Looks great Tom. So thats what bare ground and sunshine looks like lol. The weather looks warm in your pictures.
The outhouse should last a long time outdoors. Worst case if some wood comes loose just reglue. Make sure you seal it every year. Oh and watch the wind, maybe you can put a spike through the bottom and into the ground. That should keep it from blowing away.
Tom Grabenstein said:
That is a very good point. What type of adhesive did you use for the plastic veneer over the foam??
Nice looking buildings!!!
Tom
I used a silicone adhesive. So it wouldn’t “eat” the foam.
They did have wood as a base for the roof, but I had to replace it with acrylic, since it was warping too.
Shawn Viggiano said: Oh and watch the wind, maybe you can put a spike through the bottom …
In an outhouse all this is highly suggestive… Ouch! 
Nice work, Tom … I haven’t seen those figures before, I like 'em! Personally I’m skeptical about any glue /wood bond outdoors, even if the wood is sealed. It’s my belief that water/vapour/humidity will get into any organic/fibrous stuff and weaken any glue bond eventually. We’ll be watching…
Your foam components will last forever. I’ve seen summer cottages up here that had foam on the exterior, painted with latex, which was probably unnecessary, all still good after 30 years of lake-effect Canadian winters and brutal Mid-continent summers…
Nice scene, Ken. I think your comments and methods are valid, and we’ll see how the Doc’s outhouse fares. The only way I’ll use wood outdoors is with mechanical connections, and I do a lot of that. On Dave’s Taylor’s advice I just acquired a pin nailer for these projects, BTW. I’d never heard of such a tool before.
I guess you’re never too old to learn something new!
I have little experience with plastics, Ken. Being a throwback to earlier days and ways, I generally work with metal and wood, and these are always the first materials I think of.
Do you find that plastics stand up to UV? That’s probably my greatest reservation about this material, aside from trying to figure out how to mak it stick. Your results are admirable.
Thanks you all for the nice comments and ideas.
Shawn, figuring mother nature would topple this little structure I do have wire “spikes” anchoring it in to the ground. I also used drainage gravel under the little building in hopes that the wood will not be too affected by rain.
Yes, Shawn we used to get a lot of snow here in Northern middle Tennessee but the last several years have seen very mild winters. Temp of 60 yesterday when I took the pictures.
Doc Tom
John you would be suprised how long glue will hold up outdoors. I have a few outhouses made of cheap wood and they have been out for almost 6 years already. All my buildings are held with glue. Titbond wood glue is great stuff as well as the silicon Ken uses.
Pin nailer is a great tool. The pin nails are not strong when using alone. The main purpose is to hold the pieces together while the glue dries. No more clamps and waiting for glue to dry before moving to the next step. Next to my dremel the pin nailer is 2nd best tool on my list.
John Le Forestier said:
Do you find that plastics stand up to UV? That’s probably my greatest reservation about this material, aside from trying to figure out how to make it stick. Your results are admirable.
I’ve had more luck with plastic or acrylics then anything else. About 75% of my buildings are made from it. And about 50% of those have a coroplast sub structure, which is easy to work with. And Goop works great as an adhesive on that stuff.
The only totally wood structure I’ve built is Chandlers Mercantile and parts of it have the plastic veneer over it where some of the wood started to warp. But all of the wood in it is Spanish Cedar and 3/16’s of an inch thick except those parts of it that warped. I use that stuff for the ties on my switches since it stays pretty straight and doesn’t warp. That whole structure was glued and pin nailed together.
Here’s the build log for it:
http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/12022/search/view/page/1
(Sorry, Tom, didn’t mean to hijack your thread)…
We have sorta’ hijacked ol’ Tom’s thread here, haven’t we… Not on purpose, tho’. Titebond and Goop are on my shopping list… Ken, yr build is awesome!
Over to you and the folks at Tremont, Doc…
Excellent building Doc,
I think the passengers at the D&BHW better not read this as management has yet to install a privy.
John Le Forestier said:
We have sorta’ hijacked ol’ Tom’s thread here, haven’t we… Not on purpose, tho’. Titebond and Goop are on my shopping list… Ken, yr build is awesome!
Over to you and the folks at Tremont, Doc…
Do not see any hijacking goin’ on. Enjoying the lively conversation. Glad a picture of toilet facilities could “move” things along.
Doc Tom
Jake Smith said:
Excellent building Doc,
I think the passengers at the D&BHW better not read this as management has yet to install a privy.
Hi Jake,
I built the Tremont logger’s cabins about a year ago and only got around to their loo a year later. I wondered why the logging staff was so irritable.
Doc Tom
Bah, they are in the woods…there are pinecones all over the place. 
Jake Smith said:
Bah, they are in the woods…there are pinecones all over the place.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/grabnet/pine cone.jpg)
Doc Tom:)
That’ll hurt.
Use Skunk Cabbage, instead.
Wipe with the grain not against it…
ok I’ll stop derailing this thread…
Gotcha Dave, Thanks!
Dave Taylor said:
@John L. TiteBond III is the waterproof one NOT 1 or 2.
Mmmmmmmmmm not so much. I’m told that it is water resistant, not water proof. Just make sure that you don’t boil your boat. (old boat building joke)
Steve, thanks for the heads up. I doubt that you’ll ever meet anyone more skeptical than myself on the subject of adhesives outdoors. Aside from the West system for boatbuilding, but that’s different as the entire article is cocooned in the resin, as you know. As far as i’m concerned, any venture I take in this direction will be strictly experimental. I’m still a firm believer in mechanical joints.
Shucks, I won’t even use paint outdoors. I let everything weather out there au naturel, like those hundred year old barns. The ones that have never seen a lick of paint, and are still as sound as the day they were built.
On this forum I keep hearing about these adhesives, which I confess I don’t trust, but I want to see what I think from first hand experience. Won’t invest a fine model or a lot of labor in this. I remain highly skeptical; I suspect H2O will get in there somehow and weaken the joint, but I need to go thru the motions!
Steve Featherkile said:
Dave Taylor said:
@John L. TiteBond III is the waterproof one NOT 1 or 2.
Mmmmmmmmmm not so much. I’m told that it is water resistant, not water proof. Just make sure that you don’t boil your boat. (old boat building joke)
Mmmmmmmmmm yes it is Steve. Says on the bottle, waterproof.
Shawn Viggiano said:
Steve Featherkile said:
Dave Taylor said:
@John L. TiteBond III is the waterproof one NOT 1 or 2.
Mmmmmmmmmm not so much. I’m told that it is water resistant, not water proof. Just make sure that you don’t boil your boat. (old boat building joke)
Mmmmmmmmmm yes it is Steve. Says on the bottle, waterproof.
OK, but I’m not gonna go sailing with you if you boil your boat.
From Titebond III’s own webpage: …The formula passes the ANSI/HPVA Type I water-resistance specification… (italics mine)
I’ve had Titebond III fail in outdoor applications before, even when mechanically reinforced. Like I said, don’t boil your boat. Will it suffice for our applications? Probably. But it is water resistant, not water proof.
Epoxy is waterproof.