WesH31

Really? Too bad. We have regions in Canada that are called "unorganized townships" where you can pretty well do what you want. The only thing they check on are hydro and field beds.

Yes, this is in an isolated spot in the bush that is only accessible by boat.

Yeah, they can be a nuisance but I guess we're in their territory.

Yeah, they call them the "good old day" but they weren't so much.

Lo siento. No hablo portuguese pero hablo un poco espanol. Puedes pidir en espanol?

I live in Northern Ontario. We bought this old wreck of a cabin and have been fixing it up. It's a fantastic, isolated location and it has brought a lot of joy to make the site look nice.

Thanks. I'll give it a try. We have a lot of shavings from cutting firewood.

We only use this site intermittently so it doesn't fill up quickly. When it does get full, we just dig another pit, use the dirt from the new pit to cover the old pit and then move the outhouse over the new pit.

Thanks. Our pit is quite dry. The males don't use the outhouse for pee and the ground is on a slope. Shavings is a good idea but that would mean that the pit would fill up faster. I guess that's the trade off. I'm thinking that I'd like to try a solar powered fan that pulls the air out constantly. Have you had any experience with those?

Yes, this is a three season room but I'm using it in the winter too because of the wood stove. I'm in Northern Ontario. Even down to - 20, the room will warm up to room temperature on a sunny day. It is facing pretty well south. I was a little nervous about the wood stove position too but I went through the local WETT inspector and it passed with flying colours. I thought about the air source also but this an old house so there is a lot of air leakage so it should be okay for air supply. We haven't gone through the summer months with it yet. I'm guessing that we'll have to get curtains. There are a lot of deciduous trees to the south so they will leaf out in summer and offer some protection.

I wasn't sure about the 10 inch spike either but there has been no movement and I built these eight years ago and we get a lot of frost heave. I do recognize that the run is excessive but I don't consider these proper stairs. They are just one step up (pardon the pun) from a trail in the bush. They are also a huge improvement over the trail as we carry all our supplies up from the dock as this place is accessible only by water. I have thanked God many times for these steps.

lol Yeah but surprisingly, it feels warm when you crawl inside and close up. Maybe it's psychological but even still, it's a whole lot better than - 25.

Yeah, the foam is a great idea and would probably work better. With the boards in the corner, you have to sand down the edges to almost nothing because if the ball is going fast, it flies right out of the game when it hits an edge.

Great instructable. I built one of these many years ago. A few things that I did differently were; put springs and rubber washers on the pipes between the handles and the walls to save wear and tear on the walls, put a board in each corner starting at nothing and sloping up to 3/8 inch so that the ball won't get stuck in the corner, and put a 45 degree board inside the goal so the ball doesn't hit the back and bounce right out again.

Thanks. The pictures are of two different stairs that I did. I like the idea of gravel for leveling but our cottage is water access only so any material we need has to be hauled to the boat slip, loaded on the boat, transported to the cottage and then unloaded so it makes me think twice every time I want to do something. You're right that there was more to it but I'm afraid that if I write in too much detail, it will get boring.

Thanks. Great suggestions. I have a battery powered light in there right now. I put ashes down from the firepit and wood stove every once in a while and that keeps the smell down.

This is for the sleep camp so it gets used very little. Our regular one hasn't been cleaned out yet and it's been going for 20 years. This is at the cottage which gets used every weekend in the summer, about three weeks steadily in the summer and occasional weekends throughout the fall, winter and spring. Typically, when the hole is full, you dig a new hole, using the dirt to cover over the old hole. Then you just move your outhouse on top of the new hole.

Thanks

Yes, I did all the work myself except for the screwpiles.

It was about two months but I usually didn't put in full days. My son helped me with the roof and with putting in the windows and there was a delay with the windows so a really rough estimate is a month and a half full days. I'm a retired teacher so I probably don't work as fast as some.

Thanks so much.

I didn't keep really good track put I'd estimate around $25 000 Canadian. The wood stove including chimney, bricks, hearth, stove and pipe was close to $5000 so if you're not putting in a wood stove, you could deduct that.

You're absolutely right but these work somehow. Maybe we take bigger steps when we're in the fresh air of the Boreal forest. It feels right, one step per stairs and it is especially nice to have the long run in winter when they are covered with snow.

The hardest part was the digging. There were a lot of roots and rocks.

Great advice. They actually have toilet seats made of foam too. They're just not as hygienic.

This is at our cottage that is only water access so there's no electricity or plumbing. The summers aren't so hot here so the smell, while it is not nice, is not horrible.

Thanks. Yeah, I guess there's only a limited number of house plans.

Thanks. I was really pleased with the way it turned out. It was - 18 C here yesterday and the sun still got it warm enough to be in comfortably.