The World is Changing

[buckabucka]

When I moved in with DH, his outhouse had blown over in a hurricane, so there was just an open hole. I always feared falling in until we finally got it righted!

 

[digitS']

Seldom do these threads go the direction I was thinking, at the start.

Start with magnetic alloys, add in the ease in finding wi-fi hotspots in unlikely locations, end up reading the Monkey Wards catalog on a frosty morning in the one-holer ...

Okay, my privy story is not taking careful construction measurements. nearly finished and learning that my #13 feet won't allow the hanging of a door on the little shack out behind the cabin ..!

It didn't matter much. The latrine faced small Douglas firs trees. Even the birds had to be on the outer perimeter to see in ... from the west, however. I suppose my boots were sometimes noticed, in profile.

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

You could'a installed swinging (saloon-type) doors and had privacy and foot room.
That's what I was promised (not for the foot problem) between the dressing area and the master bathroom. Nope, nada, not yet anyway. After 44 years together, one door more-or-less isn't a deal breaker.

 

[digitS']

I remember thinking about something like that ...

Extending the side walls 4" with a door frame but the roof would be a little short. Door could have separate little porch roof but there would still be the floor ...

Would have to do something about the floor! I imagined myself turning in the dark in there, stepping between the floor and the closed door and twisting an ankle! You know, an injury like that would be something worse than immodest, outdoor behavior ...

I like the saloon doors idea tho' @Smart Red ! Maybe an outdoor peg to hang a hat on ... in loo of the occupied sign. Instead, a Big Sign on the roof with a catchy name like "The Hole in The Wall. (& floor & door)"

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

I will always remember my cousin's description of the first shed he built. He was so proud of it until he went to the home center to purchase a door. After standing in line for what seemed ages, he stepped up to the counter and asked for a door, 26 1/8 wide on top and 27 1/2 wide on the bottom. With a scathing look, the clerk turned to the line behind him and yelled, "next"!

For me it was windows. DH laid out a wall for this house each evening and I would put it together while he was at work the next day. Once, I mis-read the print and made the window header finished size rather than rough-in size. I caught the mistake and laughing at myself, put the header as a step-down into the sunken living room.

Shortly after than my father came out to help. He laughed at my mistake and proceeded to make the next (same-sized) window header so it would be right. Oops! His turned out to be a match for my first mistake, so I put it on the other end of the living room as a step-up. I fear we laughed longer and harder at Dad's mistake than mine.

So much fun and a lot of memories built into a house you construct yourself. . . IF. . . it doesn't drive you to divorce.

 

[Nyboy]

Never mind " if it doesn't drive you to divorce" I am almost driven to insanity when restoring my house where NOTHING is standard size. I have to special order everything.

 

[MoonShadows]

Ditto! My house built in 1840 has nothing considered "standard" by today's "norms". And, everything measures a different length on top from the bottom, or side to side. The floors and ceilings and all supports tilt one way or another. I can put a marble on the floor, and it doesn't stop rolling until it hits a wall.

 

[Smart Red]

As my precious DH is prone to say, "They don't make houses like they used to."

Followed by a heartfelt, "Thank God!"

While we love redoing older houses and have enjoyed the mess our son has in his 1832 Victorian, it is true that nothing is 'standard' anymore, the years have caused settling in unexpected (and expected) places, and you never know quite what you will find once you start a remodeling project.

Lucky for us, DH is a carpenter of the old school and can correct changes, we have the power tools in the workshop to plane rough cut lumber to correct size, and the cutters to match almost all the trim styles.

No, they don't make houses like they used to. I love the look and feel of craftsmanship and love of wood that went into well built houses of old, but many times badly built additions, old wiring, lead plumbing, and inadequate heating in those old houses make them money pits pure and simple. Beautiful, stately, irreplaceable money pits.

 

[Nyboy]

I love this Tom Hanks movie !!!

 

[Smart Red]

Funny movie, but pretty close to true in house repairs.