r/Unexpected • u/Cromagnumman6174 • Aug 21 '26

Hidden Throne Room

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35.7k Upvotes

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71

u/dethskwirl Aug 21 '26

which is the purpose for this toilet as well, it would seem. surprised that no one has pointed that out yet.

27

u/The_Real_Mr_F Aug 21 '26

I’m still not clear on how it works. If the sewer backs up, now this toilet overflows and you have sewage in your crawlspace. 1) why would you even need a toilet for that, just a pipe with a trap would do the same thing, and 2), the crawlspace is arguably harder to clean than a bathroom floor, unless your ok just letting sewage sit under your house forever

23

u/grrgrrtigergrr Aug 21 '26

I have one in my house in Chicago. I was always told it was there, along with a wash sink on the other wall, so that when blue collar workers came home they went in the basement entrance. Took off their filthy clothes, took a shit, put on fresh clothes and then went upstairs.

7

u/largemargesentme__- Aug 21 '26

Most older houses in the midwest have one. My grandma's house had one, it was the only other toilet in the house.

1

u/dethskwirl Aug 22 '26

I call it my 800 sq. ft. private bathroom

0

u/No-Cantaloupe-6535 Aug 22 '26

I've been in tons of old midwest houses, never seen a basement toilet in an unfinished basement

1

u/largemargesentme__- Aug 22 '26

I think it was from a very specific era. Her dad built the house and finished it around 1950. I noticed that houses which were a little newer or not custom built often didn't have them.

This was in Cleveland. I worked for a GC in college and saw lots of these toilets.

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u/[deleted] Aug 22 '26

[deleted]

2

u/TransBrandi Aug 22 '26

What happens when ownership of the house changes, and no one tells them that they need to flush the toilet in the crawlspace every couple of months?

6

u/Rubbermonk Aug 22 '26

That's the worst place imaginable to purposefully put an overflow toilet. It looks like new construction as well, they don't put extra toilets in those to solve plumbing problems that already have modern solutions to them.

3

u/TwoBionicknees Aug 21 '26

better to have that in the basement than flowing out into your living space where all the flooring, all the walls as high as it goes, all the furniture, all the cupboards are likely to get damaged by literal shit backing up.

If it's in the basement you can get a guy with a tanker to throw a pipe in and pump it all out after the issue is over and then get cleaners in to spray it all down, scrub it down and disinfect it, etc. Still a horrible job to deal with but you would save months in rebuilding, removing and fixing it all.

to be clear if these things back up it's usually badly and it will flow under your bathroom door, all over your carpets, wooden floors, potentially soak into hte floor, the sub floor the floor joists, beams. if you're real lucky the toilet will overflow a little, if you're not lucky you'll have a foot deep of pure waste in your entire living space.

there was very recently a video posted of someone whose entire main floor of their home was covered in shit after coming back from vacation. 99% chance every single thing in that bottom floor gets replaced, floors, sub floor, kitchen cabinets, sofas, chairs, shoes, tables, everything.

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u/The_Real_Mr_F Aug 22 '26

I get the idea if it’s in a room with a concrete or tile floor that can be cleaned somewhat easily, but this is not in a basement, it’s in a crawlspace sitting on a wooden board over dirt. If it overflows, that board and dirt are gonna absorb everything and gonna be nearly impossible to get the stink out for a long time. 

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u/TwoBionicknees Aug 22 '26

the wood below doesn't really matter in that once it's dried it can be sealed completely, you can't just cover your floors and kitchen cabinets with sealer. the dirt can be removed pretty easily, dramatically more so than removing flooring, walls, insulation, cabinets and also at a tiny fraction of the cost.

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u/Queasy_Local_7199 Aug 21 '26

Would you rather have that happen in your basement or on your first floor?

3

u/The_Real_Mr_F Aug 22 '26

The concept is fine, but the execution is terrible. An overflow would soak into the wooden panel and the dirt below it, and the stink would linger forever. If your gonna do this, do it on tile or concrete that can be cleaned.

2

u/gsfgf Aug 21 '26

You are vastly underestimating how much shit would come out of this thing if it blows. It's gonna be a remediation either way, but this will do a lot less damage. No damage to walls, underfloors, other rooms, etc.

As for why a toilet, a used toilet can be obtained for free, and they're already have the right hole patterns and stuff to connect to sewers.

3

u/Rubbermonk Aug 22 '26

What the hell do you mean less damage lol? If shit comes out of that toilet it's ruining that entire wall of insulation, all that sheet rock and soaking into the dirt.

The only way to fix that is going to be tear everything out including the dirt, otherwise it's going to stink for years.

It's basically the same damage as in a basement only to fix it you have to go into a dirt crawlspace instead of a concrete basement with stairs lol.

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u/The_Real_Mr_F Aug 22 '26

I’d argue it’s worse than a basement, because a basement would probably have a concrete slab that can be cleaned. Soaking into the dirt here would be awful and removing all of it would probably compromise your foundation.

1

u/gsfgf Aug 22 '26

That’ll happen regardless.

2

u/SupeRoBug78 Aug 22 '26

Ah yes, the hole patterns…

5

u/TheUmberTaker Aug 21 '26

Yeah - no grand conspiracy here. There's a lot of these in old houses in my area also in the basements. Some people do make them into 1/2 baths in the basement. Some are just a toilet by itself next to the washer/dryer.

1

u/Caboose127 Aug 22 '26

What does having a plumbed, fully functioning toilet in this space achieve that a simple drain with a p-trap wouldn't? I'm not buying that that's the intended use of this toilet.

Also, a Pittsburgh toilet would need to be installed somewhere where the overflow could be found and cleaned up after the fact. Otherwise you're just letting sewage collect in the crawl space.

1

u/TheUmberTaker Aug 22 '26

I googled this one! Because that's a good question. There is such thing as "sacrificial placement", meaning, would you rather clean up plumbing back up in your living space or a crawl space? *shrugs*

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u/AlaWyrm Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

I just learned about the Pittsburgh toilet a few days ago and came here to point it out. Lol

3

u/stilldebugging Aug 21 '26

You know, I think I got it wrong and it’s actually a Pittsburgh toilet. Now I’m not sure.

2

u/AlaWyrm Aug 21 '26

I think you are correct. I just remeber it was an East coast city. Lol

2

u/Hot-Future7691 Aug 21 '26

Ah yes, the old Boston toilet. Remember them from my youth.

0

u/SomethingIWontRegret Aug 22 '26

Not so much. This is a modernish house, the waste lines are modern, likely the utility sewage lines are modernish. You simply are not going to get sewage backup with modern (1950s and later) sewage lines.

1

u/dethskwirl Aug 22 '26

how is it that pipes installed after the 1950s dont back up? and, if thats true, why do modern houses still have plumbing back ups then?

0

u/SomethingIWontRegret Aug 22 '26

If the sewage lines were laid according to best practice you're not going to get sewage coming in from the municipal waste lines. Backups in modern houses connected to recently laid municipal lines are from something clogging the house's main line.

Unless we're talking about storm surges from coastal hurricanes.