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BigDuke6
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 11:53am
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I have some property with a cabin in MT. While we have an indoor toilet, there is not enough room in there for a shower. We also have an outhouse for when the water is off in the winter.
I am looking for some examples of what others have built for an outdoor shower facility, or a complete separate bathhouse. Hopefully someone on here has such a setup and would be willing to show how they built theirs.
Thanks!
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 12:16pm
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I will watch this thread.
I too, am going to build a outside shower. I had had the Coleman Insta-hot water system with shower attachment and carry bag.
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Water-On-Demand-Portable-Water-Heater/dp/B0009PURE0
I had planned on building a platform, maybe 3X4 feet, using a pallet type set up for a floor, with a perforated rubber mat over it to allow water to drain, 4 sides, with a pyramid type roof. Walls will be open on the bottom and top. An area high up to set dry clothes, a seat to set on. Cedar fencing on the sides, treated 4X4's for framing corners. I will probably build it in sections. Haul it in a trailer, assemble it on site.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 12:19pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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Is there room to renovate that indoor toilet space to contain the shower as is done in an RV. Here's ours.
Toilet to the right, sliding pocket door; about 3 ft x 7 foot space. Not to code but "they" weren't looking.
Shower drains to grey water.
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OwenChristensen
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 12:29pm
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I prefer a combo building. We have a sauna and shower building. It's 6'x8' and works great. It sets on skids with a treated wood frame floor and decked with cedar decking boards tight together. Water will drain on though just as fast as you pour. Water has never showed around the sides just sinks in.
Owen
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BigDuke6
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 12:30pm
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MtnDon, thanks for the pic. Yeah, we have thought about possibly doing that for several years, and it could be done I reckon. But, in the interest of an easy project, I have moved my thinking towards an outdoor shower or bath house. I suspect just a nice, easy to build outdoor shower would work just fine. I always love to see images of those for building ideas. We are not there much in the winter, and the water is shut off anyway.
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BigDuke6
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 12:32pm
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Owen, nice! How do you get your water to your building? Any interior shots to share?
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evrmc1
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 02:26pm
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In Alaska they have a lot of bath rouses that are apart from the main cabin
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larry
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2012 02:52pm
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this is my outdoor shower. i didn't want to plum the living area for fear of a broken pipe. the toilet is behind that door and there is a door in the rear for utility access
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TomChum
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2012 11:50am - Edited by: TomChum
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I did a separate bath house. It's 130 feet away from the cabin, down "over the hill". It drains onto the steep hillside, no drain plumbing, it's just a "cedar deck" inside. We'll see how that goes over the years, I have a cedar deck at home, in a rainy city, and it's been there 10 years and still looks good. This one is in a drier climate, and under a roof. There is a thread showing the 'foundation detail'.
Drain was intended to be like my deck at home, just falling thru the gaps in the boards. But the gaps have closed up like a barrel in the rainy season (cedar boards swelled). I opened up a 3/32" gap with a skilsaw (narrow kerf), and they have closed again swelling much more than anticipated.
We used it several times (with a propane water heater) and it was great!  It's December now, and there's probably a foot of snow there, and it's still NOT finished.  Inside is still just studs and OSB. I will insulate the walls.
I cut the dimensional lumber (siding, roof, 2" deck) with my little Hud-Son Oscar 121 sawmill from trees on the property which was a huge time+cost but very satisfying.
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Montanagirl
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# Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:09pm
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That is cool! Love the french doors.
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countrygirl
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# Posted: 27 Dec 2012 03:12pm
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Like the idea of separate bathhouse. Are you going to use it in winter? and are you going to heat it some how? I'm in Manitoba Canada we use our cabin year. We have no water on sight right now, but hope to get a well in spring. Love your pictures, and ideas.
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 28 Dec 2012 12:41am - Edited by: silverwaterlady
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Here is our outdoor shower with dressing room built with leftover wood from our cabin build.The deck box is a perfect place for towels and a good place to sit. Everything is weather proof,a plastic garbage can with a lid and a small Rubbermaid container with a roll of paper towels. It can get very hot in the shower in the summer so I put up a sunshade.
Outdoor shower
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 28 Dec 2012 12:43am
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I don't know why some of my photos are posting like that?
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TheWildMan
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# Posted: 28 Dec 2012 09:49am
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depending on the time of year and available water i have several options. if its sumer I use a bucket with a faucet hanging in a tree, painted black, a tin can with lots of holes punched in the bottom is hung on the faucet to act as a disperal/aeirator. i used a couple tarps to crete a wall around. in winter i have a 110 gallon black stock tank that i keep outside and bring in when i need it. i set it next to the wood stove to absorb heat and warm up, a big stock pot would be on the stove heating 4 or 5 gallons for bath water. i pour the water into the tub and fill a half gallon pitcher with the rest. i take a bath with the tub then use the pitcher to wash my hair and beard afterwards using the tub to collect shampoo suds using the pitcher to pour water over my head. i use another bucket to bail out the tub and carry water outside where i dump it out in the yard.
