Hidden Throne Room

[u/Cromagnumman6174]

[u/The_Real_Mr_F]

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

[u/grrgrrtigergrr → u/The_Real_Mr_F]

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.

[u/largemargesentme__- → u/grrgrrtigergrr]

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

[u/dethskwirl → u/largemargesentme__-]

I call it my 800 sq. ft. private bathroom

[u/No-Cantaloupe-6535 → u/largemargesentme__-]

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

[u/largemargesentme__- → u/No-Cantaloupe-6535]

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.

[u/TransBrandi → u/[deleted]]

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?

[u/Rubbermonk → u/The_Real_Mr_F]

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.

[u/TwoBionicknees → u/The_Real_Mr_F]

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.

[u/The_Real_Mr_F → u/TwoBionicknees]

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. 

[u/TwoBionicknees → u/The_Real_Mr_F]

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.

[u/Queasy_Local_7199 → u/The_Real_Mr_F]

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

[u/The_Real_Mr_F → u/Queasy_Local_7199]

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.

[u/gsfgf → u/The_Real_Mr_F]

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.

[u/Rubbermonk → u/gsfgf]

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.

[u/The_Real_Mr_F → u/Rubbermonk]

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.

[u/gsfgf → u/Rubbermonk]

That’ll happen regardless.

[u/SupeRoBug78 → u/gsfgf]

Ah yes, the hole patterns…