Introduction: Cheap and Easy Toilet Paper Stand

About: I'm a mechanical engineering student at the University of Dayton. I love utilizing fundamentals and principals presented in the classroom to ideate and produce practical solutions to common problems. i.e. I ha…

I recently finished a small bathroom in our basement with some simple privacy walls. The wall to my immediate right (when sitting on the pot) is the basement footer, so I didn't want to mount a TP holder to the concrete. The next closest mounting location was to my left on the blue 45 degree privacy wall. This turns out to be out of reach for the average human being ( < 7'0''). And so, the solution came to me when I was on the pot, I thought "why not just an have an independent stand?" So this is what I came up with as the most cost effective and mobile solution.

I already had pipe cement and pipe cutters/ hack saw, thus this project cost me as little as $6.03. This was of course for the pipe and fittings. I had about 4-5 ft. of the 10 ft. pipe left over.



Step 1: Materials

Materials:

Make sure all pipe and fittings are the same size
(3/4" worked best for me...good size for TP roll to fit on).

(1) 3/4 in x 10 ft. Charlotte PVC schedule 40 pipe: $2.18
(4) 3/4 in PVC slip x slip x slip Tee: $0.57
(4) 3/4 in PVC slip Cap: $0.31
(1) 3/4 in PVC slip 45 degree Elbow: $0.33

Oatey 8oz PVC Cement: $2.78
Oatey 8oz PVC/CPVC Primer: $4.96

7.5% sales tax
_____________________________________________

                                                                           = $ 14.80

Step 2: Step 1. Cut Pipe to Size

In this step you will cut to length (3) 6 inch pieces and (4) 4 inch pieces. These PVC pipe cutters come in real handy and ratchet down, iteratively cutting through the pipe leaving a clean edge. Another option is the hack saw or even a sawzall. 

Step 3: Step 2. Layout the Parts in a Dry Run

This step is to lay everything out and ensure you like the dimensions and all. You could leave the stand fitted together like this but I prefer a more rigid structure when I'm tuggin on the TP. First slip the fittings together and in the next step you can cement the joints to solidify the structure.

Step 4: Step 3. Cement the Pieces Together

Ok this step was the first time I've worked with PVC primer and cement so the first couple fittings were a bit sloppy. Essentially what I did was cement the joints in reverse order of the steps outlined in Step 2. Layout the parts in a Dry Run. This way I could make sure the relative shape and angles I preferred in the previous step would remain. In other words the first thing I cemented was the 45 degree elbow to the 6 inch piece where the toilet paper rests. Next I cemented the 6 inch piece to the Tee on the column. This process continued until I got to the end caps on the base.

Step 5: Step 4. Add the TP

I like this stand because its clean looking, solid, and easily mobile. Thanks for viewing my Instructable.