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Why don't French loos have handbasins?


CherryB
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[quote user="Clair"]
The criteria used for grading of properties goes back to the seventies.
[/quote]

So, about the time France began to emerge from the Dark Ages [:)]

Reminds me of time living in a Far Eastern ex-British Colony. The building regulations, particularly for electrical installations, dated back to when the Brits departed in the late 50's. They still used those nice round pin 5, 10, and 15 amp plugs.

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I have always wanted to know why there were no basins in loos here; this thread is very enlightening.

Back in the 70s, a cousin of mine installed a bidet in her home in the UK - a novel thing in those days.  My grandmother paid a visit to the bathroom and exclaimed that she was surprised that my cousin had a ladies' loo as well as a gentleman's loo.  [8-)]  That is why in the UK, it is compulsory for bidets to be plumbed into the soil pipes.

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This brings me back to a question I have asked before but never really had answered:

Do the French really use a bidet these days and how much of an issue might the absence of one be when selling a property ?

[quote user="nomoss"]So, about the time France began to emerge from the Dark Ages [:)][/quote]

Careful what you wish for [blink]

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[quote user="AnOther"]Do the French really use a bidet these days and how much of an issue might the absence of one be when selling a property ?[/quote]

Looking round a house for sale with a French property-seeking-friend recently she remarked - on seeing a bidet in a bathroom - that that was ideal ... as the bidet could be ousted in favour of an additional loo!

Sue

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I, too, had a bidet installed in my UK house and, of course, oop at t'chateau!  Haven't yet got one in the new house but I have already found a place for it.

It's in the bathroom in the old part of the house (where the original might have been ripped out [:'(]) and I am just looking out for a matching pink one!  Seen a few in leboncoin but none near me so will have to keep looking.

I can't live without a bidet as I think it is a most useful installation and I have been known to use mine several times duing the hot weather.....lovely way to cool off!

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[quote user="sweet 17"]

I can't live without a bidet as I think it is a most useful installation and I have been known to use mine several times duing the hot weather.....lovely way to cool off!

[/quote]

Agreed S17. Although I don't like the ones that squirt water upwards, not good.

My friend had one put into her new bathroom about 15 years ago. I got the impression that she thought that it was going to have some sort of  'effect' on her life, but she has never used it.

 

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Ha! When I was living in a "foyer" for students back in the 70's, I had to share a room with a French girl who used to wash her dishes in the bidet. She often offered to share her meals with me and was a little puzzled as to why I refused....

We have a downstairs loo in the kitchen in France, and two kitchen sinks. Right next door to the loo is a downstairs shower with a washbasin. The effort involved in erecting a stud partition and installing two doors - one to the shower and one to the loo - seems crazy. One day, I expect we'll rip down the partition, which will not only reunite the loo and washbasin, but also make both spaces big enough to swing any passing cats. I can also imagine the effort it will save in having to repeat the phrase "The loo's just there and the washbasin's through that door next to it" every time I have new guests round. It will also overcome the normal wandering round the kitchen in a puzzled state, looking for soap and towels in proximity to the nearest kitchen sink, which normally overcomes guests who missed the explanation.

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Our forefathers would probably consider the present day placing of the stool in the place where one washed, and indoors, quite disgusting.

The oldest house I ever lived in had a privy at the bottom of the garden, as far as possible from the house. Another nearby, in a terrace, had been modernised in the 20's by adding a small brick buildng with a flushing loo for each house, still at the bottom of the garden.

My grandmother's house, probably 20's also, had the toilet separate from the living part of the house, but built into the back porch. From the 30's or so it was a separate room inside the house, and seems to have started being included in the bathroom somewhere during the 60's. I suspect to save space rather for reasons of hygiene.

I think a separate room with a hand basin is far better than having "it" in the bathroom, for a variety of reasons.

 

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[quote user="Frenchie"]

Being French, and washing my hands as much as you do [:)] , the right thing to do is use the bathroom which is often next door to the toilet..

But maybe the compromise could be this Image 299 euros in Castorama. [Www]

[/quote]

That would never do, Frenchie, because it would splash water all over your pristine loo![blink]

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[quote user="nomoss"]I think a separate room with a hand basin is far better than having "it" in the bathroom, for a variety of reasons. [/quote]

I agree with you, nomoss.

It makes me shudder when I see property programs boasting of "complete" bathrooms, showing a WC crammed next to the bath or basin... [+o(]

I remember a science program where you could see the spray from a toilet flush extend over feet beyond the uncovered toilet bowl... over the toothbrush left on the side of the basin and the towels hanging on the side...

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I agree Clair, but we are talking about a small handbasin which is, presumably, for the purposes of handwashing only, and for for general ablutions.

With little difficulty, my plumber manageg to get on to into my upstairs loo as I too and uncomfortable walking to the bathroom to handwash, especially when there are guests and it might also be in use. Practical, simple and useful.

