The Outhouse Gabion

In keeping with our scatterbrained antics around here, we took on yet another project that we probably shouldn't have, especially when we have so many other things going on. 

Way back in 2017, a whole year ago, we decided to build a gabion outhouse.  Out of tufa.

You may ask, a what now?

Yes, you read it right, an outdoor bathroom with gabion walls formed of tufa with fully plumbed accommodations.

 I haven't written about it before because it wasn't done.  And here we go, a year later, and guess what?  It's still not done.  That's the way we roll around here, gadding about from one project to another willy-nilly.

First, I guess I should explain about the tufa.  Here is a link to a Wikipedia article on the stone:  Tufa 

I'm lazy, so I will refer anyone interested about where we acquired the tufa in the first place to a post I wrote a long time ago about the history of our garden and this most interesting stone: Tufa On the Move

And then there's the gabion topic which is also a head-scratcher for most people, for what, exactly is a gabion?  Here's a Wikipedia link: Gabion 

So, if you've read the links, tufa and gabions make a little sense, but, you may be asking, what do they have to do with an outhouse?  And why did we want one?

Ok, here we go: We host quite a few garden tours and wedding parties for photography over the course of a year not to mention our annual booyah party, which means we have a lot of visitors.  Nine times out of ten, our visitors will eventually need to use a bathroom at some point.  

Not that I'm a control freak or anything (yeah, right!) but when you have wedding parties or bus groups and don't know the people personally, it can be a bit stressful having people roaming around in my not-always (is it ever??) tidy home. 

For the last several years, we rented a port-a-potty which was fine, but the cost adds up.  We rarely make enough in donations to even cover the price of the rent.  And, if the port-a-potty isn't cleaned very often, the smell adds up, too. 

So, when our septic system failed in 2016 and needed replacing, and the yard was all dug up anyway, we tossed around the idea of purchasing a port-a-potty of our own and have it sit over the cover of the septic tank.  Our plumber did us one better, he put in a direct line to the new septic system which would allow us to have a flushing toilet and a sink!  Oooooolalah!

With the plumbing in place for the outhouse back in November of 2016, we tried to decide what type of building to create.  We looked at countless photos of traditional wood outhouses, but none of the options looked right for our landscaping.  We didn't want to spend a great deal of money on the project, either, and even though we could buy a port-a-potty of our own, they aren't very attractive, especially when it would be within five feet of our house.  

Necessity is the mother of invention, so when I was discouraged about traditional construction methods, I started daydreaming about the materials we had on hand for creating something besides a square wooden building.  What if we built a round building?    And out of stone, instead of wood?  What if we made a gabion?!  

I had been intrigued by gabions for years, in fact, Carl had made me two stainless steel forms for future gabions back in 2013.
 

Carl and my gabion-to-be vase, 2013

 Gosh, it's hard to believe it has been five years since Carl built the sculptures for Valentine's Day, time sure does fly.  We haven't made up our mind where we want the vase sculpture to be permanently yet, so we have not filled it with stone, but it is still attractive as it is.  Once it is filled with stone, it won't be possible to move it easily, so we're waiting for now.

Continuing with my late night brainstorming on bathroom construction, I remembered we had a lot of extra tufa stacked on pallets and loose on a pile from way back in the late 1990's when we first acquired it.  Why not put it to use?  It's not as heavy as traditional stone of the same size, so this just might work, especially in a circular shape.   

But what about a roof? 



Our farming neighbor, Dale, had given us this grain bin roof a few years earlier.  The roof had been sitting out back in the weeds in our rustic area by the windmill.  Every time I walked by I thought of 'things we could do with this'.  (Which is also known as 'more projects for Carl'.)  A round, stone outhouse with a grain bin roof, why not?  Carl and I debated this idea for a few weeks and decided to give it a try.

But then life happened and several tragedies occurred; Carl's brother Larry passed away unexpectedly in October of 2016 followed closely by my mother's failing health over the winter of 2017 and her death that April.  Everything was topsy turvy (and still is to a great extent) but finally, in July of 2017, we decided we should get started on building this curiosity. 

Step One: Foundation

Carl figured out how much cement we would need to pour the floor.  (Yep, alot.)

Joel and I went to a used machinery dealer and bought a cement mixer.  Carl created a metal form for the cement and added rebar and plumbing.

Carl's sister Mary and her husband, Tom came and helped us several days with pouring the floor and we got a good start on the walls, too.  (I don't know why I didn't get any pictures of the entire crew, darn!)

