5 ms·

It's also easier to mop the floors since you can go under the partitions.

• baddox 9y ago
  That makes sense, but it would still be a huge improvement to eliminate gaps everywhere but the floor. The cost argument makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why it’s ubiquitous in the US but not in Europe, since the cost-saving incentive should be roughly the same in both regions. Perhaps it started in the US because of safety or puritanism, but has now simply become a de facto standard in the US building industry. I doubt most building developers still think about safety or puritanism and specifically request this type of bathroom walls.
  • 52-6F-62 9y ago
    The gaps are an improvement. I take it you never had to piss in a trough? :P
    • toast0 9y ago
      My favorite: when the only way to tell the handwashing trough from the urinating trough is the height on the wall.
  • Terr_ 9y ago
    > but it would still be a huge improvement to eliminate gaps everywhere but the floor It would, but then in larger bathrooms you'd have to be able to hang some of the weight off the ceiling, and you'd still have issues with things swinging or bending.