Why don't people install urinals in their home?

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Safeway

Originally posted by: KLin

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Not sure where you live, but even in California water is pretty cheap.

Installing a urinal would not be cheap in the least bit. Probably have to have one and use it 50 years to recoupe the cost.

Urinals are installed in public restrooms not to save water, but to save space.

It's common to see urinals that don't save much space though. Sure, they don't require the full length of a stall, but the width is approximately the same.

It's also undeniable that a public restroom would save money in the long run. Have you actually run the figures? I doubt it would cost 50 years to recoup the cost.

LOL I found a urinal savings calculator! http://www1.eere.energy.gov/fe...inals_calc.html#output
At an average of 3 flushes per day (number one only), I'd save $76 over 10 years! A quick google search reveals that one could get a urinal for $130 easily without installation. So it's not necessarily 50 years to recoup the cost, but it would take awhile (maybe 30 if you know how to install it yourself)

Does that $130 include the extra plumbing required?

Minimal if the plumbing is run during initial construction.

In fact, I'm surprised housing contractors don't at least suggest this more often. They'd get a good deal of extra money for running a little extra pipe and installing a urinal during the construction process.

I'm starting to feel surprised that we don't see urinals in most homes!

 

[0roo0roo]

cuz its disgusting. more toilet wall = more dried surface for dried pee residue. its a bit disgusting to have a urinal in ur face while you sit down to poo to boot, its all raised up in the air giving you a nice whiff of pee. unless you install a stall in your bathroom its just gross. atleast a toilet has a toilet seat covering it most o fthe time. urinals just there..
plus its redundant and a space waste in a bathroom.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Safeway

Originally posted by: KLin

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Not sure where you live, but even in California water is pretty cheap.

Installing a urinal would not be cheap in the least bit. Probably have to have one and use it 50 years to recoupe the cost.

Urinals are installed in public restrooms not to save water, but to save space.

It's common to see urinals that don't save much space though. Sure, they don't require the full length of a stall, but the width is approximately the same.

It's also undeniable that a public restroom would save money in the long run. Have you actually run the figures? I doubt it would cost 50 years to recoup the cost.

LOL I found a urinal savings calculator! http://www1.eere.energy.gov/fe...inals_calc.html#output
At an average of 3 flushes per day (number one only), I'd save $76 over 10 years! A quick google search reveals that one could get a urinal for $130 easily without installation. So it's not necessarily 50 years to recoup the cost, but it would take awhile (maybe 30 if you know how to install it yourself)

Does that $130 include the extra plumbing required?

Minimal if the plumbing is run during initial construction.

In fact, I'm surprised housing contractors don't at least suggest this more often. They'd get a good deal of extra money for running a little extra pipe and installing a urinal during the construction process.

I'm starting to feel surprised that we don't see urinals in most homes!

they don't because it would be instantly nixed by the wife. urinal is hardly wife approved.

its not just the price of the urinal. you gotta install cement board and tiling behind it as well if you dont already have that.

i doubt you'd be pro urinal if you had to clean it
toilet you clean already. simple, why double your work?

 

[d33pt]

urinals stink unless you wash it daily.

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: binister
Some do in their garage especially if you have a pool. Don't want wet kids running through the house.

That's what the bush in the backyard is for?

 

[Epic Fail]

Originally posted by: astroidea

Originally posted by: binister
Some do in their garage especially if you have a pool. Don't want wet kids running through the house.

That's what the bush in the backyard is for?

And the pool is always there.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: d33pt
urinals stink unless you wash it daily.

Don't urinal cakes prevent that? Any sort of substance that freshens the air = problem solved (temporarily)

Wouldn't toilets stink if you didn't wash them daily by your logic? It's not like a urinal is going to stink more than a toilet if you wash them both at the same interval (assuming you flush both).

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
cuz its disgusting. more toilet wall = more dried surface for dried pee residue. its a bit disgusting to have a urinal in ur face while you sit down to poo to boot, its all raised up in the air giving you a nice whiff of pee. unless you install a stall in your bathroom its just gross. atleast a toilet has a toilet seat covering it most o fthe time. urinals just there..
plus its redundant and a space waste in a bathroom.

All of your worries only apply if you install a urinal in the worst place, just as you imagined. Why did you assume that it'd have to be right next to the toilet and at face-sitting height? Who would install a urinal so it's in your face? Did you envision this scenario because you secretly like the smell of urine?

Do you people all believe that a urinal is just a hole in the wall or something? It's not like it's just a drain in the floor that you pee in. You still flush it, and a toilet will smell just as bad in the same amount of time!

And what's with the suggestion of dried pee all over the wall? Seriously, do you know how to actually use a urinal? Are you one of those guys that pisses all over the urinal + wall + floor of the men's room because you're afraid to hold your junk when you're taking a leak? People like you are disgusting.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: d33pt
urinals stink unless you wash it daily.

Don't urinal cakes prevent that? Any sort of substance that freshens the air = problem solved (temporarily)

Wouldn't toilets stink if you didn't wash them daily by your logic? It's not like a urinal is going to stink more than a toilet if you wash them both at the same interval (assuming you flush both).

poorly.

urinals are disgusting, we have 4 and they are all repulsive.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: d33pt
urinals stink unless you wash it daily.

Don't urinal cakes prevent that? Any sort of substance that freshens the air = problem solved (temporarily)

Wouldn't toilets stink if you didn't wash them daily by your logic? It's not like a urinal is going to stink more than a toilet if you wash them both at the same interval (assuming you flush both).

poorly.

urinals are disgusting, we have 4 and they are all repulsive.

urinal cakes would work if they were near the top water nozzles so they would constantly bathe the urinal in disinfectant.
but even that doesn't really work. toilets need to be scrubbed, not just flushed with water, else all toilets would be self cleaning by definition. urinal cakes only slightly freshen a frequently used urinal like in public/business areas. and keeps non flushed pee from reeking too horribly.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
cuz its disgusting. more toilet wall = more dried surface for dried pee residue. its a bit disgusting to have a urinal in ur face while you sit down to poo to boot, its all raised up in the air giving you a nice whiff of pee. unless you install a stall in your bathroom its just gross. atleast a toilet has a toilet seat covering it most o fthe time. urinals just there..
plus its redundant and a space waste in a bathroom.

All of your worries only apply if you install a urinal in the worst place, just as you imagined. Why did you assume that it'd have to be right next to the toilet and at face-sitting height? Who would install a urinal so it's in your face? Did you envision this scenario because you secretly like the smell of urine?

Do you people all believe that a urinal is just a hole in the wall or something? It's not like it's just a drain in the floor that you pee in. You still flush it, and a toilet will smell just as bad in the same amount of time!

And what's with the suggestion of dried pee all over the wall? Seriously, do you know how to actually use a urinal? Are you one of those guys that pisses all over the urinal + wall + floor of the men's room because you're afraid to hold your junk when you're taking a leak? People like you are disgusting.

um just how big is your bathroom? there are few place to put it. you don't want people bumping into urinal and soiling their clothes. it has to be either opposite of the toilet or beside it. both rather gross options. average bathroom isn't that big last i checked unless you are rather wealthy and out of touch with normal living.

as i said, its redundant and a second thing to clean. perhaps a toilet might stink a bit eventually, but atleast its got a toilet lid, and the the way it flushes/height keep it from being as disgusting as a highly visible urinal.

i didn't say anything about pee on the wall, i was talking about the long tall urinal surface.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: d33pt
urinals stink unless you wash it daily.

Don't urinal cakes prevent that? Any sort of substance that freshens the air = problem solved (temporarily)

Wouldn't toilets stink if you didn't wash them daily by your logic? It's not like a urinal is going to stink more than a toilet if you wash them both at the same interval (assuming you flush both).

poorly.

urinals are disgusting, we have 4 and they are all repulsive.

urinal cakes would work if they were near the top water nozzles so they would constantly bathe the urinal in disinfectant.
but even that doesn't really work. toilets need to be scrubbed, not just flushed with water, else all toilets would be self cleaning by definition. urinal cakes only slightly freshen a frequently used urinal like in public/business areas. and keeps non flushed pee from reeking too horribly.

Funny thing about urine coming out of healthy kidneys: [B}it's sterile[/b] with the exception of any bacteria that may be resting on your skin (ie spitting in a urinal would actually give it more germs than if you pissed in it - I'm talking about one loogie versus a full piss). Urine only smells strong if you have some sort of disease. The smell of urine is from whatever chemicals you happen to be excreting, so a simple air freshener should do the job.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: d33pt
urinals stink unless you wash it daily.

