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1-piece bathroom

A single mold unit that contains all bathroom functions
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This might be a single peice of porcelain that contains the bathtub, sink, toilet, mirror, bathroom floor, ceiling, and four walls in a single contiguous unit. In essence, it would be an "out-house" that you install right behind the bathroom door. There would be holes / grommets for the curtain rod, towel hooks, faucets and other fixtures so it could be made "homey". At the bottom of the unit would be a drain, so all sorts of accidents (sleepwalking, split-second-too-late toilet arrival, bad aim) could be disposed of easily. Cleaning the bathroom would be wonderful. The shower would feature a removable head - remove all the towels, magazines, etc. and just hose the whole thing down.
imagicsp, Aug 02 2001

(?) The Dymaxion bathroom, by Buckminster Fuller. http://www.thirteen...bucky/bathroom.html
"The four, stamped sheet metal or molded plastic sections are each light enough to be carried by two workers. They'll fit up tight staircases and through narrow doors, allowing retrofitting in existing structures. <...> With the sections bolted together, the interior has no germ-harboring nooks, crannies, grout cracks or anything that can rot. Large-radius corners make germicidal swabbing easy and complete. " [StarChaser, Aug 02 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

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       Oh. I thought this would be a bathroom that only allowed a single kind of mold to grow on the walls and tub, rather than multiple kinds of mold and mildew.
PotatoStew, Aug 02 2001
  

       I thought it was bathrooms that miraculously only grew one mold species as well, making them easier to clean...   

       The on-the-streetcorner, pay toilets throughout France are essentially this idea, so it is partially baked. But they aren't in houses (yet). I can imagine it'd work, except for a few things: 1)the difficulty of getting it into a house partially built (wall studs and such usually go up before one even thinks of plumbing supplies, therefore hampering the import of large objects) and 2)the insatiable desire of Americans to be individuals in their tastes and visit Home Depot every few days/years to remodel [something] so they are different from everyone else who is also at Home Depot doing the exact same thing.
djanaba, Aug 02 2001
  

       Yes it would be like installing a furnace, only worse. Probably only for the rich and famous. You could still have various types though - as many as there are toilets. In the idea scenario, the whole house might be modular enough (perhaps a grown-up-real-worl-lego-set) to add-on or tear down the bathroom "piece". I remember seeing a house being built when I was young - the whole thing arrived on a flatbed truck in 3 pitces. They assembled it all right on top of the foundation. The bathroom might be the "crown jewel"
imagicsp, Aug 02 2001
  

       If it cracks/chips or gets damaged in any way you'd have to replace the entire thing.
IndoCanuck, Aug 03 2001
  

       Baked. I've seen these in Japan - exactly as [imagicsp] describes, but made of plastic.
hippo, Aug 06 2001
  

       heck with just a bathroom, why not make the entire house one piece? That would defeat the instalation problem.
MrBubbles, Aug 23 2001
  

       I often times slip in the shower without shoes. Can't imagine how graceful I'd be in a room MADE of porcelain (with shoes ON).
RackDaddy, Nov 13 2002
  

       When I worked as a carpenter for a log home company, homeowners often bought huge bathtubs, saunas, whirlpools, etc. The plumberssimply installed them before we finished framing the walls Likewise, during a remodel, I had to saw a bathtub in quarters for removal. Operations like this are actually quite common, which is why home improvement stores typically showcase low-end plumbing apparatus (remodelers would need to move walls to install many bathtubs and the like).   

       The last person to post a suggestion like this got flamed to the high heavens: The good ole' "Urinal Sink."   

       Oh, you're not proposing bathing and evacuating in the same receptacle. My bad.
1kester, Nov 13 2002
  

       Ikea could sell a do-it-yourself version. £100,000 prize for the first person to put it together perfectly.
(for legal reasons: not really)
NickTheGreat, Nov 13 2002
  

       You could have one pice prefabs for all different rooms, then just stick them together to make a house
ModernDivo, Sep 18 2008
  

       Baked in Japan. So are the room prefabs.
Voice, Sep 18 2008
  
      
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