for a gas vent a10ft aluminum gutter downspout tube strapped to the back of the structure with wire ties and maybe a porch roof with tree branch diagonal supports and build it out of wooden pallet skid 1x3's and some 1/2" plywood siding and use the pallets 1x4 slats to add lap-siding over a Sears style metal shed as wainscoting and use rails atop the wainscoting

Given that you only dig it out every 2 if not every 3 years and the fact that the collapsing sand improves the odor & break down of the solid waste, I'd say don't worry about the sand. But you gotta stop them critters from getting underneath. Now if you really don't want to dig, then maybe the culvert idea is good, but you'd have to go 6 to 8 feet to give yourself a few years of usage! I'm curious how this situation was handled before the terlit was invented?

I would keep it like it is... let nature continue to take care of it😊

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

Definitely an option. Only about 1 hour of work, every 2-3 years - in the big picture, that's nothing.

@tamarawheeldon1060

5 жыл бұрын

That 1870's Homestead true😊

what about the cardboard tubes you use for concrete pier forms. It would compost as the outhouse hole filled. If course you might have to move the outhouse location?

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

They might work. It's be a race though to see how long the cardboard would last. I bet removing the critters will make a big difference.

You could use a plastic drum with the top cut off.Then add sand with the wood chips.

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

Good idea!

@markmorris3579

5 жыл бұрын

@@1870s -Also,drill holes in the bottom and sides to drain the liquids.

What about the cardboard tubes used for pouring concrete columns. They are biodegradable but should hold there shape for a long time....

@1870s

2 жыл бұрын

Those might work really well, the soil does drain good.

I would leave it the way it is. Sounds like it's might be composting the waste. Only thing I would do is throw a layer of powder lime over it each time I left the cabin to go home.

Also wood chips take along time to decompose... Try peatmoss

@1870s

3 жыл бұрын

They're not big chips, just tiny little flakes.

@pamhunter-to4xs

3 жыл бұрын

@@1870sSmaller the better for sure.... Not recommended for any kind of composting due to the time, it tends to get moldy b4 it actually breaks dwn. Plus they attract ants. Just thinking of the speed of your hole filling. I'm a professional gardener, and coincidentally am building an outhouse as we speak. I think it's modesty that makes feel the need to cover up the poop, but even lime will slow dwn decomposition slightly. The best thing is to just add water if anything.. That's what I've concluded. Just dump my grey water from camp into pit. Also, I keep pee separate, it funnels dwn into gas jug, w vinegar added, and dispose elsewhere. It's the ammonia smell I can't stand and carries through the air. Just some thoughts. Thks for the discussion. 🇨🇦😊

I run pretty simple solution for my cabin. I pee in a bucket which drains into the lake and a bucket for poop which has bag on it then it gets put in a poop bucket to be burnt off. I recommend separating your pee and covering your poop each time with sand saw dust or dirt. I know someone with outhouse in the same spot for 30 years in loamy soil. Dig a six foot hole should last six years. put some metal adjustable feet on your outhouse.

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

Only girls pee and poop in it. Boys only poop in - and the pee goes in the woods. I've heard that if you just let the natural bacteria do it's thing, it can break stuff down pretty fast - it's part of the reason we've never tossed lime or anything in there. Hmm.. Now you got me thinking. We're really not there much. Even without any decomposition, it would take pretty long to fill a 24" culvert that's 7-8 feet deep.

Add moss

Build a retainer wall with pressure-treated wood and put it in the shit hole, and your outhouse shouldn't be touching the ground. Put it on 4x4 posts and put wire mesh around the bottom so critters don't get it.

You could line it with bricks leaving gaps between them when you stack so most of the sand will stay out. If you keep the sand out then you probably wouldn't never hafta clean it out since your not using this everyday

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

Very true. Let nature decompose it all for us

@brierobb9879

5 жыл бұрын

If bricks are not properly set in mortar , the pressure of surrounding soil will push them in. As well as the cost,

Maybe its time for a composting system with 5 gallon buckets if you have a little land. Our cabin is off grid and primitive. We have an electric composting toilet (uses a fan. Can power with solar) as well as a bucket system for backup. Many off grid folks manage with the bucket system perfectly fine. You are making yourselves too much work. Before this the grandparents plumbed the toilet to a 55 gallon barrel. But the toilet would crack if no one got to it before a freeze.

@carmineredd1198

4 жыл бұрын

once upon a time in a land far far aways off, there lived a family that used a two gallon galvanized metal pail not a 5 gallon plastic bucket , it would fill quickly and overflow and it had to be carried sloshing to a creek bank and dumped , I wouldn't use it , I would rather just squat in the woods and throw a few shovels of dirt over it or just hold it in for a few weeks like a natural animal

you can build it over a plastic tank and have it pumped out ever 20 years or so.

RIDX or worms. bury a 30 gal barrel w/holes.

Build a simple composting toilet and put it in the bathroom in the house. Much better solution.

@1870s

4 жыл бұрын

Rachel loves that idea!

@1870s

4 жыл бұрын

Todd, not so much.

I can't help you and I'm such a sissy, I would sell the cabin!!

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

Not really an option 😃 We love our woods way too much.

Get rid of the sand

@1870s

3 жыл бұрын

We'd have to get rid of half the state of Michigan 😂

You need a compost toilet. You can buy one for less than $100.

@1870s

5 жыл бұрын

We've thought about a resign, and filling in the hole. And modifying the "seat area" so a 5-gallon bucket would fit underneath.