I had considered using an outhouse type shed as a shower house. i would use pressure treadet boards for the floor, cement blocks for the corners. plywood for the walls, cealingf and door. paint a 55 gallon drum black and mount to the roof with a faucet leading down. but at this time have not built one
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countrygirl
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# Posted: 28 Dec 2012 09:52am
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very cool. Clean and organize. Keep the ideas coming!
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BigDuke6
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# Posted: 4 Jan 2013 03:05pm
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Any others out there with a seperate shower building, or just an outdoor shower setup? I am always looking for ideas.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 4 Jan 2013 04:19pm
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Me too...looking for ideas...would like a completely enclosed separate building but something that has good ventilation so it can dry out nicely inside...and any open areas need to be screened. No skeeters invited 
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 4 Jan 2013 04:22pm
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TomChum, your bath house turned out great 
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TomChum
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# Posted: 4 Jan 2013 11:15pm - Edited by: TomChum
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Thanks TB. We used it in freezing weather and it was very easy to heat such a little room. Getting the supply water there (freezing hoses, etc) was a challenge.
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 09:41am
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now this is pretty good.i have been trying to talk to the mister about a sauna house.we could have a wood stove inside and get it cranked up.have a vat of snow on top of the snow melting to give us good humidity in the air and take the melted snow and it will be hot water by then and have an old claw foot tub in the sauna and fill with the melted snow water and jump in after getting all sweated up.good way to get warm,clean out pores and get clean all in one.
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Dina95
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 10:20am - Edited by: Dina95
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I found this vid on youtube that shows an outdoor shower... Its good but some changes will be necessary...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxWUQKLzLaQ
I think 2 major changes will be roof for weather protection and the gap at the bottom of the shower to be smaller so less cold air in the winter will be able to come in....
TomChum, that really is awsome... but I have a question... when your take your bath and open the door... isn't it FREEZING COLD???
If i was there I would stay in the shower facility untill the snow melted! :p
Edit:
For the outdoor shower i mention above... i also found this video too with some tips from the... yeah that guy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIviM3Jd-No
I also run on those images that may inspire you...
http://remodelista.com/posts/outdoors-shower-enclosures
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 01:17pm
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TomChum do you have interior pics you could share?
For our bath house I want a fairly large building that can be fully closed and insulated for cold months but has screened doors and windows for the summertime. I want a smaller wood stove for heat. A shower but also a tub for small kids-either a galvanized tub or an old claw foot tub. I also would like a vanity of some type with a sink, a mirror and electric outlets for hair dryer. I need to have dry hair during the winter months! I want bench space and wall hooks and most important I want the floor to the shower to be contained enough that the rest of the floor stays dry. Also good lighting. Our bath house could also serve as just a dressing room-cabin privacy is hard to come by when a lot of people are there. Oh and we have a couple unused skylights that would be nice to use. I'm kinda picky about my bath house I just realized...considering I'm perfectly happy with our outhouse and indoor night time "pee" bucket! 
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TomChum
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 02:18pm - Edited by: TomChum
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Quoting: Dina95 TomChum, that really is awsome... but I have a question... when your take your bath and open the door... isn't it FREEZING COLD??? If i was there I would stay in the shower facility untill the snow melted! :p
I worried about that too, but found that leaving a hot shower, walking back to the cabin in the 23degrees cold, was actually very enjoyable. I'm not exaggerating. As compared to a hot tub; getting out wet and cooling off, wet, in the cold - it's not the same situation. In this case you leave dry and fully clothed, and maybe somewhat overheated when you leave a warm room. First time I carried coats, hat, socks out there, to bundle up for the 130 foot walk back thru the snow. Had to carry it all the extra stuff back, wearing just a single-layer of clothing, no socks, and was perfectly comfortable, actually feeling invigorated by being so warm out in the cold air. It's really nice; the walk back is a great part of it. You may not believe me until you are able to try it yourself. "Sauna people" probably know this feeling.
Quoting: Dina95 I think 2 major changes will be roof for weather protection and the gap at the bottom of the shower to be smaller so less cold air in the winter will be able to come in....
A showerhouse can be designed to be able to accept these later. Where you start with a simple project and start using it this summer. In the fall you make the temporary winter side panels that block the wind at top and bottom, and maybe add a simple roof (plywood board sitting there by gravity?). How about hinges to lift the roof up in the summertime and let it down in the winter? 
