It’s a habit we all have in this industry. When we enter a bathroom, any bathroom, be it at a restaurant, residence, office building, etc., we check ’em out. That’s what we do. What does the plumbing installation look like? What fixtures are they using? Is it inviting or is it, well, disgusting? Sometimes bathroom etiquette and presentation can be a bit bizarre to me. Here are five things that have always made me scratch my head:
1. Carpeted Bathrooms — Must be in the presence of a wealthy homeowner, with his rich mahogany desks and bookshelves, he needed to carpet the bathroom. Umm, GTFO. My question is why, exactly? I know, during my trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night, when I’m not quite awake, I tend to miss my intended target. Have fun with that clean-up, and the smell? Yum.
2. Residential Urinals — No offense to the wonderful plumbing fixture manufacturers who produce these, but I never really understood this one. Perhaps if the home has a large footprint, or the homewowner has to use it for health reasons, oh who am I kidding, this is another one that is gross to me. Again, another large clean-up is involved here.
3. Bathroom Downtime — I gotta believe that this applies more to men than women, but how much time do you need on the can? Why do you need to spend any more time than needed to get the job done? I’ve seen guys take whole newspapers, books, entire manuscripts, peruse and play on the iPad. Not getting it. Oh, what’s that? I see, it’s the inviting carpeting. Ok.
4. Commercial Hand Dryers — Some of the newer hand dryer technology is so good, it’s like being inside a fighter jet and sustaining 9 G’s on your hand. Seriously, these things are heavy duty. But in actuality, where does the water from your hand go, I ask? It’s not dissipating into thin air. Check the puddle on the floor directly underneath the unit.
5. Flushable Wipes — The biggest oxymoron in the history of oxymorons. The bane of my existence and the boon for most plumbing contractors. They love these things because more calls for clean-outs. Recently, I was on a plumbing fixture manufacturer facility tour and the issue of flushable wipes came up. The engineer onsite told the group that although the packaging on these container states “flushable wipes,” the manufacturer “suggests that you don’t actually flush them,” the engineer said. Oh, ok, got it.
What are your head scratchers?
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