Lots of San Francisco homes have unenclosed toilets. No one really knows why.

[sopas ej]

I wasn't aware of this!

From SF Gate:

Why your San Francisco home may have a 'Pittsburgh potty' in the garage

These lonely toilets are another example of the city's home oddities

By Tessa McLean
Feb 20, 2024


FILE - Rows of homes are seen in the Sunset District on February 20, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images


A single white porcelain toilet sits in the middle of an unfinished lower level of a San Francisco house. There are no walls around it and no nearby sink. It’s just there — daring you to remove it, or perhaps even more daringly, use it.

These lonely toilets are another example of the city’s home oddities, even if they may be a bit more jarring than a strange cabinet or mysterious singing windows. The story behind them is likely rooted in pure practicality, though many theories abound. Either way, once you’ve seen one, you certainly won’t forget it.

Sometimes referred to as a “Pittsburgh potty,” basement toilets served a utilitarian purpose at least in the city of their nickname, allowing blue collar workers a place to relieve themselves without tracking grime into the house. If a coveted sink is nearby, it also serves as a place to wash up after a day’s work before retreating into the home.

San Francisco real estate agent Ciara Piron has a different theory for these toilets, at least for the ones prevalent in the Sunset District. She’s seen plenty of these solitary toilets while selling homes in the area and took it upon herself to do some research. She found that on just one block, 26 homes were built in 1928. That’s speedy construction, and she posits that the workers erecting these homes would need another place to “go” while the houses were being completed — portable toilets had yet to be invented.

Rather than get rid of the extra toilets when construction was complete, workers left it up to the new homeowner to decide its fate.


A "Pittsburgh potty," which are often found within homes in San Francisco's Outer Sunset and Excelsior neighborhoods. Jeff via Flickr CC 2.0

[...]

Read the rest here: https://www.sfgate.com/local/article...UPISbDvUm21Y9k

[tech12]

I don't think doorless garage toilets are that common lol. I was born and raised in SF, and this is the first time I've heard of it. But a normal, door-having bathroom on the ground/garage/"basement" floor (that's how garages are often used here) is very common...as are in-law apartments (in/beside/behind the garage, in the backyard, etc), so it makes sense for there to be a bathroom down there.

[llamaorama]

That's nothing. In Houston and DFW and I'm sure most of the Sunbelt where 1) a lot of housing stock was built seemingly overnight during one week in 1983 and 2) every house has carpet absolutely everywhere, there are far too many homes where there is carpet in the goddamn bathroom. Skanky carpet by the toilet even. Every guy is going to miss sometimes. The 1980s were a weird time for bathroom decor. After 40 years of splatter, that padding underneath must be getting crunchy.

[Steely Dan]

^ carpeting in the bathroom is perhaps the most bewildering home decor decision all time.

How could anyone think it's a good idea?




As for random toilets not in a bathroom, I've encountered many of them in the basements of older Chicago houses. Never made much sense to me, but I guess if you're in the basement and you really gotta go..........

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ carpeting in the bathroom is perhaps the most bewildering home decor decision all time.

How could anyone think it's a good idea?




As for random toilets not in a bathroom, I've encountered many of them in the basements of older Chicago houses. Never made much sense to me, but I guess if you're in the basement and you really gotta go..........

I've seen this a lot in older houses. My aunt's house is about 100 years old and has a bathroom in the basement that was effectively just a toilet in a closet before she had it finished. If I recall correctly, the theory is that the bathroom was started by a previous owner without a proper permit and never finished.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ carpeting in the bathroom is perhaps the most bewildering home decor decision all time.

How could anyone think it's a good idea?




As for random toilets not in a bathroom, I've encountered many of them in the basements of older Chicago houses. Never made much sense to me, but I guess if you're in the basement and you really gotta go..........

Typical of grandparents' houses in the 80's. That and the colored toilet paper...

[jd3189]

One thing I noticed while doing Airbnb in SF is that a lot of those newer housing in the Sunset District and places like Daly City and Brisbane are kinda like shotgun homes in New Orleans. A small front facade with the living room having a view of the street below and then a long narrow hallway into the bedroom in the far back.

[ocman]

I bet there are people still around in SF who know the answer to this. I was amused a few months ago when it went viral among younger people when a kid discovered McDonalds used to fry their fries in beef fat. It’s a conversation amongst themselves, but if they talked some born in the 80s, we would have shrugged and said yeah, was that a secret?

