Anyone heard or use the term "Pittsburgh potty"? (construction, state)

[zentropa]

We had one in a rental house in Virginia years ago. I made my husband poop down there.

[Ohiogirl81]

My parents' house has a freestanding toilet in the basement. Not in Pittsburgh, nowhere near a steel mill, built in 1955. Plumbing for additional fixtures is roughed in, but neither the previous owners nor my parents built a full bath around the toilet.

I've seen similar setups - some enclosed, some out in the open - all over the country, in houses of varying ages.

My grandparents' house, in a coal mining town in Somerset County 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, didn't have a toilet in the basement, but did have an open shower in the corner of the basement. For the longest time, there was a clawfoot tub down there, too, and that's where the whole family took showers and baths. The toilet was a water closet on the second floor, and we brushed our teeth at the kitchen sink.

[Giesela]

I've seen many basement man bathrooms roughed in by many of the european immigrant families, including mine. These are usually unfinished basements etc.
As someone said upthread, where the man comes in and cleans up.

[reneeh63]

Originally Posted by BirdieBelle

There would often be a utility sink there, too, where they could wash up.

They could leave work boots and dirty uniforms in the basement and, yes, take that after-work dump.

Is that a thing? Should I be taking an after-work dump?

[city living]

My grandmother had a toilet in the basement right by the washing machine as well. But I hadn't heard that term before for it.

[NorthofHere]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

Actually, they weren't designed for the coal workers coming home, at least not out here. They were designed for sewage backup. Back in the day when sewer lines were first being used and improved, they backed up on a regular basis. Having a random toilet in the basement meant any raw sewage backup went down there as opposed to backing up into the toilet upstairs. Gross, but less gross than having it in your living space.

Yep, this is the reason. Coal miners did use them after coming home and cleaning up, but that wasn't the reason they were there in the first place.

[Piney Creek]

Originally Posted by reneeh63

Is that a thing? Should I be taking an after-work dump?

Your work conditions might be different. My guess is there really isn't a place to do that in a coal mine.

[hlbullis]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

I had never heard that term before but I've seen them a few times out here.

I love Pittsburg Blackened or black and blue steak but the toilet I'm sorry I missed it....

[hlbullis]

Originally Posted by NorthofHere

Yep, this is the reason. Coal miners did use them after coming home and cleaning up, but that wasn't the reason they were there in the first place.

I'd rather go with the coal worker. Although when I was growing up we had a coal shute into the basement and a wringer washer. The coal shute was scary and I can tell you first hand that wringer was hard on fingers! But a toilet actually would have come in handy the washer was too high....

[athena53]

There was one in my grandparents' house in NE Ohio- one wall was the back of the basement, another was the wall dividing the furnace area from the laundry area (I still remember Grandma's wringer washer) and the third was a cement block partition, with a shower curtain over the front. Nasty, but there was no toilet on the main floor (back then they weren't considered polite enough to put on the main floor and it was upstairs with the 3 bedrooms) and there were 5 kids in Mom's family so I'm sure they were glad to have it.