Country toilet project with shower: scheme selection + construction instructions

In the country, you need a toilet and a shower, because only thanks to these facilities you can spend time with relative comfort on your own site. They should be built before the start of garden work. If there are no centralized water supply and sewerage systems (and this usually happens), you need to consider a project for a country toilet with a shower with a separate cesspool. The best option is combined buildings with a partition under one roof.

The combined shower and toilet are one building under a common roof. The rooms are separated only by a wall, and the entrance to each of them is separate. A tank is placed above the shower. It is installed on the roof and water is supplied through pipes, a faucet and a watering can are mounted.

If a washbasin is provided in the toilet, then water should come into it from a common tank. In the same way, water is brought to the toilet if they decide to install a standard toilet with a flush. However, such plumbing fixtures are rarely installed in the country, much more often they get by with a standard “hole in the floor” with a cesspool.

Before building a structure with a cesspool, you should make sure that it will not poison the lives of your neighbors. Otherwise, conflicts, litigation, fines of state fire supervision and technical supervision services are not excluded

If a cesspool is used to accumulate drains from the toilet and shower, it should be located at least 20-25 m from the source of drinking water. In areas where it is not possible to comply with the norms, it is necessary to carefully concrete the bottom of the pit. This is to avoid accidental contamination of drinking water with faecal bacteria.

A toilet with a shower is built at a distance of 10 m from residential buildings (both their own and neighboring ones). Violation of sanitary standards in this case threatens with flooding of foundations and basements if the pit is overflowing during spring floods and / or depressurizes. The distance to the fence should be at least 1-3 m.

When planning the location of a pit toilet, one should take into account the distances not only to buildings, but also to communications:

• to asbestos-cement pipes - 5 m or more;
• to cast-iron pipes with a diameter of less than 20 cm - 1.5 m;
• to cast-iron pipes over 20 cm - 3 m;
• to gas - 5 m and more.

It happens that the site is too small or its location does not allow even the minimum distances between objects recommended by SNiP to be maintained. In this case, it is worth consulting the BTI on how to resolve this issue.

When developing a project for a country toilet with a shower, its location should be considered. We offer one of the possible options for site planning

Building a toilet and shower under one roof has several significant advantages:

• compactness. Dacha is a place not only for recreation, but also for growing vegetables, fruits, berries. Every square meter should be used with maximum efficiency. The construction of a combined structure solves the problem of lack of space.
• Saving building materials. Any construction is a cost, and the lower they are, the better. The foundation is especially expensive. If it is one for two rooms, this is already a cost reduction. If you add more savings on roofing materials and load-bearing walls, the benefits are obvious.
• Time saving. The construction of two structures takes much more time than the construction of one. You get two vital structures in almost the same time as one, because. the most energy-intensive work (digging pits, pouring foundations) is done immediately for both structures.
• One drain hole. The arrangement of a drain pit requires effort, time and money. If she is alone, this is a significant savings. An additional plus is less unpleasant odors on the site, because. "Fragrant" zone is also only one.

There is only one serious drawback, but a big one: when bathing in the shower, the smell from the toilet may bother you, but this is a solvable problem. If the ventilation pipe is brought above the roof of the building, unpleasant odors can be avoided altogether. There is a video below that details the odorless toilet ventilation design.

The toilet and pit shower need periodic maintenance. You will have to negotiate with the sewage services and arrange the building so that the length of the hose is enough to pump out sewage, and equip access roads for the car

Before building a summer shower, you should carefully consider how water will be drawn into the tank. The ideal option is a pump and a hose. If it is not possible to pump water from the source to the tank, it will have to be carried in buckets by hand and lifted to the roof of the building, and this is quite difficult. To facilitate the work, you need to plan wide comfortable paths.

What to consider when developing a project?

As for any other structure, a project is first prepared for a combined toilet with an outdoor shower. When developing it, the following nuances should be taken into account:

• The layout should be comfortable. Separate entrances are provided for each room, so care must be taken that access to both doors is free. The toilet and summer shower should be convenient to use. If there are children, elderly or disabled people in the family, their needs must also be taken into account.
• The project takes into account the features of building materials, finishes. The loads on future structures and, accordingly, the choice of the type of foundation depend on this.
• The area and height of the premises are calculated based on the personal needs of family members. Most often, structures of 2.75x2 m or 3x3 m are built. The height can be 2 or 2.5 m, depending on the height of family members. Too low rooms are uncomfortable, and in too high rooms it can be difficult to reach the shower head.