When the floor was all poured, I put a panicked call into our son David, who came over after work to help with the troweling before the floor set up entirely.

Carl had to do the math on how much wire would be needed to complete the walls and how to form the gabion basket.  

Mary and Tom helped us get this project off the ground and we were so appreciative of their assistance, without them, we'd never have gotten as far as we did before the 2017 booyah party last August.

David came to help for many days after work which was wonderful.  As we all know, when I have these 'great project ideas' (such as Castle Aaargh, still unfinished for over a decade, hanging my head in shame) completion of said projects rarely ever includes instant gratification. 

Though the tufa stone is relatively light compared to granite or limestone, it is still a lot of backache-producing work.   Because he is taller, Dave was able to reach the bottom of the wall over the chicken wire easier than his old folks.

As the weeks went on, we kept adding stone and reinforcing wires to keep the walls straight.

The pipes in the floor are for the sink and commode.

We were working as fast as we could on the outhouse, hoping to have it somewhat completed before the booyah party the second Saturday in August 2017.

 

Tufa is very abrasive on the hands, so leather gloves are essential.  In the picture above, Carl is using improvised tools to move the stones into position in the chicken wire cage.  We put two large tufa stones facing the inside and outside of the cage and then fill the middle with smaller limestone, also known as 'hearting'. 

As the wall grew in height, Carl had to add a second row of wire and a ladder became necessary.

Of course, like usual, we ran out of time before the booyah party and the outhouse was nowhere near ready, so we decided to fast forward to installing the plumbing and worry about the walls and the roof later.   



 Carl, David and Tom (and anyone else who arrived early for the 2017 booyah party) ended up helping Carl with the last-minute plumbing of the sink and toilet.  Joel was entirely occupied with cooking the booyah, though he did lend a hand when Carl hollered for help putting the roof on top.  Since the walls were not high enough for privacy, I dug into my ample stash of fabric and came up with two bolts of temporary wall covering. 

 

David on the ladder, waiting to help with the roof

Carl put boards across the chicken wire walls and with David and Joel's help, the roof was temporarily hoisted on top.  We added another piece of fabric for a curtain/door and the outhouse was ready for the party.  Our guests were a bit leery about the lack of a door, but all in all, the bathroom worked out great.  Having a flushing toilet is much nicer than the alternative.

After the party was over, we took the roof back off again and set it on the lawn.  Luckily the roof didn't weigh too much at this point, Carl and I could handle it fairly easily, but getting it off and on the chicken wire required three people at a minimum. 

For the rest of the summer and fall 2017 we went back to construction, adding stone to the gabion. 

Roof removed once again

By now, it was September, and the walls were getting a little taller week by week.  This wasn't a job for one person, so I had to wait until Carl was home from work on weeknights or the weekend so we could work together.
 
  I was hopeful we'd have enough stone to finish the entire project with what we had, but it soon became apparent we were running short.  I went off on scouting expeditions, pulling smaller tufa stone out of our existing tufa walls here, there and everywhere in the garden.  We'd replace the missing small stones with the much bigger ones from the pallets as we went along. 

Below are pictures of some of my pillaged tufa:

Tufa on the move, again

Is there any tufa in there??

We also went through our old rock pile because some of the tufa was stored there, too. 

Day by day, week by week, the walls rose a little higher.

We debated putting a window in for light, but decided against it.

I took the above picture from the top of the ladder.  I'd stand on the ladder and put the stone in the wire basket.  Carl would reposition the stone into the best plane.

The Summer of 2017 slowly turned to fall and we still weren't done.  Days were much shorter, but at least it had cooled down a little, making the work a little more pleasant.

We knew we weren't going to finish before the snow fell, but we'd do our best.

My view from the ladder

Days growing shorter and colder

Whenever Carl's 88 year-old dad, Don, would pour some concrete at his house, he would take any leftover cement and make little happy faces complete with marbles for eyes.  We put several of the smiley faces in the bathroom walls for whimsy. 

I realize in these pictures, the faces look like they are imprisoned, but they do make me smile and whenever I see them, I think of Don.

As the weather grew colder, it was harder to work on the project.  And then Carl's parents had some major health issues in the fall of 2017, so we more or less dropped the entire garden in early November as we tended to their needs.  

For the winter, the water lines were drained and filled with RV antifreeze.  We wrapped the toilet and sink in plastic to protect it somewhat from the elements and put the roof back on top temporarily.   The project was at a halt.

