bathroom conversion

[desert_sailing]

Wanted to share this before the forums crashes again...

I had a terrible bathroom area.. with no counter top  about 30 inch wide and 42 long.. Thats alot of missing counter space.

A modification of my own would have been so substandard and costly ( I have no skill saw)but, it would have been good enough.
I happened to stop by the local Habitat 4 Humanity store on my way to home depot and came across a great ready made cabinet. I checked the measurements and it went ahead and bought it. After all, I only wanted a box with a hinged top and maybe a front hinged door.

As you can see in the pictures it fits like a glove into the allotted space. There are two compartments now for additional storage. I now have a place to put my compost  bathroom material and ohh so convenient.

I did want to put a little hinged door on the front to access the toilet easier.. but I have zero desire to make a mountain of an ant hill and I will just step over the edge in and out.. its fine for me.  The only thing I have to solve is  taking me back to the whole redgard shower pan issue I had. I did choose to just use the large mixing bin I have but there is no way it will fit I am thinking of getting some of that thick pond liner and lining the entire first compartment where the "terlet" and showering is happening. It won't be getting a lot of wear and tear so I think it would be fine.

Just wanted to share.. maybe others of you are looking for solutions. If I were starting anew I would definitely have more of a focus on a no build, build. A cabinet doesn't always have to sit upright and some of the 2nd hand stores are perfect and some have good deals.. I got this for 30bux. The wood and screws alone would have been much more not to mention the time it would take for an unskilled person to make.

The grain is soo nice.. I wish it wasn't so dark. Today it has received a few coats of white paint. :dodgy: 
I would have liked to restain it something lighter..but I am exhausted from this whole process and want functional over form at this point.

 

[VanFan]

As you can see in the pictures it fits like a glove into the allotted space. There are two compartments now for additional storage. I now have a place to put my compost  bathroom material and ohh so convenient.

Just wanted to share.. maybe others of you are looking for solutions.

Creative use of a great find!  Thanks for passing this on.  I don't know that I would have thought of turning a cabinet on its back, and I will definitely file the idea away for another time.  I do believe you have developed "the eye" for just exactly what will fit in a given space!

 

[desert_sailing]

So I am back to the original dilemma of low to line, water tighten a wooden box.

I replaced the previous open box with the cabinet on side and so the feed bin is NOT going to fit. 

liquid rubber of some kind is an option. Not sure if I have to but I am not really interested in sanding down to raw wood for a good grip.

A pond liner  tacked up above the water line. I was thinking of silicone to all interior seams, putting some kind of adhesive down then laying in the pond lining to fit it smoothly. I am assuming this also should be sanded down to get good grip and seals.?

I am wondering if home depot  sells some kind of rigid plastic sheets? I looked but I am not searching for the right terms? Maybe I  could cut pieces to line and adhere to the box and then seal the seams? Would I also need to sand for this?

Should I just go back and get the redgard and  lay vinyl tile over it.. or a few rubber bath mats?


I will be doing a little box with a real seat for the bucket which will be left inside always.


I am so close to having an ideal (for me) bathroom. As I will only be having the shower/hot water on for a few minutes and I will be awake with ventilation it is super handy to have it at the push of a button. Having some bathroom supplies AND compost material at the hand is also great.

The width of the toilet tub side is very narrow. I fit.. but.. um.. good thing soap is used to get big  things out of tight places. I did think about changing the orientation of the divider to allow more width.. but for 2 more inches I am not sure if I want the hassle.

I really just want  an efficient way to prevent water from flooding the rig.

Any comments about waterproofing  and any critique about my potentials as well as the overall current state of things would be great. I hope to be using this thing by the weekend.

Everyone always talks about how great cedar chips and hamster bedding is for a compost toilet. I am now doing more research and this appears to NOT be the case as cedar is naturally resistant to decay..much more so than other types of wood. I of course will not be traveling/living with  days and days worth of doodie and so no real compost action will be happening. Maybe cedar is selected merely  for the odor masking? Scared and eager to find out. WIth this 100+ degree heat we are having it may be a good time to test how the odor is when "cooking".  I do plan to have a gamma lid when it is not in use however.

I am also going to give the shower head a little longer hose as it reaches out the side doors not as far as I would prefer..but I can get a little tarp and have a nice spot for outdoor showering as well.

Words of caution and advice are greatly appreciated here.

 

[VanFan]

I don't have any direct experience with this, and I question the durability, but have you considered a folding dog pool?  They can be configured to conform to different sizes, and I have seen them in both round and rectangular versions. Has anyone else used one?

 

[B and C]

I think fiberglassing the interior would be the way to go. No seams to caulk (fail?) and no having to mess with the corners on a pond liner. My $0.02

No ideas on the toilet, I have a black tank for such things.

