A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 Outhouses

Hi All ,
This may sound crazy, but I thought I would add a decorative outhouse to my yard. You know, complete with the Hollyhocks ?
I think they are cool to look at when I see the old ones at the many farmhouses in NJ. Any ideas on how I might buy/find one?

THe idea is not crazy at all been thinking of doing it for 5 years now. When I worked the maintence man used to make them for decorative purposes and he sold them by the ton. He bought a boat with what he made! We have covered bridge festivals here and he sets up booths and takes orders, I think hubby can do it though. Get some cheap planks and some 2 x 4's and make a basic little 4 x4 or what ever size ya want fram put on some 6 x 1's and make a door with some hinges and a lil slide lock on it. You can purchase some of the ribbed roofing at Menards cut it and there ya go. I thought this would be cute and also a great place to store shovels and rakes.

My husband is a plumber and his logo is an old time wooden outside with an American flag on top of it. He gets a lot of comments about it. I think you could build one too. Just round up some planks and do a sloppy job. Remember to put the cut out the moon over the door.

been thinking about this myself, since I found myself with this 'Hollyhock fetish' I love the idea, and might just give it a try myself. Great excuse to play with my powertools anyway

Karrie or Sheri - do you know if it was just rough cut pine planks that's used to build em now? I kinda like the dark wood look, but not sure how to get that with new pine boards. May be cedar? Any ideas?

Hi all if you have a saw mill close to you can buy rough cut pine lumber there. 2x4s and 1x8s real cheap.it will age all on its on and get a dark grayish color to it so it looks more naturally aged.then you can use thompsons water sill to water proof it to make it last longer build it on top of cement blocks so the bottom frame will not rot on you.and yes they do make great garden tool sheds.your friend in gardening.mike57

If you want a dark wood color you might just want to stain it with the color you want. It's an idea.

Sounds like I am on to something. I guess home made adds to the look.

Thanks for the advice.