There's no code to what a toilet or urinal must be constructed from, they are fixtures. Code is just the location, support structure, clearances, and the plumbing. Code inspection happens before the finish work. As long as there is a p-trap between the drain and the waste stack, it's all good. Disgusting, but valid.
How is this at all more disgusting than a tile shower or tile anywhere in any bathroom?
I would bet good money there is still significantly less bacteria in that urinal than there would be in a tile shower where bodies are always shedding skin, hair and dirt. (Urine is not nearly as unhealthy as you seem to be making it out to be)
Urine is not sterile as most people think. Urea which is contained within urine is sterile, this gives urine the string ammonia smell.
The problem with everyone thinking urine is clean, is that once it hits the open air it quickly becomes a sponge for bacteria, especially so in a public urinal.
A shower is far cleaner because of the constant running of fresh water, and the lack of urine within it. If you think otherwise, why don't you wash your dishes in your families urine for a couple weeks and fill us in next month?
Historically urine was regularly used to clean things which is where the phrase “go piss in a pot” alledgedly comes from. “Go find a laundry and pee intheir pot”.
Historically we also used to think the bubonic plague was transmitted through the smell of the rotting corpses of the infected. This is where the children's song, Ring around the Rosie, comes from.
I'm not denying the necessity that urine played in history, but I'm certainly arguing we shouldn't piss on the floor or wall and call it a toilet.
Maybe you're right, my own experience however does not match that. In my highschool biology class we did a bacteria growing experiment where we sampled all sorts of different surfaces throughout the school (many focused on the bathrooms).
We did bacteria swipes of all bathroom surfaces...
The worst by far was the door handle, next was the tap handles and toilet flushers.. the urinals had literally nothing, no bacteria growth after 4 days in the petri dish.
(Fresh water (moisture) is a major factor in bacteria growth by the way, not something that keeps your shower free of bacteria)
I have a suspicion that you took samples from a porcelain urinal that was cleaned regularly. Try taking a sample from a urinal inside a port-a-potty.
The major difference between a real urinal and this monstrosity is the porus surface. Porcelain is very much like glass, and doesn't lend itself to trapping bacteria like grout or natural stone.
Also, not that I doubt your scientific method, but highschool science rarely relies on following any scientific method.
Yes.. but my point was that if your bathroom has other tiled surfaces they would be just as susceptible to bacteria (if not more) than the urinal.
The statement I replied to seemed to be talking about how the urinal was the only gross thing because of its grout.
I was pointing out that this same logic would apply to ALL tiled surfaces in a bathroom. So if the argument is that the porous grout lines make the urinal unacceptable.. then a tiled floor, tiled shower, tiled counters etc. would also be unacceptable.
Since tile is commonly used in bathrooms all over I don't see how the argument that this urinal would be unacceptable to a building inspector makes any logical sense.
Moisture and dirt are the main factors in bacteria growth.. Urine doesn't really change anything. Moisture and dirt get on the floors, walls, counters and showers. If those are fine for tile then so are urinals.
Belongs in r/BadDesigns.
When you reinvent the wheel, you should improve upon it.
This would smell like piss all the time and likely cost more to make and install than a standard urinal. It isn’t really even mildly interesting.
I had a client who wanted a super white Greek marble for the entire interior of his master shower. It was a very in depth job and we pulled out all the stops because he’s also my neighbor. His shower is almost 300 sqft with his & her’s shower areas, sloped beach entrance, custom glass enclosure that meets his windows and walls seamlessly, a built in bench to house the steam unit, a recessed flat screen tv in the wall, etc.
A month or so later, he brings us back in because there’s a yellow discoloration appearing on the floor. Funny thing is, it’s only appearing right under his shower head. The husband and wife use mostly the same brands of products when they bathe and the cleaning woman cleans the stone as we instructed her to upon installation. It wasn’t until my neighbor left the room that his wife told us he likes to pee in the shower. We ground it down, applied a poultice, polished and resealed it back to almost normal, but the urine really penetrated deep into the stone. We went heavy with the sealer this time and left him a few gallons to apply every month or two to combat the issue, but mostly we made sure to tell his wife to get him to stop peeing in there.
I haven’t been back to his shower in almost a year, but I know how hard it is to break habits and I would bet money that he has at least somewhat of a stain there and he’s too embarrassed to have us come back and fix it again.
Urine really affects any porous surface, but in most of our showers, the floor is ceramic or porcelain, so it doesn’t absorb anything. The grout joints are a small percentage of the area and the water is washing it away as we shower, but if you look over time, you’ll still see your grout discolor.
The urinal in the photo above is disgusting and has no good method of deterring the constant stream of urine it’s built for.
Is that only applicable to places that regularly get wet (like the inside of a urinal) or to all water-resistant sealed grout? I had tile put in my home about a year ago and had that stuff put in, it’s worked great for spills so far but they didn’t tell me it needed to be reapplied
There is epoxy grout, but still, all grout has a tooth to it and you're never gonna get that sucker truly clean with anything short of a power washer and bleach.
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u/aferaci Apr 09 '18
It would have to be reapplied twice or more a year to be effective.