Outhouse - Design and Construction

Design and Construction

Outhouses vary in design and construction. Common features usually include:

• A separate structure from the main dwelling, close enough to allow easy access, but far enough to minimize smell.
• Being a suitable distance away from any freshwater well, so as to minimize risk of contamination and disease.
• An important feature which distinguishes an outhouse from other forms of toilets is the lack of connection to plumbing, sewer, or septic system.
• Walls and a roof for privacy and to shield the user from the elements—rain, wind, sleet and snow (depending on locale) and thus to a small degree, cold weather. Floor plans typically are rectangular or square, but hexagonal outhouses have been built. Thomas Jefferson designed and built two brick octagons at his vacation home.
• Outhouse door design: There is no standard for door design. The well-known crescent moon on American outhouses was popularized by cartoonists and had a questionable basis in fact. There are authors who claim the practice began during the colonial period as an early "mens"/ "ladies" designation for an illiterate populace (the sun and moon being popular symbols for the genders during those times). Others refute the claim as an urban legend. What is certain is that the purpose of the hole is for venting and light and there were a wide variety of shapes and placements employed.
• In Western societies, there is at least one seat with a hole in it, above a small pit.
• In Eastern societies, there is a hole in the floor, over which the user crouches.
• A roll of toilet paper is sometimes available. However, historically, old newspapers and catalogs from retailers specializing in mail order purchases, such as the Montgomery Ward or Sears Roebuck catalog, were also common before toilet paper was widely available. Paper was often kept in a can or other container to protect it from mice, etc. The catalogs served a dual purpose, also giving one something to read. Old corn cobs, leaves, or other types of paper were also used.
• Outhouses are typically built on one level, but two story models are to be found in unusual circumstances. One double-decker was built to service a two-story building in Cedar Lake, Michigan. The outhouse was connected by walkways. It still stands (but not the building). The waste from "upstairs" is directed down a chute separate from the "downstairs" facility in these instances, so contrary to various jokes about two story outhouses, the user of the lower level has nothing to fear if the upper level is in use at the same time.
• The Boston Exchange Coffee House (1809 - 1818) was equipped with a four-story outhouse with windows on each floor
• U.S. President Calvin Coolidge had a window in his outhouse, but such accoutrements are rare.
• Outhouses are commonly humble and utilitarian, made of lumber or plywood. This is especially fit so they can easily be moved when the earthen pit fills up. Depending on the size of the pit and the amount of use, this can be fairly frequent, sometimes yearly. As pundit 'Jackpine' Bob Cary wrote: "Anyone can build an outhouse, but not everyone can build a good outhouse."
• However, brick outhouses are known. Some have been surprisingly ornate, almost opulent considering the time and the place. For example, an opulent 19th century antebellum example (a three-holer) is at the plantation area at the State Park in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The outhouses of Colonial Williamsburg varied widely, from simple expendable temporary wood structures to high style brick. See Jefferson's matched pair of eight-sided brick privies. Such outhouses are sometimes considered to be overbuilt, impractical and ostentatious, giving rise to the simile "built like a brick shithouse." That phrase's meaning and application is subject to some debate; but (depending upon the country) it has been applied to men, women, or inanimate objects.
• Construction and maintenance of outhouses is subject to provincial, state, and local governmental restriction, regulation and prohibition. It is potentially both a public health issue, which has been addressed both by law and by education of the public as to good methods and practices (e.g., separation from drinking water sources). This also becomes a more prevalent issue as urban and suburban development encroaches on rural areas, and is an external manifestation of a deeper cultural conflict. See also urban sprawl, urban planning, regional planning, suburbanization, urbanisation and counter urbanisation.
• Outhouses are inherently part of larger battlegrounds concerning the environment, environmental policy, environmental quality and environmental law.
• A modern analogy to the outhouse is the "Clivus multrum", which is an electric and waterless compost-making machine. See composting toilet and humanure. They are an alternative to outhouses and septic fields, and provide effective sanitation in areas too remote for sewer lines. Worm hold privies, another variant of the composting toilet are being touted by Vermont's Green Mountain Club. These simple outhouses are stocked with red worms (a staple used by home composters). Despite their environmental benefits, composting toilets are likewise subject to regulations.
• Street urinals, also known as vespasiennes or Pissoirs are common in some European cities. Since the 1990s, these were offtimes replaced by the far superior Sanisette. This is a new urban analog to the outhouse—at least insofar as it is a free standing building that houses a unisex outdoor toilet (albeit with modern amenities and a toll being collected). See also pay toilets.
• While one might think 'there is nothing new under the moon,' in 2005 a patent was issued for a 'portable outdoor toilet with advertising indicia.'