I live in a 50 or 60 year old house with one tiny bathroom and 2 females. The bathroom needs to be renovated (I've been putting it off for a couple of years, but the tiles just fell off the walls into the bathtub last weekend.)
The ceiling is OK, and we'll probably reuse the recently replaced toilet and the vanity. Everything else needs to be replaced, including the tub and the window and most of the plaster. Did I mention that this is the only bathroom in the house?
(Looking thru the sporting goods catalog for a bucket with a toilet seat to sit out in the garage)
If you're serious about the makeshift bathroom, go to
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They sell portable toilets for small boats. I've never owned one, but I believe you put some sort of chemical in there to keep the Disgustingness Index down to 8. Without the chemical, it would be a 10.
The toilet etc. should be able to be kept functional during the revamp, aside for the small amount of time possibly replacing the tile under it.
The bath / shower might be a different issue though; hopefully you can borrow a friends or relatives in the meantime. You might even be able to make an outdoor shower.
Well, if you're keeping the toilet, I don't think you'll have to do without a toilet much.
I used to pick up things for a friend who was building a house in a rural area. I actually found a portable toilet in a dumpster, but I decided he wasn't that good a friend. But he bought one. He kept trying to get his weekend guests, after the house was usable, to go outside no matter what time of year (upstate NY) so he wouldn't have to do maintenance on the toilet.
But the guy was a jackass. We went camping in N.C. with his girlfriend and her 10 year old daughter, and on the way back, just as
495 approaches the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, the little girl had to go to the bathroom. We took an exit, and he wanted to stop on the ramp, about 20 feet up a hill, and have the little girl go in the reeds between the ramp and metal railing. All of about 2 feet wide, while we parked there and traffic slowed to pass us.
He was a jerk -- that was one example of many -- and that's why we don't talk anymore, as of 15 years ago.
I wonder how much it costs to rent a whole port-a-potty for a... week, or two. Probably quite a bit. I'm 58 and I remember when they were absolutely disgusting. But 30 or so years ago, they came up with something that actually keeps them from smelling that bad inside. Either that or my nose got broken, but I don't think that is it.
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Outdoor shower could be interesting here in Minnesota in January and February. OTOH, it reduces the disgustingness of that bucket out in the garage ;-)
The toilet will end up being pulled briefly and reinstalled several times to keep from damaging it during demolition. I've got lots of wax rings.
One thing I probably need to have done is to lower the toilet flange about 1/2 inch. It's currently just a little too high for the floor, so all the wax squeezes out of the joint and the toilet rocks after a while. It's a cast iron stack, so I don't think I'll try replacing the flange myself. (Or instead I might raise the floor, if I can figure out a good way to do the threshhold.)
What about pouring a very thin layer of concrete, maybe an inch high, which would raise the toilet to the right level versus the pipe? Make the "pedestal" just large enough to do its job, but not so large that people smash their toes on it. Then, send the wife to a tile store for the appropriate supplies to decorate the pedestal with festive, gay flowery-doodle tiles. :-)
I was thinking of just using the existing 1" ceramic tiles as a base to put down new 4" tiles. That would raise the stool off the flange by the thickness of the new floor, which is about right. And I wouldn't have to demolish the old floor that way, just cover it with a very thin layer of mason's mix (or something similar) to fill and level the grout lines.
Thresholds are easy to remove and raise. What I ended up doing was cutting ceramic tile in the shape slightly smaller than the base and attaching it with silicone caulk to the base of the toilet. Not the best but it works. Only downside is it is hard to get an attractive bead of caulk.
Take a look at this site. They have a great forum for tiling.
You and Charles have to work this one out. He says 30!.
Does 30 a week include pickup and delivery? OTOH, does 200 include pickup and delivery each and every week? :)
In 1955 the outhouse at YMCA camp smelled absolutely terrible. Now even the dirtiest portapots don't smell nearly as bad. AFAICT. I think they invented something, not just perfume. that they put in the sewage compartment that counteracts the smell. Because none of the last 20 portapots I've used have smelled very bad at all.
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