Outdoor Retreats offers unique holiday accommodation in and around the Brecon Beacons in South Wales. When we needed an off grid toilet solution for our small piece of countryside a regular portaloo just didnt sit right with us for both aesthetic and environmental reasons.
With a family background in renovation and building we set out to design and build a solution. We researched what else was available and decided we wanted ours to be simple to use, portable and incorporate as many reclaimed and environmentally friendly materials as possible. We built our first Portable Composting Outhouse in 2013 and used and improved it for over a year before settling on the design we sell today.
Initial demand for the Outhouse was surprising and we soon needed to move to a larger premises, which lead to the birth of the Reworkshop side of Outdoor Retreats Ltd where we now design and create many other products with a huge emphasis on reclaimed and environmentally friendly materials sourced locally where possible. Along with a passion for sustainability, our love of the outdoors, camping and glamping keeps us striving to improve on our designs and bring new off grid infrastructure solutions to our customers. Weve built many one off amenity units for landowners and are currently polishing the plans for both our shower and kitchenette units, watch this space!
Our Outhouse needed to be simple to use, portable, strong and environmentally friendly. The design harks back to the traditional outback or frontier outhouses and privys, this was something I was keen to keep the look and feel of by choosing the correct materials that would also fit with our sustainability brief.
To use a smaller euro style pallet seemed like the logical answer these can be brought in grade A condition which means they are used but as new and with a little adjusting and strengthening make the perfect reclaimed base for our Outhouse. The walls and roof structure, and the cladding are pressure treated virgin timber sourced from sustainably managed forests, this choice was made to ensure strength and reliable production.All our frames are screwed by hand for strength and accuracy, not nailed for speed. The door is made from pressure treated tongue & groove timber and hung with strong UK made T-hinges. Reclaimed timber is used as a surround with a reclaimed hardwood handle plus locks inside and out. Although its not really needed for light purposes due to the Sunroof on the Primo Model, you can still have our own take on the traditional moon and star cut out if you would like.
As well as being pressure treated the outside of the Outhouse will receive an additional water based exterior finish all over we typically use a light oak colour but you are free to specify your own colour for no extra cost, we can also paint the inside of the outhouse if required for a small additional cost. The primo model comes with our new Sunroof option. A lot of research was carried out to find the perfect opaque but light omitting roofing sheet. This was made even harder by the fact that normal clear roofing sheets are in no way environmentally friendly and that just wasnt going to work for us. We are now extremely pleased to say that we use what we believe to be the only recycled tri wall polycarbonate sheeting in the UK providing great strength and light omitting properties while offering complete privacy The Sunroof is an excellent addition to the Outhouse it transforms the space inside and reduces the need for lighting. Inside, the base of the toilet compartment is clad with recycled pallet wood and the compartment lid on the Primo is solid pine which is sanded to a fine finish darkened slightly and wax oiled for ease of cleaning and protection. We have chosen a Free Range Designs urine separator which is a recycled product and is paired with a solid Oak or Bamboo conventional toilet seat. The separator sits in our specially designed reclaimed oak sliders which allow it to be adjusted, and is coupled to a flexible outlet pipe which is detachable for cleaning. We believe we are the only company to also include a soak away vent which helps prevent any smells from the soak away venting into the Outhouse. The Outhouse has a footprint of 85cm x 125cm however the roof overhangs all around the unit so its best to ensure a space of 100cm x 150cm, at its tallest point the Outhouse 220cm, dropping to 180cm at the rear. Im sure by the time youve read to this point you will understand how passionate we are about the environment and the use of sustainable and reclaimed materials. You wont find any ply wood or manufactured board here!It would be a whole lot easier and less time consuming to build our Outhouses completely from virgin materials, believe it or not, it costs more to use pallet wood due to the man hours involved in sourcing and preparing the timber. I wouldnt go as far to say we are experts in sustainability at Reworkshop but we are constantly striving to ensure all the materials, fixings, adhesives and coatings we use are as environmentally friendly as possible while still being fit for purpose.
I genuinely feel our Outhouses are the greenest composting toilet units on the market, not only because they save water and give back to the environment, but because of the effort thats gone into sourcing the correct materials. Give us a call for a chat about your requirements.As your outhouse is built to order customisation is encouraged and features from both options are interchangeable, above all we just want to be sure your Outhouse will suit your needs. Our average lead time is 8 weeks. Our Installation service is available nationwide, we can also dig your soak away or long drop pits please ask for a free quotation Discounts available for collection from our workshop in South Wales. Unlike the majority of our competition our units come ready built, almost complete needing little assembly to see whats involved we are more than happy to send you the instructions in advance. Thank you for reading Joe Scott.
The item "PORTABLE COMPOSTING OUTHOUSE PRIMO MODEL waterless toilet, eco, off grid WC" is in sale since Saturday, January 23, 2021. This item is in the category "Home, Furniture & DIY\Bath\Toilets & Bidets\Toilet Parts & Attachments".
The seller is "reworkshopwales" and is located in Ebbw Vale. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom.