The Open Air Outhouse
Hannah and David Rowland’s “Open Air Outhouse.” Photo by Hannah Rowland
Hannah Rowland - Featured Columnist
My husband has built and sold many outhouses to others in the past and builds them when he needs them for work, but for our own use, that is an entirely different story. For our outhouse, he put the hole in with a culvert and placed a seat on top. That was it. So here I was, a newlywed, just moved from Eagle River to McCarthy; and I don’t even have an outhouse, just an “outseat.”
I had lived for many years in Alaska. I had gone camping and even went on a couple of backpacking trips. Needless to say, I was no stranger to using an outhouse - but this wasn’t quite the experience I was expecting.
Overall, we have a fairly private location. Our neighbor certainly can’t see the outhouse, and you certainly can’t see it from the road. The outhouse is next to a hill, so one side is private at least. Another side used to be hidden behind a large dead willow bush, but that was removed a few years ago.
We also live right under the takeoff and landing zone of the main airstrip in McCarthy - so maybe it’s not so private after all.
Our first time inviting guests over for dinner, David realized he (or rather I) needed to make the outhouse more private for them. We had just got our propane fridge delivered and installed - so we decided to use the fridge crate for temporary walls. It was slightly smaller than the seat, so it didn’t fit very well and was unstable. It nearly made our guests fall over.
Well, those walls didn’t last long and were quickly discarded away. But for me, not having walls wasn’t the main issue, it was the aspect of having to sit out in the rain when it was pouring down, which is nearly constant in the fall. So, I decided to make a roof for it. Once the outhouse had a roof on, it was fairly nice as long as we didn’t have anyone using the outhouse while guests were in plain sight.
Over time, David’s unfinished project at home turned into his preference. David liked to be able to see his surroundings while doing his “business.” The scene of the mountains from our yard is far more beautiful than a wood door with a weird shaped window. Sometimes there might even be a wild animal or bird he can enjoy watching – one time he enjoyed seeing an owl that was perched in a nearby tree. And he especially would like to know if a bear is approaching while he is out there.
If you ever wondered how an open-air outhouse can come in handy, you can use it for pest bate. One year we had a porcupine in the neighborhood who was going after our tasty plywood on the new shed. One night it decided to try and see how the outhouse seat tasted, it did not end well.
I had been hearing rustling noises outside at night for a few nights, and then one night I went out and heard an animal breathing very hard, but I didn’t see it around. I finally realized that there was an animal in our outhouse hole. We had some groundwater, among other stuff, in our hole and the porcupine was swimming around in circles holding its nose out of the water so it could breathe. It was one of the most hilarious and sad things I had ever seen.
Another positive side of having an open-air outhouse is that in the winter you don’t have to worry about shoveling a space so the door can open. I also put lights on our trees next to the outhouse so you can enjoy the glow of the lights on the tree while you have to sit out in the cold.
After a few years the first roof was rotten and needed repairing, so I decided to replace the supports as well instead of just going for the “fast and temporary” job. Because I have learned that “temporary” is always longer than you want it to be so you might as well make it how you want it the first time.
Even though my husband sells lumber that he mills, I rarely ever make an order for my projects. I just find scraps. This time I looked around and decided to use some trees that had fallen, so it would also clean up our woods as well as not needing to be hauled very far.
I got four trees that were about 4” in diameter, cut them to length, and cut off the branches. Then I screwed them to the seat. I then took some scrap plywood pieces and scrap lumber and made a roof panel. With help from a friend, we placed a water shield on the roof and put the roof in place on top of the supports.
The past winter, we had “completed” the upstairs of our cabin by placing trim around the windows and siding for the interior of the roof. David lost motivation to put the trim on the windows downstairs, so we just had this nice wood that was lying around, waiting to warp and crack.
I decided to use the wood to build half walls on the exposed sides of the outhouse so David would be satisfied in being able to see all the way around the outhouse, but it would also have privacy for the “bottom half.”
This past summer the mosquitoes were terrible, especially sitting at the outhouse. Between needing to go quickly to get back inside for a hungry baby and trying to do business while swatting the swarm around me, I had plenty of days when constipation was a problem. I can imagine bugs are a problem with most outhouses, but when there’s three full walls and a door it at least makes a decent barrier to keep the swarm down to just a few easy targets to swat.
If you like to have your favorite magazine in your outhouse for those times you just need to sit it out, don’t have an open air outhouse. All the magazines and newspapers will get damaged from the weather. The half walls and roof are not sufficient to keep those nice and dry. The toilet paper even needs a large recycled can used for a toilet paper shelter to keep it dry.
So, if one of the projects on your list is an outhouse this summer, maybe think about what you want out of the outhouse and what you would like when it comes to fulfilling “nature’s call.”
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