The calculation of the area also depends on the number of plumbing fixtures and furniture. If you build spacious rooms of 1.3x2 m, then there will be enough space for a shower stall, a bench, shelves and a washbasin. In addition, the rectangular shape facilitates the task of arranging furniture and plumbing.

When designing, you need to consider which way the door to each room will open. The choice of the place of installation of the washbasin and the possibility of simultaneous entry of people into the toilet and outside shower depend on this.

The more carefully the project is developed, the more convenient and durable the design will be. You should not start construction before every little thing is thought out, because it is much more difficult and expensive to complete and rebuild than to provide all the necessary amenities once.

Choosing a material for construction

The choice is small: usually it comes down to just two materials - wood and brick. For a long-term building that will be used for decades, it is better to choose a brick. It is durable, well tolerates the impact of negative external factors. The disadvantage is that you have to equip a reliable foundation. This involves significant costs.

A wooden building is cheaper, it can be built faster, but this is not the most durable option. On the other hand, it is difficult to build permanent structures on loose soils, and for them it is better to choose lighter wooden structures. If desired, they can be finished on the outside so that the tree deteriorates less.

Wood conquers with the beauty of its natural pattern. It “breathes”, thanks to which the rooms always have a comfortable microclimate. But still, it should only be used for temporary construction and must be treated with antifungal impregnations.

Sometimes they build metal combined toilets with a summer shower. This is a difficult task, because need a welding machine. The building itself may not live up to expectations and quickly collapse due to corrosion, since the shower is constantly humid. Another option is slate, but it is fragile, and the walls made of it are short-lived.

Types of cesspools for a toilet with a shower

There are two main types of cesspools - with a filtering bottom and sealed. The former are easier to build and do not require special operating costs, and to clean sealed pits, you have to call in sewers. There is a caveat: although many summer residents build filter pits, this is prohibited by sanitary standards, because. can cause pollution of aquifers.

For the construction of a cesspool, a variety of materials and structures are chosen:

• brick;
• reinforced concrete rings;
• monolithic concrete;
• plastic or metal tanks;
• improvised materials.

It is easiest to build a capital sealed pit from bricks. To do this, they dig a square pit of the desired diameter, compact the soil, equip a sand cushion and fill the bottom of the pit with concrete. When the material hardens, brick walls are built (the structure should rise 10-20 cm above the ground), plastered and waterproofed with bituminous mastic.

Often, leaky brick pits are also built. In this case, a filter bottom is made, and the brick is placed in a checkerboard pattern, leaving gaps. Such structures do not waterproof, because. water goes into the ground, and only silt remains in the pit itself, which needs to be removed occasionally.

Difficulties may arise with the waterproofing of a brick pit, because. bituminous mastics are not always durable. Their service life depends on many factors: composition, correct application, operating conditions, climate

A sealed pit is best built from cast-in-place concrete or reinforced concrete well rings. For waterproofing concrete, penetrating compounds or bitumen, bitumen-polymer mastics are used. Combinations of different types of materials are possible to create a durable and reliable waterproofing layer.

Volumetric barrels with a bottom (for sealed ones) or without it (for filtering ones) are installed as cesspools. You can also build a structure from improvised materials, for example, from old used tires. There are a lot of options, especially if the drain from the shower is equipped separately.

Arrangement of a toilet without a cesspool

Sometimes it is not possible to build a cesspool due to the proximity of the aquifer. Then you can bring the drain pipe from the shower to the compost heap and put a dry closet or powder closet. Dry closets are sold ready-made. They are suitable for installation both outdoors and indoors.

Powder closet is a structure with a small sealed pit in which sewage is sprinkled with peat. The pit is cleaned regularly, taking out its contents on the compost. If the cottage is not inhabited during the entire summer season, this is a good option.

To make it more convenient to use the powder closet, they make a toilet seat with a lid, and the waste container is masked with sheathing. It is best to provide a special door for removing the tank. Ventilation is a must.

Although powder closet is not particularly convenient to use, you do not have to worry about soil and groundwater contamination, because. impurities do not seep into the ground

Relatively recently, an interesting modern type of toilet powder has appeared - a peat toilet. The principle of its operation is the same, but the peat tank is located right inside the structure. When it is full, it is removed and cleaned. The toilet is then ready for use again.

Self-construction toilet with shower

Consider the option of building a toilet with a summer shower made of wood with your own hands. The structure is relatively light, it can be installed on almost any soil. Under it will require a columnar foundation. The roof can be equipped with a gable roof and covered with metal tiles or other suitable material.

