Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 06-14-2017, 12:10 PM   #1
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Mud Lake, Idaho
Posts: 136
Bathroom design help

Not sure if this is the right place to put this thread but here it is. I have been lurking on here for awhile and enjoy reading everybody’s posts about their builds, ect. One thing I have picked up from my studies is that there is a lot of experience, ingenuity, and talent on this forum and I am looking for some ideas from you fine people on here. I am starting on a little project that is kind of off topic for this forum right now but will get tied back in a bit later in the post. So, first off a little background on me. I have a farm in southeast Idaho and am getting things set up to host campers/tenters/ect for the upcoming eclipse in August. My location is almost exactly in the centerline of the eclipse path. The area is a small farming community with wide open spaces and should make a really good place to view from. The local authorities are predicting upwards to 500,000 people to come to southeast Idaho to view the eclipse. Area hotels/motels/campgrounds have all been booked months ago and people are still looking for places to come to watch the eclipse. I have room to park dozens of rv’s and or campers so I decided to go for it. Since this is a small farming community with not many services and nothing open on Sundays, I knew I would have to have bathroom facilities for visitors to use. I checked into porta potties and they are all rented out locally and I would have to go several hundred miles away to get any with the cost being outrageous and no one to service them for me anyway. My next thought was to build my own bathrooms for guests to use then I would have something for my money instead of throwing money away on porta potties. So then I got to thinking what else I would do with the bathrooms and was thinking of a small campground facility that would cater to skoolies since there seems to be some issues with skoolies and campgrounds. I was also thinking of offering space for building skoolies as well since I have the parking space and tons of woodworking, metalworking, and equipment to build things with that would be available.
Ok so with that stuff explained, I am looking for some advice on my bathroom build. I am building a platform on skids so I can get under it and move it with my forklift. Its 5’x10’ deck and will have a divider wall in the middle and will have a flush toilet and 24” vanity on each side with hot and cold running water. I built the floor out of 2x6 pressure treated lumber and also covered the floor with 2x6 planks. I didn’t snug them together very tight so that moisture can pass through but will be rodent proof. The deck is done and I am getting ready to frame up the walls. I don’t want electricity in it right now and was thinking about using some kind of motion activated battery powered led lights that could be kept charged with solar. I am going to use pressure treated 2x4 lumber for the walls and wanted to sheet the outside with plywood and put tin as the exterior finish for easy care and give the interior a few coats of sealer. So a couple of questions that I would like ideas for are, I want some way to let light in during the day and thought of doing the top six inches of wall with clear polycarbonate or putting in one section over each side when I do the roof tin. Would I get too much heat inside from a clear roof panel?
Another issue is ventilation. I was thinking about installing a closeable vent in the bottom of each door and something in the upper wall or roof to let hot air out but I need to be able to close things up pretty tight so when the wind blows it wont blow full of dirt. Anybody have ideas to share with me on these two items?
After the eclipse weekend is over I am going to move the unit to a different location on the farm and hook it more permanently for the skoolie campground build. At that point I might put electricity in it also. My farm is in a pretty centralized location for visiting area points of interest, such as: Craters of the Moon Monument, INL nuclear labs which has EBR-1, the first nuclear reactor to produce electricity, Salmon river/Frank Church River of no Return Wilderness, Yellowstone Park, Grand Teton National Park, to name a few. Also having grown up being a farmer/mechanic/tinkerer and being currently employed by the local school district the last ten years as the bus supervisor and mechanic, I have a pretty good background in school bus stuff. Well that’s the end of my novel, thanks for reading it and I will look forward to hearing any suggestions anyone wants to share!

Mike

84chevyguyid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2017, 12:47 PM   #2
Bus Geek
 
Robin97396's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Willamina, Oregon
Posts: 6,409
Coachwork: 97 Bluebird TC1000 5.9
Welcome Mike

That's a good idea about providing a place for skoolies. Most of us don't exactly book in advance.



I thought going to your place was a great idea until I saw the projected path of the eclipse. It's going directly over me too.

Concerning outhouses, that's something I grew up with. If you're just making a privacy screen over a hole in the ground for a temp dump stall, let it be simple. If it's a long term use outhouse, many of the county parks bury a tank underground and simply have the outhouse guys vacuum the tank when needed. Less complicated in the long run.
Then there's the true outhouse that has to be moved occasionally because the hole fills up. That must be where the forklift comes in. Outhouse design is an actual skill unless you can deal with all that methane.
My outhouse personality is showing.
__________________
Robin
Nobody's Business
Robin97396 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2017, 01:07 PM   #3
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Mud Lake, Idaho
Posts: 136
I am doing flush toilets and sinks with running water and am going to do the tank underground for waste to run into, thats my temp setup for the eclipse. I had a dairy and still have the 1500 gallon vacuum tank so I can service the tank after the eclipse but want to do a regular sewer for it when it gets moved to its permanent location.
Attached Thumbnails
Mud Lake parking location.JPG  
84chevyguyid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2017, 01:48 PM   #4
Bus Geek
 
Robin97396's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Willamina, Oregon
Posts: 6,409
Coachwork: 97 Bluebird TC1000 5.9
With those stainless steel dairy tanks you could make a lot of brew for your eclipse party.

Previously I thought I had to go to Maine or somewhere far away to see an eclipse. You're right, campgrounds are booked up.



You could take non-running buses and park them as B&Bs in your skoolie park.
__________________
Robin
Nobody's Business
Robin97396 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2017, 02:15 PM   #5
Bus Nut
 
DreamWeaverBus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: So Ill
Posts: 267
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freightliner
Engine: Cummins 5.9 Allison AT545
Rated Cap: 71
I'm right in the southern Illinois area, less than 2 hours from Carbondale, so I'll just float around during the eclipse

Super psyched about it, I had wanted to have my bus by then but plans are stalling due to I haven't sold my thunderbird yet.
DreamWeaverBus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2017, 10:29 AM   #6
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Eastern WA
Posts: 6,401
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American RE (A3RE)
Engine: Cummins ISC (8.3)
Rated Cap: 72
I ran across a gal that had plumbed her conventional flush toilet into a worm bin for composting. She built two bins with the idea that when one filled she would switch to the second one to give the worms time to break down the waste in the first.

Last I heard she had been running on the first (3'x3'x4') bit for over a year and it was not full yet.

Here is some information regarding red worms & composting toilets:

https://www.redwormcomposting.com/wo...rmicomposting/

https://www.permaculture.co.uk/reade...g-flush-toilet
PNW_Steve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2017, 01:30 PM   #7
Bus Nut
 
DreamWeaverBus's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: So Ill
Posts: 267
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freightliner
Engine: Cummins 5.9 Allison AT545
Rated Cap: 71
That's a genius idea... wonder if I could consider a worm composting toilet...
DreamWeaverBus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2017, 02:48 PM   #8
Bus Geek
 
Robin97396's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Willamina, Oregon
Posts: 6,409
Coachwork: 97 Bluebird TC1000 5.9
Do you use a trailer for that worm bed or sling it under the frame?
__________________
Robin
Nobody's Business
Robin97396 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-17-2017, 03:02 PM   #9
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Mud Lake, Idaho
Posts: 136
That worm thing is interesting reading for sure! Thanks for the ideas everybody!
84chevyguyid is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:14 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.