How to Build a Composting Toilet? (Easy Guide)

Do you unfamiliar with a compost toilet or don’t know the plumbing system of this sawdust toilet? Here our experts have compiled an easy guide to building a DIY composting toilet with a few unique ideas.

To establish composting toilet system inside your home without damaging the environment of your living space. You may be surprised that this toilet is not just an outhouse setting; you can design it anywhere in your territory and kill all the waste with natural techniques.

Here is a complete tutorial on building a composting toilet with the right material and gears.

 

Composting Toilet Basics

Before moving to the actual steps of building a composting toilet, you must know what a compost toilet is. Most householders only consider it an outhouse toilet, but that’s not true.

You can create a compost toilet in your home for human waste without creating any pollution or smell inside your living area. You can easily kill these messes with sawdust or wood ash at high heat and create a hygienic atmosphere inside this DIY composting toilet.

Of course, the design is meant to work just like a traditional toilet. However, this wooden box will do wonders inside your home without worrying about waste.

This phenomenon is truly working for many homeowners to share their burden of using a combined toilet for various gatherings and surprise their guests with this unique item in their homes without damaging the environment of their living space.

Things You Will Need

Materials

• Wood Glue
• Toilet Seat
• Urine Separator
• 4 2×4 Wooden Planks
• Pocket Hole Jig
• Handles
• Stain

Tools

• Screwdriver
• Drill Bits
• Woodworking File
• Electric Drill
• Sandpaper
• Handheld Jigsaw

A Step by Step Guide to Build a DIY Composting Toilet

If you want to build your own composting toilet, you must follow a certain set of rules. You might notice plenty of DIY online guidelines for this purpose, but here you will find the simplest and the most effective steps to build a compost toilet of your own choice.

Read on to learn these easy steps:

1. Prepare Yourself and Gather your Materials

Initially, you must know what type of toilet you will build. You have to gather all the materials and tools for this DIY project. Besides this, you must consider a few factors before starting this job.

Here, comfortability is the main concern for many consumers. Therefore, you must build a perfect toilet seat with the right height. You must be comfortable with this toilet frame and ensure this wooden seat’s durability.

Your measurements should be accurate, so you can sit at an ideal height. Moreover, you need to cut at least six pieces of plywood which can be utilized on the bottom, top, and the remaining four sides of the toilet frame.

You must attach all these pieces with the help of a pocket hole jig to build a stronger box to sit on it.

2. Carve a Hole into the Plywood

Now it’s time to craft a carved hole in your plywood sheet for your compostable toilet. You can use the chisel and any smaller hammer for this purpose. It is better to mark a circle with a pencil for a perfect hole.

It should be precisely crafted with the size of your bucket so that you can fit it on your plywood sheet and sit comfortably with the right fixture.

3. Add the Urine Separator

This step is an option but will help you while wasting the messes. You can also add urine to this compost toilet system to separate this waste from the other solid messes.

If you have a complete urine separator set, you can add a plywood lid in front of this toilet to keep this damp waste away from the drier one.

4. Drill Hole for a Toilet Seat

Further, drill holes in your toilet seat and fix them with a stronger screwdriver so it will not loosen up. Again, it would help if you marked the spots with the pencil on the accurate area before marking the cuts for better stability of this dry toilet.

5. Build the Legs for the Plywood

Now, you have to create a standing setup for this toilet as well. You can add some legs for this plywood toilet frame at its corners. A total of four is more than enough, but you can increase or decrease it according to your choice.

Just make sure that this compost toilet frame should stand firm for your own comfort. The height of these legs is another important factor to consider here.

You can adjust the length of these plywood legs with the height of your family members. Further, you can fix these legs with firm screws at the right distance.

Once you accurately fix these legs with this compost toilet frame, you can place this DIY compost toilet for cabin anywhere in your home with complete residual privacy.

6. Get the Bucket and Add Absorbents to it

You have to arrange the buckets with the accurate size of your compost toilet holes and fix one of them underneath your toilet seat. Any plastic bucket with 20 liters of 5-6 gallons storage space is more than enough for this unique toilet format.

If you add a urine separator, you should install a 3-liter plastic pot in front of it to store your urine messes. Finally, add a few inches of absorbent material to the plastic bucket.

You can consider sawdust, wood ash, or any dried leaves from your lawn to soak the human waste into the bucket. If the sawdust is easily available, it is the best option to choose from.

How to Use it?

You can use your DIY composting toilet properly, just like any traditional toilet. However, you have to take care of some aspects of this utility to avoid any mishap. The most important thing is to cover all the messy content with the right material.

Now, if you cover human waste with thicker material, this toilet system will work effortlessly. The sawdust is a perfect material for this purpose.