If desired, under a gable roof, you can equip additional space like an attic for storing the necessary little things or garden tools

Before starting construction, you need to purchase materials:

• bars (for upper and lower trim, vertical supports, roof frame);
• edged boards (for lathing, subfloor);
• OSB-sheets (for finished floor, ceiling);
• pipes (for sewerage and ventilation);
• plywood (for formwork);
• metal tile (for the roof);
• bulk materials - gravel or crushed stone, sand;
• metal corners (for fastening bars).

Lumber must be dry (permissible humidity is not higher than 22%). There should be no defects on the boards and beams: knots, cracks, signs of fungus damage.

Stage #1: Cesspool and Foundation

To begin with, the site is marked out for a foundation and a cesspool, after which earthworks begin. A pit is dug under the pit with a perimeter of 1 x 1.5 m, a depth of 1.5 to 2 m. The walls are reinforced with either concrete or brickwork, and the bottom is concreted.

When the pit is ready, you can start building the foundation. Small holes (20 cm) with a depth of 0.8 m are made under it. A sand cushion (10 cm) is placed on the bottom of the holes and carefully rammed.

To strengthen concrete, 3-5 reinforcement bars are installed. To keep them well, they can be connected with strong metal wire.

Formwork, reinforcement are installed in the finished holes, concrete pillars are poured and left for 2-3 days for the material to solidify. After that, you can already remove the formwork. If it is hot outside, it makes sense to cover the concrete for a drying period so that it does not crack due to the rapid evaporation of moisture.

Stage #2: construction of the structure

A drain pipe is installed under the shower so that moisture does not accumulate under the structure and does not destroy its lower part. After that, you can start building the lower trim. The bars are connected with wooden elements, and attached to concrete with metal studs. Above the pit, a metal frame is made from a channel.

For the construction of walls, a frame of beams is installed in the corners, and two pillars are placed in the place of the doorway at a distance of 77 cm from each other. If everything is installed correctly, you can proceed to the arrangement of the upper harness. It is attached to self-tapping screws, metal corners and plates.

A ridge board is attached to the upper harness. Rafters are made of boards with a step of 65 cm, after which a crate is installed. Boards should protrude 20 cm beyond the edges of the vertical structure. Later they will serve as a visor. Next, wind boards are fixed and the roof is covered with metal tiles.

The position of all vertical elements is leveled. There should be no deviations, because this threatens to quickly collapse the finished structure

The floor is laid from boards with a thickness of at least 4 cm. They are fixed with self-tapping screws to the bottom harness. They immediately make a “step” frame for the future elevation and sheathe it with boards 2 cm thick. It remains to insulate the structure with foam plastic and blow out the cracks with construction foam. The outer walls and ceiling are sheathed with boards.

Stage # 3: arrangement of the shower and toilet

To equip the drain system, they dig a ditch and lay a sewer pipe, which is connected to the drain. The floors in the shower are covered with rubble, reducing the thickness of its layer near the drain hole. Crushed stone is poured with concrete so that after solidification a floor is obtained with a uniform slope to the drain from all sides. The surface is waterproofed with bituminous mastic.

A wooden floor is laid on top of the concrete floor with a distance between the boards of 1.5-2 cm. The walls are sheathed with boards and treated with waterproofing agents and antiseptics. After that, all surfaces are opened with two layers of yacht varnish. The wood of the outer skin is treated in the same way.

The surface of the concrete floor must be smooth so that water does not linger in the recesses and freely drains into the drain.

A tank is placed on the roof of the structure, drainpipes are brought out, and ventilation is installed in the toilet. It remains only to install the doors, take care of connecting the electricity for using the premises in the evening, mount the shower head and equip the toilet seat.

Useful related videos

When choosing a project and building a toilet and shower under one roof, it is easy to make a mistake. Sometimes even experienced craftsmen experience difficulties, and it is even more difficult for beginners to understand the nuances. We offer videos that can resolve some issues and enrich with new ideas.

The video shows one of the successful options for interior and exterior decoration of a toilet with a shower:

Step-by-step video instruction on the construction of a wooden structure covered with slate:

The video is devoted to the issue of arranging ventilation, which allows you to completely get rid of the smell in the toilet:

Up-to-date information on the construction of a budget cesspool from tires:

There are many options for arranging a toilet and shower in the country, and they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. Only the owner himself can correctly assess the conditions on his site and choose the right project. The main thing is to take into account all the nuances and calculate your strength. Having built a comfortable toilet with a shower, you will provide yourself and your loved ones with quite comfortable living conditions in the country throughout the summer season.