“I’m just going to the bathroom..!”

How many times have you heard that said? Either these people are deluded or they didn’t mean to go to the bathroom, because they end up in the toilet. Maybe they just got lost… maybe they need to go to the bathroom later… depending on how things went.

“I need to take a…!” Most people leave one…isn’t it? Where would you take it?

What makes us say these funny things? Is it because we put the WC in the bathrooms that we say we go to the bathroom? But wait a minute, why don’t we tell the truth?

“I go to the bathroom..!”

As for the other, I don’t see that you have to tell anyone.

But other than that, I’d rather the toilets not be in the bathrooms, right? It’s just a damn nuisance if you can’t get into the bathroom just because the bathroom is busy, or more urgently, you can’t go to the bathroom because the bathroom is busy. It makes things a little easier if there are two or three bathrooms in the house, and most houses these days have them, however, when there are half a dozen people in the house, it’s not unusual for two or three. need to go at the same time. Same time.

Gone are the days when we would walk down the garden path to the dunny, nestled among some fragrant flower beds. For a fairly modern society this must have been a step back… or was it a step into the bushes? I guess we just needed to take it somewhere else.

We all know this problem. So why am I making a rave about it? I guess that’s a favorite hate of mine. Over and over again, I keep seeing these silly designs, and they are becoming more and more accepted these days. However, do you know that in the heydays of the Roman Empire (100 BC – 500 AD) they were already disposing of their waste using their elaborate systems and extensive water resources supplied by aqueducts?

Also, they provided a sponge on a stick to wipe their butt off when they were done. Doesn’t sound too hygienic, right? However, there was no such thing as modesty for anyone but the elite. For the average men and women, it was a very social affair and they would be sitting on a communal bench with holes, under which water flowed. Can you imagine sitting there together having a talk about today’s news? Well, that’s how it happened and there are still the remains of these latrines to prove it.

But the Romans were not the first to have such sophisticated latrines. A stone village that was inhabited 5,000 years ago off the north coast of Scotland in the Orkney Islands, known as Skara Brae, was home to residents who had designed their houses with underground drainage systems to remove waste. A cell (as they call it today)it was built in the confines of some of the houses; one wouldn’t want to be squatting outside in a place like the Orkneys, the cold would chill you to the bone, even in the meatiest bits.

So, in the history of latrines we have not advanced much. In fact, we’ve had some ups and downs and during some amazing periods. All I can offer is the best of what is available.

Today we have them with novelty urinals that many of us just stand and laugh about; I’m not even sure if it encourages us to use them, maybe. Then there’s the bidet that so many of us stand and gawk at in utter confusion, step forward and adjust the lever, and step back again, still trying to figure it out. But, the most sensible addition of all, has been the small basin to wash your hands afterwards and, of course, a towel to dry them.

Toilets come with seat warmers, chimes, automatic lid closes, seat sterilizers, and all manner of bells and whistles; People have tried to dream up new designs only to find that what worked well 5,000 years ago was due to some minor modifications and therefore the following took its place.

In 1596AD, John Harrington of Yorkshire, England invented the flush toilet.

As you can well imagine, horrible odors wafted from the sewers into the pipes, which led Alexander Cummings in 1775 to invent the water trap to block those odors.

Later, in 1896, Thomas Crapper’s nephew George improved the siphon mechanism by which the flow of water is started.

However, the basic functioning of the toilet has been maintained, and… well, I suppose man has been happy enough to leave it pretty much the same as it has for thousands of years.

However, it is interesting to see the strange fantasies that designers come up with, especially in the area of ​​urinals. And again, the self-cleaning community latrines.

How about a squat? Many of you will have experienced the hole in the floor type of toilet; these have been found throughout Europe and many parts of Asia and have been used in these places for many hundreds of years. It has been debated that they are more natural for the human body to excrete its waste and are less likely to cause the strain that causes hemorrhoids. Hygiene is another matter, although, perhaps, this is a matter that clings to the past lacking hygiene awareness.

In all seriousness though, we each have our own idea of ​​what is needed for our own use and that is certainly how you will incorporate it, but certain dimensions are required and I have known a few that got it wrong as well.

If you’re not already, imagine yourself as an overweight person; You really don’t want to get into a toilet, do you? Well I know I don’t anyway! Here’s something to get you through:

minimum dimensions

Length: 2000mm, this will allow enough space for a small sink.

The center of the tray must not be less than 400mm from any side wall. This means:

Broad: 800mm, if you include a bidet, please make the width at least 1500mm.

Remember, these are minimum dimensions; I would be inclined to add 200mm to the overall width for a larger dimensioned comfortable toilet.

Before screwing the tissue dispenser to the wall; when the tray is in position, sit on it and position a suitable distance from you for the tissue dispenser. It is often set too close, rather than too far, and that makes things really quite difficult.

An article from Property Developing Renovating, Eion Tought website