Besides all this, you must also take care of the bucket. It will be good if you have multiple buckets; otherwise, you can empty them from all waste after a week or depending on your usage.

Lastly, you also need to check the temperature of all composting toilets for cabins on a regular basis. If you feel a higher temperature at any location, you should move the compost toilet to another place in your home.

Popular DIY Ideas About Compost Toilet

You can consider any of the following plans or craft your own idea about composting toilets and maintaining this utility anywhere in your home. It will ease up your life and reduce the load of daily usage of your regular toilet.

Try the following ideas to build a compost toilet and add a stylish DIY utility with almost no effort.

1. RV Composting Toilets

The RV composting toilet idea is always on top of the list for many homeowners. You can also build a permanent sawdust toilet and utilize it in your own way to distribute your load of the main toilet.

If you have any older RV toilets, you can also consider them for your newer DIY project.

2. Fancy Compost Toilets for Cabins

You can also install any fancier bucket with your compost toilet or add fancier items with this utility per your preference. If you are an experienced carpenter, you can craft plywood legs or toilet frames with different decorating ideas.

You can also add funky colors or stickers with these plywood sheets and make them fancier. If you want to create a beautiful compost toilet, you can try some silly crafts or reproduce other utilities with pretty designs; it can also suit the walls or other surroundings.

3. Backyard Outdoor Toilet Ideas

The backyard toilet ideas always work well for larger families. You can transform the usage load of your classic bathroom with another outdoor compost toilet on your lawn.

It’s a great idea to implement a compost toilet in any corner of your garden or utilize any space in your yard for this purpose. It will definitely increase the value of your property.

4. DIY Small Septic System

You can also economically build a small septic system with the right fixtures. This DIY septic idea works in outdoor places or on your lawn to utilize at party gatherings.

It is an elegant way to build a compost toilet on your lawn. You don’t need to worry much about the waste materials as well. You can utilize this unique outdoor toilet without investing much in it.

5. Outdoor Toilet Ideas

The outdoor toilet ideas are, of course endless. With these ideas, you can create any type of filter bed or control the waste in many natural ways.

This will make the emptying process easier, and this whole outdoor toilet concept will become much easier to operate and utilize. Sometimes you don’t even need the bulky buckets to control the wastes; the earth’s resources help you dispose of this mess naturally.

Types of Homemade Compost Toilet

After learning all these concepts of composting toilets, you should also know its types as well for complete knowledge about this phenomenon. You can enclose a self-contained setup at any location or craft a DIY composting toilet for any cabin inside your home.

Additionally, this bucket toilet for the outhouse can also be considered for central or remote sites. These two formats are the most common and give you the luxury to locate them anywhere inside or outside your living space.

Self-Contained Toilet

If you want to build a self-composting toilet at any location, then you have to design it at any corner of your house for full-time use. This pattern is well suited to wooden resorts and recreational vehicles in smaller houses.

Currently, many permanent householders design them for their regular use.

Central/Remote Toilet

You also have the option to construct a homemade compost toilet in any of your larger living spaces. This toilet is more robust than our previous type and is a great option for an extra toilet in your basement or guest room.

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Make Your Own DIY Composting Toilet?

Of course, you can build your own compost toilet without arranging any complex tools. You just need to bring thick plywood sheets, some screws, a bucket, and a toilet seat assembly to craft this unit anywhere inside your home.

What is the Best Material to Use in a Composting Toilet?

You may find various expensive materials in the market for building a compost toilet, but sphagnum moss, also known as peat moss, is the right material for this purpose. You can arrange some plywood legs to give firm support to your compost toilet.

How Do You Dispose of Urine from a Composting Toilet?

It is better to use a urine separator to dispose of this waste. If you arrange a distinct setup for solid and damp waste and divert the urine from pee, you will get better solutions to kill these wastes.

You have to arrange a separate plastic bucket or any small bin to store this moisture mess separately.

How Do You Make a Free Composting Toilet?

You can build a portable compostable toilet inside or outside your living space for free by following simple DIY steps. You don’t need any complicated gear or expensive material to purchase for this purpose; in fact, a free composting toilet can be built just with some solid plywood sheets.

Do You Use Toilet Paper with a Composting Toilet?

You don’t need to place the diapers or tampons in your bin for this toilet format. Any type of toilet paper is enough to use with a composting toilet.

Final Thoughts

Now, you can easily build the best composting toilet without purchasing expensive materials or arranging complicated tools.

This detailed guide will help you drive through the exact process of building a compost toilet and give you some unique ideas to decorate your home with this utility. You just need to follow the simple instructions compiled by our specialist team.

We also share some interesting DIY ideas about a compost toilet so that you can pick any of them according to your requirements. Best of Luck with your choice now!