A Gardeners Forum
Posted By: BFVISION Outhouses - August 22nd, 2005 at 08:24 AM
Hi All wavey ,
This may sound crazy, but I thought I would add a decorative outhouse to my yard. You know, complete with the hollyhocks idea ?
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?
Posted By: Karrie Re: Outhouses - August 22nd, 2005 at 08:28 AM
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.
Posted By: Bestofour Re: Outhouses - August 24th, 2005 at 04:51 AM
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.
Posted By: MaryReboakly Re: Outhouses - August 24th, 2005 at 07:40 AM
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 wink

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? Duh
Posted By: mike57 Re: Outhouses - August 24th, 2005 at 04:38 PM
wavey 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 wavey flw flw
Posted By: tkhooper Re: Outhouses - August 24th, 2005 at 06:30 PM
If you want a dark wood color you might just want to stain it with the color you want. It's an idea.
Posted By: BFVISION Re: Outhouses - August 28th, 2005 at 12:06 AM
Sounds like I am on to something. I guess home made adds to the look.

Thanks for the advice.
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