Don't urinal cakes prevent that? Any sort of substance that freshens the air = problem solved (temporarily)

Wouldn't toilets stink if you didn't wash them daily by your logic? It's not like a urinal is going to stink more than a toilet if you wash them both at the same interval (assuming you flush both).

poorly.

urinals are disgusting, we have 4 and they are all repulsive.

urinal cakes would work if they were near the top water nozzles so they would constantly bathe the urinal in disinfectant.
but even that doesn't really work. toilets need to be scrubbed, not just flushed with water, else all toilets would be self cleaning by definition. urinal cakes only slightly freshen a frequently used urinal like in public/business areas. and keeps non flushed pee from reeking too horribly.

Funny thing about urine coming out of healthy kidneys: [B}it's sterile[/b] with the exception of any bacteria that may be resting on your skin (ie spitting in a urinal would actually give it more germs than if you pissed in it - I'm talking about one loogie versus a full piss). Urine only smells strong if you have some sort of disease. The smell of urine is from whatever chemicals you happen to be excreting, so a simple air freshener should do the job.

u are arguing just to argue now fine, urine is sterile. go piss on your carpet then. it'll be just fine u big healthy stud.

even healthy urine breaks down and becomes smelly. its just a given that it breaking down generates ammonia. ammonia reeks. frankly everything else you said is irrelevant trivia.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
cuz its disgusting. more toilet wall = more dried surface for dried pee residue. its a bit disgusting to have a urinal in ur face while you sit down to poo to boot, its all raised up in the air giving you a nice whiff of pee. unless you install a stall in your bathroom its just gross. atleast a toilet has a toilet seat covering it most o fthe time. urinals just there..
plus its redundant and a space waste in a bathroom.

All of your worries only apply if you install a urinal in the worst place, just as you imagined. Why did you assume that it'd have to be right next to the toilet and at face-sitting height? Who would install a urinal so it's in your face? Did you envision this scenario because you secretly like the smell of urine?

Do you people all believe that a urinal is just a hole in the wall or something? It's not like it's just a drain in the floor that you pee in. You still flush it, and a toilet will smell just as bad in the same amount of time!

And what's with the suggestion of dried pee all over the wall? Seriously, do you know how to actually use a urinal? Are you one of those guys that pisses all over the urinal + wall + floor of the men's room because you're afraid to hold your junk when you're taking a leak? People like you are disgusting.

um just how big is your bathroom? there are few place to put it. you don't want people bumping into urinal and soiling their clothes. it has to be either opposite of the toilet or beside it. both rather gross options. average bathroom isn't that big last i checked unless you are rather wealthy and out of touch with normal living.

as i said, its redundant and a second thing to clean. perhaps a toilet might stink a bit eventually, but atleast its got a toilet lid, and the the way it flushes/height keep it from being as disgusting as a highly visible urinal.

i didn't say anything about pee on the wall, i was talking about the long tall urinal surface.

At my house I have two sinks; I could easily remove one sink and place a urinal against the adjacent wall (ie not where the sink was, but on the wall next to where the sink was). The urinal would be approximately 6 feet from the sink and 8 feet from the toilet. As I suggested, a small bathroom is obviously not appropriate. The garage or side yard was a good suggestion offered by other ATOT members. A larger bathroom would obviously be quite accommodating for a urinal. Not everyone is confined to a tiny bathroom (I've seen plenty of HUGE bathrooms in homes).

The "urinal surface" is hopefully porcelain, and bacteria have difficulty surviving on it.

How does a toilet lid prevent a toilet from smelling bad? You still have to lift the lid in order to use it. When you close the lid, all you're doing is allowing the gas (that you would otherwise not notice as it dissipates) to build up and explode in your face in a wave of noxious fumes. Way to go there, champ. If you clean a urinal as often as you clean a toilet, the urinal should smell BETTER than the toilet (you don't go number 2 in the urinal).


The only good point you've brought up is that you have a second thing to clean. It's not nearly as difficult as a toilet, though - it should take half the time and require half the effort (less surface area). It'll take an extra 5 minutes out of your week, assuming you clean it once a week.

I don't see why you're so adamantly against private urinals. No one's forcing YOU to get one. If you don't have the space for one, obviously you shouldn't consider installing a urinal. I think it would be a good idea, granted you have the space and some extra capital (And the need - a family would save considerably more than just one man). The only detriments are up front cost and a few extra minutes of cleaning time. The gains are feeling good about saving clean water (woot) and saving money on your water bill (double woot). The only really hard part is getting the idea past the wife...

 

[sonambulo]

Originally posted by: Eeezee
The only really hard part is getting the idea past the wife...

This is the correct answer to your original question. Believe me, if I could bold this any harder I would.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: d33pt
urinals stink unless you wash it daily.

