Ever thought a toilet could bring you joy? Welcome to Week Four of our camper renovation, where the line between necessity and luxury is as thin as the walls of our pop up camper. Picture it: Me going out for my 3 am bathroom break. Finding a spot to balance squat in while trying to be quick because I didn’t know what was making all the sounds around me, all the while hoping I didn’t squat in some bush that was of the poison ivy family (Just my luck I assure you). This began the dive down the toilet hole for our first portable toilet.
Decisions
I must have read dozens of reviews of many different portable toilets. From just a bucket and a toilet seat to top of the line cassette toilets. In the end we decided to go with right under the top of the line cassette toilet. The true definition of a cassette toilet is a toilet for RV’s, Campers, and such that has a portable waste tank instead of a black water tank. So basically the waste tank of the toilet is removable for waste to be dumped at a designated station.
We went with the SereneLife Portable Toilet with Carry Bag – Indoor Outdoor Toilet with CHH Piston Pump & Level Indicator – 5.3 Gallon Large Waste Tank – 100-120 Flushes. She was a life savor for me I will say.
Preparations
Now where do we put her? Have no fear Melissa is here! First I knew that it needed to be hidden while it wasn’t in use so I decided that we could install it inside a cabinet. Second which was also right by the door making it easy for when we needed to take it out to empty it.
Since we knew what cabinet we were going to put it in we measured the interior of the cabinet and the measurements of the portable toilet we were wanting to make sure it was going to fit. The toilet measured out to 16.14″D x 13.78″W x 14.57″H and we also knew that we were going to cut the countertop and add a hinge to it so we would be able to flip it up during use. Once we had all of those bases covered we moved on to installation.
Installation
Since you will have all of your measurements/height figured out now, you will need to build a base for the toilet to sit on to give it some height if needed and a brace box to set in which will keep it from moving around in its space.
Now you don’t want it to be so snug that it is difficult to lift it loose from the base when it’s time to empty it (cause that would be a not so fun thing). You also want to make sure the height is going to be where you need it for when you are sitting down on it.
Steve came up with this idea and built it from left over wood we had laying around from our potting table build (remember it doesn’t have to look perfect since it’s going to be hidden inside the cabinet). He attached it to the camper floor with two L brackets (one in the front and one in the back) and it also went flush up against the wall of the crank system wall which in the end was going to give us a little ledge for the toilet paper to set on so it wouldn’t have to be laying out in the open either.
decisions, decisions
Another thing you need to remember, some of the front of the cabinet may need to be cut out so the back of your thighs aren’t getting cut into while your sitting on the toilet. To solve this problem we decided to just take the front of the cabinet off all together.
Since we decided to do this we had to reinforce the cabinet a little more. We braced the corners with 2 X 2 (running vertical down the corner as you can see above and two running horizontal on either side) , which added the sturdiness we needed for 1. to hold its shape and 2. to be durable.
Now when it came to the countertop we had to cut down the sides of it that way it still kept its shape. We then cut across the back of it and added a 180* piano hinge which allows it to flip up while in use.
finishing touches
Remember the curtain from earlier, well this is where it becomes the finishing touches. I simply used black fabric which matches the cabinets and ran a piece of cord nailed into the inside of the braces across the front like so. I had to sew the left side shorter since our crank system cover runs down that side so it would be able to close but you understand the idea and if you lift the lid you will see on the side is where we place the toilet paper roll as well as extra rolls.
I will also say that we didn’t lose a lot of storage either as you can see. We are still able to store our cleaners, jack, and other things in the cabinet. Which we can access through the original side door whenever we need anything.
In closing I want to thank you for always coming and hanging out in our little corner of the world. We hope you come back next week because we are going to show you how we fixed the crank system when it decided after 27 years it was tired of holding on.
