The Pittsburgh Potty? (Beaver Falls, Beaver, Akron: home, floor, plumbing)

[*Danielle*]

so these toliets are just out in the open? Like a potty in the middle of your basement with no walls for privacy or anything??

[Jay_F]

Originally Posted by *Danielle*

so these toliets are just out in the open? Like a potty in the middle of your basement with no walls for privacy or anything??

Yup.

Steel City Experiment: Pittsburgh Potty?

[*Danielle*]

wow. ok...

Thanks.

[IHeartPA]

I have a Pittsburgh Bath in my house! It's a full bath (toilet, sink, shower) located in our basement, off the gameroom. It's a third bathroom for us and we've only used the potty in the Pittsburgh Bath. =)

[BrianTH]

We have just a toilet in our basement. It is enclosed on three sides (I actually added the third side) so has a little privacy, but not much.

Personally, I doubt I would advertise it if I was selling the house. But I appreciate having it, particularly since we do not have a first floor powderroom.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Personally, I doubt I would advertise it if I was selling the house.

I was thinking the same thing. Why would you want to ADVERTISE that the home you're trying to sell or rent has a freakin' toilet sitting in the middle of the floor so you can pee in front of all of your guests?

[Drover]

The house I grew up in had a Pittsburgh potty (in the Chicago suburbs, oddly enough). The people who owned the house before us built a bathroom stall around it. It amused the hell out of my friends. The things you find humorous when you're 10...

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by SWB

I was thinking the same thing. Why would you want to ADVERTISE that the home you're trying to sell or rent has a freakin' toilet sitting in the middle of the floor so you can pee in front of all of your guests?

I would bet you in most of these houses, the basement isn't finished. Think about it -- in these old homes, the basements were a necessity for storage -- storage for your canned goods, your coal furnace and your coal storage area, where you stored your gardening stuff -- it wasn't meant to be a nice area...

And so for whatever practical reason it became the habit to put a potty in... it's weird by today's standards.

I like living in older houses because of the odd stuff you come across. I have a vented hole -- like 12x16 -- cut into the center walls through the living room and dining room. Just the lathe and plaster -- the 2x3's (yes -- the interior walls are hand hewn redwood 2x3's, not 2x4's) -- the 2x3's are still there. The hole is way up near the ceiling -- and under the floor directly beneath the hole was the old gas floor furnace. Purchased in 1924 from Montgomery Wards. (we used it till 7 years ago.... it was sort of cool, and dried my curly hair beautifully! But for heating the house -- HORRIBLE!)

The only thing we can thing of -- and it's so scientifically wrong -- is the hole was cut so the heat would transfer to the other side of the house. There's no hole on the other side of the house, mind you -- so all it would do is heat the attic -- if there was a hole in the attic.

We've lived with it for 20 years -- and each year I say this is the year I'll repair that... and since we may paint the living room this year, this is the year I'll fix it -- with the studs there it's should be easy to rock over it. Taping and mudding will be an learning progress...

[suzeeq521]

The "You Had to Ask" question in the Pittsburgh City Paper addresses some of the quirky plumbing of Pittsburgh this week. A couple of weeks ago, they addressed the question of the basement toilet, but this week, they go more in depth, with discussion of toilet, basement and otherwise, that were installed without sinks.

Fascinating study of class differences.

[fleetiebelle]

"You Had to Ask" question in the Pittsburgh City Paper addresses some of the quirky plumbing of Pittsburgh this week.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, and noticed something when I was home for Christmas: What is up with the toilets in everyone's basements? I have never seen this in any other city! - Question submitted by: Colleen Cowan, La Palma, Calif. - Views - You Had to

My husband and I moved to Pittsburgh about four years ago. Our house has the usual basement toilet and four other bathroom toilets -- but two of them have no sinks. Are these sinkless bathrooms from before they knew about germs? - Question submitted