Fast forward to Summer 2018; it has been a very hot, humid, and curiously dry summer for us, and the only things enjoying the weather around here was the weeds, of course, and earlier on, the mosquitoes which were insatiable.  As our dry conditions persisted, though, the mosquito population almost disappeared in August, thank goodness.

Between mowing lawns at three houses and trying to make certain Carl's parents' needs are met in the nursing home, this spring and summer was a whirlwind of activity.  Getting the weeding done (is it ever really done?) and mulching everything fell mostly to me this year and I was feeling the stress of the work more than ever.  

Joel has been helping me mow the lawns at the other two houses, thank goodness, but Joel and Abby have their own huge project right now, too, construction on their new house up at my mother's place.  Before the construction crew could come in to dig the basement, we had to cut down eight trees in late June.  
 

Brush pile in June from the trees

Carl and I loading the wood on hay wagon for our neighbors

 The dewpoints this summer have been hovering in the mid-60's to 70's and all we do is sweat and swat, which makes you more tired than ever.

Luckily, though they had to jump through hoops and permits and more permits, Joel and Abby's house is finally under construction.

With all of the work to be done here, there and everywhere, before we knew it, we were in the last week of July 2018 again.  Our annual booyah party was looming August 11.  Another year had gone by and we still didn't have the bathroom done.  Ugh.  

We always make lists of the things we want to accomplish and high priority for me was to have the outhouse finished before the party, which meant Carl had to drop everything and concentrate on the construction.  We added more stone to the walls and when we were within a foot of the top, Carl had to work on the roof.

The grain bin roof needed a stabilization ring to keep its shape and strengthen it, so Carl had to build a stainless ring to fit the interior of the roof.  He had to roll the stainless to fit and then drill holes through it to match the existing holes in the roof.  We carried the roof over to the driveway and for two full days, Carl sat in the sun drilling ninety holes in the stainless ring to attach to the roof. 

 I kept busy weeding as fast as I possibly could.  We were each on our own mission, and it was rough on us both. 




Finally, after days of work, the roof was attached to the ring.

 

Though Carl wasn't in favor of it, I decided we needed to paint the galvanized roof to preserve it for a few more years.   Carl liked the rusty look, but I think he's ok with the end result now.

We were about three days out from the booyah party and finally, the roof was ready to go back on with Joel's help.

 Carl had also fabricated a stainless platform circle which rests on top of the tufa inside the chicken wire and to which we added glass block for a light source.  In the picture above, Carl and Joel are adding the glass block.

Once the block was in place, the next step was a door.  We were running out of time once again, so we had to improvise.  The door I want to create would be from some recycled copper sheeting we have here or some galvanized steel, but in any case, we weren't going to get it done before the party.  

 We have two tree grates lying around, and I had the bright idea of making them into a door, but it would take work and time we didn't have.  

 I was amazed at how the hole in the grain bin roof, known as an oculus, transmits light onto the wall of the outhouse at noon. 

I was going to design a stained glass window for the oculus, but watching the clouds go by overhead is mesmerizing (if you happen to be on the commode for awhile, ha) and now I think we'll opt for clear glass instead.

Since we didn't have time to create the artsy-fartsy door we want, Joel went to Menard's and bought a door and frame in their clearance section for $30 and Carl installed it the night before the party, August 10.  The door is intended for indoor use only, so it is not in any way weatherproof.  It is truly temporary.  Carl painted it with the leftover roof paint so it would match and ended up putting a board in on the left side to make everything fit.  

We found the galvanized 'boy and girl' figures last winter at a craft store and couldn't pass them up.

 The moon was a piece of stainless drop from Carl's work. 

The booyah party the next day was another hot, hot, one, but at least we had a door on the outhouse this time.  Maybe by next year, we'll have the permanent door done?

 I'm very happy with the way the outhouse fits in with the garden, it's stone, after all.

The glass blocks at the top add enough light when the door is shut and at night, I have solar string lights illuminating the interior for now.

The temporary door

 And there we have it, our Tufa Gabion Outhouse, a year or two in the making.  Once again, we're not entirely done, but it is a work in progress.  We hope to create the metal door, either copper or galvanized or both, by next spring.  But, knowing us, it will probably be August, a few hours before our next booyah party. 

As for now, we have another small crisis to deal with; our driveway culvert rusted out and the driveway is falling in.  Oh, dear.  We cannot let this go, so stay tuned for the next big job headed our way in a few weeks...............

The permanent outhouse door will have to wait.  We have a little more time in the winter.  We hope we will, anyway....hey, hope springs eternal, right?