Covid May change house designs a bit

[Roger Feeley]

I heard an interview in which a guy suggested that we may see a lot more lavatory sinks in hallways. I would welcome that, particularly in restaurants. I like to wash my hands before eating and I don’t like going into the loo to do it.

anyway, the guy said that flushing the stool or urinal will arosolize some of the bacteria (choloform) so havin the stool by the sink is generally not a great idea.

in Europe, they have the stool in its own little unisex room. Then you exit to wash. I really like that. It also neatly sidesteps any gender issues.

the guy said that we may see a trend in new construction to put the sink in the hall.

[Stan Calow]

A separate room for the toilet has been common in new homes around here for many years, usually just the master, however.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Local BBQ chain here has a sink just inside the entry door for hand washing. Almost as bad as flushing toilet are those blow dryers. They disturb every germ in the room, especially the ones on the floor. Before flushing toilet (at home) put the lid down. Absolute worst thing is the latch on stall in women's bathroom. NOBODY washes their hands before turning the latch knob to get out of stall.

[Doug Garson]

A resort we frequent in Mexico has a practice of offering hand sanitizer when you enter every restaurant. This not new, been that way for years. Perhaps that should become standard practice in all restaurants, bars, coffee shops and stores.

[Brian Elfert]

I have my doubts that next year's new model houses are all suddenly going to have sinks in the hallways. If this lingers for years this might become a thing.

I wish more public restrooms had automatic sinks and no doors to the restrooms. You turn on the sink with a dirty hand and then turn it off with a clean hand. A new restaurant locally has the sink outside the actual restrooms and both genders use it. No door from the sink area to the restaurant.

[Doug Garson]

OK, on a lighter note, if Seinfeld was still on, can you imagine an episode dedicated to the automated bathroom? George struggling to get the soap dispenser to stop and then can't get the water to turn on and finally waving frantically at the paper towel dispenser until it dispenses the whole roll on the floor?

[Jim Becker]

There are a lot of things that "we" could do better relative to architectural design for bathrooms, kitchens, etc., both in the commercial and residential space. The pressure from "this is the way we've always done it" has often caused too much resistance to change. Social pressures also factor in here...here in North America, for example, there remains huge resistance to things like non-gender-specific facilities, etc., where they are readily the norm in other geographies to some extent. Pandemic or not, I hope that there is a lot of evolution in this space...there is a lot of opportunity here to make things safer, more convenient and innovative.

[Mel Fulks]

I attended a public school built about 1912 that had one large round urinal that was part fountain. I think it was stone,
but it might have been terrazzo ,never seen anything made that way anywhere else. Even as a kid I wondered how the
drainage rate was controlled.

[Brian Elfert]

Part of the issue with bathrooms is simply space taken up. Outside of master bathrooms I still see most bathrooms being pretty tight on space. It wouldn't necessarily add a ton of space to partition off the toilet. My main bathroom is unusually deep so I could put in a slightly smaller vanity and build a wall between vanity and toilet, but it would make it tight on getting out of the tub and it would make the room seem smaller.

My brother is building what is probably a million dollar house and it has three bathrooms on the 2nd floor. At least two of the three bathrooms on that floor have the toilet in a room separate from the sink. I think it is more about privacy than hygiene as those two bathrooms have multiple users. I bought my house in 2014 and limited my search to $300,000. Nothing I saw had separate toilet spaces.

I could for sure see a sink in the mud room where the family primarily comes into the house. Most newer houses nobody but guests use the front door. I can't see most wives accepting a sink in the front entry unless in an alcove.

[Mel Fulks]

Agree, with Brian. All the etiquette books say you may not ask guests to step into a decontamination chamber

[Jim Becker]

"In the home", the normal configuration for something like a powder room/half-bath makes sense since they are small and intended for one person at a time. I doubt that will change simply because it makes sense. Now if I were building a home that I was able to participate in the design from the start (something I was able to do for our major addition in 2008), all bedrooms would be en-suite and the throne would have a private space to make the bathroom more versatile, especially in guest rooms...with the exception of a powder room for guests/convenience that wasn't involved with any bedrooms. I've been in quite a few homes that were fully en-suite for all bedrooms and it's not only great for guests, but great for family members, too, both for privacy and for responsibility when folks are younger. Yea, it takes more space, but I'd give up things like formal dining and living rooms to accomplish it if need be. I'm more into open plan around kitchen/dining/entertaining.

I like the idea of a utility sink in a mud room if there is a mud room in the home like Brian mentioned.

[Bill Dufour]

In a catholic church it is normal to have a little basin of water in the entryway. it is filled with holy water.
Bill D

[John Goodin]

I suspect footpulls in public restrooms will become common, if not required.