All About Pallet Toilets

You can find a place for a summer cottage street toilet made of wooden pallets even on a small area - this design option takes up a minimum of space, it can be easily erected even on a primitive foundation.

The material is also quite cheap, you can buy or get decommissioned storage modules for free, it is not at all necessary to take new ones. Many people want to know how to make a toilet for a summer residence from pallets with their own hands - it is worth considering this issue in more detail.

Problems of an extremely delicate nature in the conditions of a summer cottage or during the construction of a capital house require budgetary solutions.

A pallet toilet is the simplest design that can be combined with a cesspool, storage tank, primitive septic tank or powder closet, providing a minimum level of comfort and privacy for every household. Wooden structures can last up to 10 years if you take care of their processing with protective or decorative compounds.

Some of the nuances can be attributed to the features of a country toilet made of wooden pallets.

1. Ease of construction. Most often, it can be transferred without problems, if this is required when improving the site.
2. Natural air exchange. For a booth for 1 user, a regular hole in the door is enough. For a larger number of users, it is better to install a pipe with an outlet on the roof of the structure.
3. Compact dimensions. Double options have dimensions 120 × 200 cm, single 120 × 120 cm or 120 × 100 cm.
4. Simplicity of execution. Usually this is a building without windows, with a locker and a cesspool.

Even a master with minimal skills in this area can build a toilet from wooden pallets. You just need to prepare tools and materials.

There are certain building codes that should be considered when choosing a place for a toilet on a site. If we are talking about a powder closet without a cesspool, sanitary standards will be less stringent. This solution is usually used in places where groundwater is high, which means that there is technically no possibility of constructing a leaky sump. The toilet can be located close to the house or other buildings. You just have to provide a place where the waste will be sent.

In the case of a classic country toilet, the rules will be stricter. When choosing a place for it, you will have to take into account some requirements.

1. The location is not closer than 25 m to the source of drinking water, but necessarily below the well intake if there is a slope of the relief.
2. Distance more than 12 m from residential buildings, cellars.
3. The door should not be located in the direction of the neighbors' site.
4. Take into account the distance to fruit bushes and a fence - it should be more than 1 m, to trees and outbuildings - 4 m.
5. Do not combine the toilet with an outdoor shower or sauna. To them, you should maintain a distance of at least 8 m.

The construction of an outdoor toilet from pallets for a summer residence is divided into several stages. The construction of the "booth" itself will be the same for the variant with a cesspool and for a powder closet. The subtleties will consist only in the arrangement of the drainage of waste masses. The simplest country toilet made of wooden pallets with your own hands is easy to make.

• Choice of sizes and shapes. Usually a toilet stall for 1 person has a square or rectangular section at a height of 2.2 m. For 2 users, the width is doubled, the depth remains the same, about 1-1.5 m. If pallets are used, the size of the "box" itself most likely, it will be quite modest - 80 × 120 or 100 × 120 cm, American pallets allow you to get a square toilet with a cubicle size of 1200 × 1200 mm.

• Preparation of a cesspool. You can simply dig in a plastic barrel of sufficient volume or make an airtight tank out of concrete rings. On average, you will have to dig a pit 1.5 × 1.5 m at a depth of 2 m.If you plan to clean it using a sewage machine, it is better to provide a slope of the bottom so that the drains accumulate at one wall.

• Arrangement of the foundation. It is necessary for both the powder closet and the booth above the cesspool. You can make a light tape version or just build it from blocks or bricks. A columnar foundation based on asbestos is also suitable; a strapping of a 10 cm bar is placed on top of it.

• Floor construction. For it, you can use a ready-made pallet by cutting a hole in it of the required size above the cesspool. For a powder closet, you can make a solid flooring, not a slatted floor, taking the frame of the pallet as a basis. In this case, it is simply sewn up tightly with boards from other pallets.

• Formation of walls. The simplest version of the frame is assembled from Finnish or conventional pallets - in this case, it will be rectangular. American pallets have square frames. The cross-bars are removed, at the corners the frames placed on top of each other are fastened with metal brackets or bars, slats to full height.

• Formation of a doorway. It is corny cut into the resulting box, leaving 1 pallet width (145 mm) at the top. Previously, bars are attached to the future door, the corners in the cutting area are reinforced with them. The resulting shield is hung in the resulting opening on the hinges. An air outlet should be provided in the door leaf - the same "heart" or just a gap.

• Roof assembly. The easiest way is to make it from a piece of polycarbonate - transparent or colored, on a frame made of the same pallets. This creates an additional source of illumination that is completely impervious to water. The roof is installed and fixed to the frame part.

• Creation of a locker. This is the name of a kind of "pedestal" with a hole. A seat is placed on top of it, you can buy a ready-made version of plastic - you just need to screw it to the floor from the pallets. If it is a powder closet, the locker is made with a lid that allows you to remove and empty the container with sawdust or peat.

A ready-made country toilet made of wooden pallets does not have to be left in the open air in its original state. By picking up weather-resistant paint, you can give the structure a more presentable appearance. In addition, the protective coating will significantly extend the life of the wooden "house".

For a pallet toilet, see the next video.