Don't urinal cakes prevent that? Any sort of substance that freshens the air = problem solved (temporarily)

Wouldn't toilets stink if you didn't wash them daily by your logic? It's not like a urinal is going to stink more than a toilet if you wash them both at the same interval (assuming you flush both).

poorly.

urinals are disgusting, we have 4 and they are all repulsive.

urinal cakes would work if they were near the top water nozzles so they would constantly bathe the urinal in disinfectant.
but even that doesn't really work. toilets need to be scrubbed, not just flushed with water, else all toilets would be self cleaning by definition. urinal cakes only slightly freshen a frequently used urinal like in public/business areas. and keeps non flushed pee from reeking too horribly.

Funny thing about urine coming out of healthy kidneys: [B}it's sterile[/b] with the exception of any bacteria that may be resting on your skin (ie spitting in a urinal would actually give it more germs than if you pissed in it - I'm talking about one loogie versus a full piss). Urine only smells strong if you have some sort of disease. The smell of urine is from whatever chemicals you happen to be excreting, so a simple air freshener should do the job.

u are arguing just to argue now fine, urine is sterile. go piss on your carpet then. it'll be just fine u big healthy stud.

even healthy urine breaks down and becomes smelly. its just a given that it breaking down generates ammonia. ammonia reeks. frankly everything else you said is irrelevant trivia.

Urine IS sterile. That doesn't mean it has no smell - urine naturally contains ammonia in very diluted quantities (healthy urine is almost entirely water). You should be able to easily mask its light odor with an air freshener. Also, you're still flushing away the urine - it's not just sitting there, drying up in a big puddle (or on the porcelain for that matter - the water should run down the urinal and flush away most of the urine - maybe microscopic specks will remain, but at that level they won't smell like anything).

Your suggestion that I pee on my carpet just implies that you don't flush your toilet after you pee. That is the only way you could have a strong urine smell (it is equivalent to just pissing on the floor). If you flesh, most of the urine is gone down the pipes - it will smell after you continually use it, but that is usually from going number 2 (which not only smells worse but the odor itself is stronger - these are two different things, and together they are bad).

If you smell urine in the public restroom, chances are it's because someone has pissed all over the wall because some people are disgusting. Obviously that urine is going to dry up and start to smell.

I'm not just arguing for the sake of arguing, I legitimately want to convince you of the merits of private urinals!

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: sonambulo

Originally posted by: Eeezee
The only really hard part is getting the idea past the wife...

This is the correct answer to your original question. Believe me, if I could bold this any harder I would.

What about an all-male household, though? For example, what if it's a bunch of friends living in a house together? What if the man of the house is a widow (what's the male-version of this word? I don't know)? And what about a really, really understanding wife (one in a million)?

 

[0roo0roo]

you should stop assuming everything implies something else. its making you look like an ass.

you seem to have a fantasy of reality. we need clean rooms for a reason, people are dirty, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen or isn't there. spatter happens, spashing happens. slow motion photography of flushes will show a spray of mist as toilets and such are flushed. your perfect scenario doesn't exist which is why urinals reek.

 

[dug777]

Urinals don't need to stink. Most places here now have waterless ones, with some special urinal cakes with funky bacteria in, and providing they're not used by yobbos who pee everywhere and get cleaned regularly, they smell fine.

I've suggested it many times, but the missus doesn't like it. One day perhaps...

 

[0roo0roo]

welcome to the aerosol effect of toilets
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1839

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
you should stop assuming everything implies something else. its making you look like an ass.

you seem to have a fantasy of reality. we need clean rooms for a reason, people are dirty, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen or isn't there. spatter happens, spashing happens. slow motion photography of flushes will show a spray of mist as toilets and such are flushed. your perfect scenario doesn't exist which is why urinals reek.

As I said, many here are waterless now (including many workplaces, mine included), and they
certainly don't reek.

Our work one is cleaned everyday, and as far as I can tell nobody pees anywhere other than the urinal trough, seems to work very well to me...

 

[jjones]

I have one but I usually call it the shower.

 

[OhSnap688]

I wouldn't want to see a urinal in a family bathroom. I don't see a point for it.

 

[WolverineGator]

Reasons:
The value of adding a new sink, counter, sconces, paint, etc., is higher than adding a urinal (opportunity cost).
Space is precious at $150+ sq. ft.
Urinals add no value to reselling a home and may detract from it (cultural value).

 

[jandrews]

According to the other urinal thread apparently a lot of nancy's prefer pee sitting down so the market wouldnt work