Edit to add: You will have to devise a way of emptying it too. No ideas other than a towel to mop it up and squeeze it out outside.

 

[VanFan]

You will have to devise a way of emptying it too...

A bilge pump, maybe?  I have a small one ($15, 500 gal/hr. type) that displaces an amazing amount of water quickly.  It is working great for a shower, BTW.

 

[B and C]

For a bilge pump to be effective in emptying that container, a shallow well would have to be devised unless yours sucks from the bottom instead of the sides somehow. In any case, it will leave a good amount of water in the shower pan.

@VanFan
How much water is left in your container when you pump to the bottom without tipping?

 

[desert_sailing]

I think fiberglassing the interior would be the way to go.  No seams to caulk (fail?) and no having to mess with the corners on a pond liner.  My $0.02

No ideas on the toilet, I have a black tank for such things.

Edit to add:  You will have to devise a way of emptying it too.  No ideas other than a towel to mop it up and squeeze it out outside.

I haven't tested it yet.. but I bought 2 of those pumps that are powered by a drill. I hope they work good and I will buy a couple more for back up.. only about 5 bux. I hope to get some use out of those 2- 4 ah ryobi batteries!

https://www.harborfreight.com/all-purpose-drill-powered-pump-390-gph-62783.html

The fiber glassing would be nice. I have just heard various levels of time and skill/work to do so..LOL...

I can look for a different sized bin/dog shower and use shower curtain material on the sides.??

dagnabit! Why don't we live in a world of just chocolate and vanilla.

 

[B and C]

Never used one of those so don't know how much lift suction it has. You will need two garden hoses too but they can be cut to length needed. Run no more than 10 seconds dry is the warning.

Edit to add: You may want to try emptying a bucket with it first to see how much water is left without tilting the bucket. In any case, you will need a towel to sop up what's left and air dry afterwards.

 

[desert_sailing]

see how much water is left without tilting the bucket. 

Ill have to park on a slight slope...

Growing up we ALWAYS had to dry the shower..my mother hated water spots. It was so ingrained in me that as an adult I found it odd that most people DID NOT rinse and dry the shower.

Bucket test coming this week!

 

[highdesertranger]

Home Depot does sell plastic sheets it's called FRP(Fiber reinforced Plastic). but then you would have the seems to seal, no easy task. highdesertranger

 

[Happy Camper]

Sounds like this is what you would need to empty your shower. Small enough to store, cheap enough to buy a backup in case something happens.

https://www.harborfreight.com/battery-operated-liquid-transfer-pump-63847.html

You could empty it into a jug or bucket and dump that later. Or maybe attach a hose that goes outside.

 

[desert_sailing]

Yes, the stepping over the edge to get in is not ideal.. and If I were to sell the rig to a less agile person it would be challenge.  I have been ruminating over it for a bit with no real good ideas coming to mind. I was thinking even something like companionway hatch boards  in 2 pieces just slide em in.

I will take a look at glassing again. I got spooked away from others saying how much of a process it is.  Damn naysayers!

I am giving myself this week and ONLY this week to sort this out and have a usable facility by the weekend.  This has been a caught in my craw for some time now.. since the very beginning of the build and it needs to be put out of its misery... or is it me that needs it?

 

[VanFan]

@VanFan
How much water is left in your container when you pump to the bottom without tipping?

At the moment, I can't answer that question because I have a leak at the pump/hose connection.  Will let you know once that's resolved.  Would a large sponge be an option for sopping up what remains?

 

[VanFan]

I haven't tested it yet.. but I bought 2 of those pumps that are powered by a drill.
https://www.harborfreight.com/all-purpose-drill-powered-pump-390-gph-62783.html

That's something I have not seen.  (Fascinated with pumps these days .)

 

[VanFan]

Sounds like this is what you would need to empty your shower. Small enough to store, cheap enough to buy a backup in case something happens.

https://www.harborfreight.com/battery-operated-liquid-transfer-pump-63847.html

This looks suspiciously like the "Perfect Pour" pump I use in my 6 gallon water bottle/sink rig (minus the spout and bottle neck fitting).  I've ordered a back-up after experiencing an outage the other day.  We took it apart, reassembled it, and have no idea why it's working again.  A pump dependence cautionary tale perhaps ?

 

[B and C]

A large sea sponge could get the majority of it with a toweling afterwards. Can you still buy sea sponges?

 

[VanFan]

Can you still buy sea sponges?

I think so, but I was thinking more like a big car washing sponge.  (I have an old sea sponge.  Still nice and fresh.)

 

[VanFan]

This is what I'm talking about.  https://www.petco.com/shop/SearchDi...lue=search&searchKeyword=&searchTerm=dog+pool

Round ones are all over Ebay, with different drain plugs, etc.

 

[B and C]

IIRC, sea sponges hold more water than regular sponges.