 

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[quote user="Clair"][quote user="nomoss"]I think a separate room with a hand basin is far better than having "it" in the bathroom, for a variety of reasons. [/quote]
I agree with you, nomoss.
It makes me shudder when I see property programs boasting of "complete" bathrooms, showing a WC crammed next to the bath or basin... [+o(]

I remember a science program where you could see the spray from a toilet flush extend over feet beyond the uncovered toilet bowl... over the toothbrush left on the side of the basin and the towels hanging on the side...
[/quote]

Really, so it's ok to touch the raw sewage/effluent out flows and then the door handles light switches etc before finally applying sanitation some distance away?

How far does "the spray" actually go with the lid down, that's why they have lids isn't it?

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[quote user="Théière"]

 that's why they have lids isn't it?

[/quote]No, they're so you can sit on the loo and chat to whomever is in the bath.[Www]

I've yet to live in a house that had the space for any more than a traditional bathroom with all three bits of kit in it (bath, basin, bog).  Thus I'm finding this thread quite entertaining.

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I saw a progam about contamination and that was Myth Busters. It was flushing that sprayed the fecal spray around, tiny amounts, but I daresay 'tiny' amounts are enough to make any of us ill.  From what I remember  it  was with the lid up that was to blame but if the lid was down then that would mean a rather contaminated inner lid, but that'll wash. And surely the seat would 'get it' anyway, but apparently a toilet seat is often less contaminated than a kitchen worksurface and computer keyboard. So what I make of this little lot I don't know.

Dirty hands contaminate door knobs, light switches and taps.

I suppose the worst thing most people do is touch their own mouths, and eyes with dirty hands AND food they are giving to themselves and others.

Would I want a toilet  right next to a sink or bath or bidet. Yes, I would like somewhere to wash my hands immediately.

My other horrors are people tasting cooking food and putting the spoon back in after it having been in their mouth. Opening a yoghurt and eating a bit of it and then leaving it, or even a jar of doing the same with a jar of jam. Basically kissing my lover is one thing, but I don't want spit in my food and I won't put mine in any food I make either.

EDIT, Theiere, we said some of the same things, taken me ages to write this, someone came to the door and the great british bake came on the telly and the 'pies' had it over typing.

 

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[quote user="Théière"]

[quote user="Clair"][quote user="nomoss"]I think a separate room with a hand basin is far better than having "it" in the bathroom, for a variety of reasons. [/quote]
I agree with you, nomoss.
It makes me shudder when I see property programs boasting of "complete" bathrooms, showing a WC crammed next to the bath or basin... [+o(]

I remember a science program where you could see the spray from a toilet flush extend over feet beyond the uncovered toilet bowl... over the toothbrush left on the side of the basin and the towels hanging on the side...
[/quote]

Really, so it's ok to touch the raw sewage/effluent out flows and then the door handles light switches etc before finally applying sanitation some distance away?

How far does "the spray" actually go with the lid down, that's why they have lids isn't it?

[/quote]

Oh dear, more misunderstanding of bits of a post taken out of their context.

I intended my post to refer to having a separate room for the toilet, with or without a hand basin, which I thought was the point under discussion.

I guess I'll have to be very much more careful in future and spell everything out in the most easily understandable and unambiguous way possible, even if that seems unneccessary.

I think a separate room (implied: for the toilet) with a hand basin is far better than having "it" in the bathroom, for a variety of reasons.

"it" was a flippant reference to the toilet. By "toilet" I refer to the device one sits on. By hand basin I mean a ceramic or metal bowl fitted with a water tap and a drain, designed for washing the hands.

 

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[quote user="Théière"]Really, so it's ok to touch the raw sewage/effluent out flows and then the door handles light switches etc before finally applying sanitation some distance away?

How far does "the spray" actually go with the lid down, that's why they have lids isn't it?

[/quote]

You have either misunderstood what nomoss wrote or are being provocative for whatever reason.

Nomoss suggested a WC and a basin was preferable to a WC in a bathroom. There was no mention of a WC on its own, in a separate room from hand-washing facilities.

As for the lid, you cannot force people to use them any more than you can force them to wash heir hands after visiting a WC.

Like a basin, the lid is only useful when it's used...

http://www.bog-standard.org/factsheet_015.aspx

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Urgh, urgh, urgh......yuk.....I must admit that I have never thought about the spray from the flush and, as soon as you mentioned it, Clair, I could see how what you say makes complete sense.

We have one separate toilet with wash handbasin and one "English style" affair with loo, washbasin and wet room in a biggish space.  Even so.......what with the towel rail between loo and basin......[+o(]

Glad that I do always close the lid; not because I'd thought about the spray but because I read years ago that it is better "feng shui" to shut the lid!!!  Yeah, I know, I am a head case but it does seem that I have been doing the right thing, even if for the wrong reason [:D]

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