Planning in out ahead so it can be finished over a couple years is "cabin-ing". If it weren't for building things wrong, but usable the first time, a lot of folks would just be sitting at home just dreaming of a cabin! And not learning construction either. Of course building things right is satisfying too and making mistakes is only a fail if you didn't learn anything. And as long as nobody gets hurt.....
Quoting: trollbridge TomChum do you have interior pics you could share?
TB, do you think that I would just "forget" to add pics? No pics yet because it's just visqueen stapled to open stud walls. And no insulation yet. I will have cedar walls, and a cedar bench, and will try to stash the propane heater somehow.
Regarding your project, my advice would be to use a propane heater that's too big for the room size, so you can heat the room very quick. For example if you want to take a shower, you walk out there and in a very few minutes it's toasty warm, or at least you can stand next to the heater and get your showering process started immediately. Wood stove sounds classical, but that necessitates a ritual that would probably cause you to take less showers, then what good is a showerhouse? Carrying wood, kindling, newspaper, and towels soap and whatever else you women carry. For example a very cute and precious little baby! That's not how you feed a luxury, you will wish to just spark an igniter! A wood stove PLUS a propane heater sounds good!
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 06:52pm
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Lol TomChum...okay...the interior is not complete...but when it is you will proudly post pics right?!? I was wondering where you were going to put your heater and then I got to wondering how far your shower house is from your cabin? Also...you must have an outhouse, but I can't remember what it is like...does it match your cabin and shower house? How far is that from your cabin? How are your girls doing with the potty situation these days?
You are right about the heat situation in a shower house...I was thinking Mr. Troll would kindly go out and stoke a fire to warm it up for me!  ..maybe I shouldn't make! such assumptions  I could use my womanly charm 
There are benefits to wood though...I feel like overall it would stay warmer over a longer period of time-much like our bunkhouse and that would be nice but also a dryer heat would be great for drying out the building when we are done. Propane adds moisture. Did you have a problem with that?
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TomChum
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 07:45pm - Edited by: TomChum
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Quoting: trollbridge Mr. Troll would kindly go out and stoke a fire to warm it up ..........I could use my womanly charm
ummmm he may very well be inclined to stoke your fires but better save that in case the world needs repopulation for example after a nuclear holocaust.... I've seen that fella and wouldn't let him start a fire for my wife...
My outhouse is far away in the other direction. I wish it was closer to the shower. People are accustomed to takin care of bizness, if you know what I mean. It would be handy to have them together, but the very nature of an outhouse,,,,,, it should be downwind, wayyyyyy downwind. Let it be said that #1 is OK in the shower. Here's a pic of the walk from shower to cabin. It's about 130 feet to the cabin, and about 150 feet to the outhouse.
I'm planning to use a "vented" heater for the dry heat (where the moisture-laden exhaust is vented to the outside). Also I don't know how well a catalytic heater will work in a very steamy environment anyway, where the steam is displacing oxygen. But in any case, it's a very small room, and I don't want to add another device that consumes oxygen. A wood fire if drawing inside air might cause the same problem. "Sauna people" might know more about these things but I don't know any. You could probably use a catalytic heater in yours for quick pre-warm, and burn the woodstove when you need to dry it out, and for sustained bathing gluttony too.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 09:26pm
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oh boy, you crack me up...if you are that worried about your wife, then I don't think I would want him stoking a fire for her either!!! 
I guess the heat issue will have to be thought out and researched.
Next thought is how to do water supply. What did you do for that and what worked well and what needs tweaking? Do you have a well?
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TomChum
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 09:42pm
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Water supply is not worked out yet to my satisfaction.....I have creek water running constantly out of a hose, at 1 gal/minute. Currently I just fill a 20-gallon tub and then 12vDC pump out of that tub thru an EccoTemp L5 water heater to the shower.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 10:06pm - Edited by: trollbridge
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How do you like the Ecco Temp? Does it heat your water to satisfaction? I'm assuming your creek water is as cold as ours.
Also wondering if you have good water pressure? That is important to me-too hard to rinse hair with just a sprinkle.
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TomChum
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2013 10:47pm - Edited by: TomChum
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I have the EccoTemp L5, the smallest one they make, and with 34deg water that's about its limit for incoming temp. But it's enough to make a nice, steamy shower but it doesn't seem to have any reserve. If you have lots of water, why not get the L10, then you could run 2 showerheads.
For a comparison, here in WA, in my city house, I was required by "city code" to use 1.1 gal/minute showerheads. So my cabin shower is about the same as my home shower.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2013 01:03pm
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Thanks for letting me pick your brain TomChum...if you wouldn't mind I'd like to ask another question about the Ecco Temp. I spent some time poking around their website and read their freeze warning. How do you keep it from freezing? Unless I am remembering incorrectly, you don't have electricity do you? I understand the units themselves have antifreeze in them but the hoses and such aren't protected.
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