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ carpeting in the bathroom is perhaps the most bewildering home decor decision all time.

How could anyone think it's a good idea?




As for random toilets not in a bathroom, I've encountered many of them in the basements of older Chicago houses. Never made much sense to me, but I guess if you're in the basement and you really gotta go..........

You want bewildering home decor decisions?

Here you go: Enjoy.

And when you get done with that specific example, enjoy this compendium of 60s and 70s home decorating ideas.

[pdxtex]

To take an emergency crap in the basement, that's why.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

You want bewildering home decor decisions?

Here you go: Enjoy.

And when you get done with that specific example, enjoy this compendium of 60s and 70s home decorating ideas.

She's a beauty!

[FromSD]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

She's a beauty!

The New York Times showcases homes for sale around the country a couple times a week in a feature called "What You Get for $XXX ." Typically a significant proportion of reader comments complain about bland decorating choices and all the white walls. This house in Greenville, SC certainly isn't guilty of those sins.

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by FromSD

The New York Times showcases homes for sale around the country a couple times a week in a feature called "What You Get for $XXX ." Typically a significant proportion of reader comments complain about bland decorating choices and all the white walls. This house in Greenville, SC certainly isn't guilty of those sins.

But it does offer the most built-in tripping hazards per buck that you're likely to find.

[ardecila]

Maybe a curiosity to SF Gate readers, but these are common in other cities as well. As Steely mentioned, they are all over the place in Chicago and the article mentions Pittsburgh as well.

I'm guessing they:
A) served a purpose as an extra toilet option in an otherwise cramped house
B) provided a "foot in the door" for the buildout of a 2nd apartment in the basement.

Adding a kitchen, sinks, etc can all be done easily by an unskilled homeowner or handyman, but a toilet needs cast iron plumbing below the floor slab, which is hard for a non-professional to do. If you just put it in when you're building the house, then it's much easier to come build out the rest of an apartment later.

Of course, after these houses were built, zoning got much much tighter in the 60s/70s and it was no longer legal to build out a full apartment, so a lot of these toilets stayed orphaned. Some homeowners will do code hacks like "in-law" apartments and "lockoff" suites, but they aren't considered a full dwelling since they don't have a full kitchen, and importantly they can't (easily) be rented to strangers like a regular apartment can.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Adding a kitchen, sinks, etc can all be done easily by an unskilled homeowner or handyman, but a toilet needs cast iron plumbing below the floor slab, which is hard for a non-professional to do. If you just put it in when you're building the house, then it's much easier to come build out the rest of an apartment later.

I never thought about it like that, but your theory makes a ton of sense, given how the entire homebuilding ethos in Chicago in the early 20th century (and I'm sure in other fast growing cities at the time) was about getting a shit ton of homes built as quickly as humanly possible, but also making them easily expandable in the future (hence the 8 zillion bungalows and Georgians that define the outer city).

"let's just get a toilet in there now, while it's still really easy to do before the slab goes in; the rest can be finished by the eventual homeowner down the road".



I think this thread has its answer.

[benp]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

That's nothing. In Houston and DFW and I'm sure most of the Sunbelt where 1) a lot of housing stock was built seemingly overnight during one week in 1983 and 2) every house has carpet absolutely everywhere, there are far too many homes where there is carpet in the goddamn bathroom. Skanky carpet by the toilet even. Every guy is going to miss sometimes. The 1980s were a weird time for bathroom decor. After 40 years of splatter, that padding underneath must be getting crunchy.

Yes, had one of those 80s homes in Houston. It was 3 years old when we bought it, and the original owner had used it as a rental and left the carpets in. There literally were mushrooms sprouting from the bathroom floor before we pulled its all up and tiled it.

Many of the older city homes in Buffalo have toilets in the basement, usually not original to the house, as there is really no other place in those small houses to add an extra bath. Nearly all were originally built with only 1 small bathroom per unit.

[ColDayMan]

Uhhh...I didn't know toilets not in the basement was a thing. All the homes I've lived in with basements had toilets.

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ carpeting in the bathroom is perhaps the most bewildering home decor decision all time.

How could anyone think it's a good idea?




As for random toilets not in a bathroom, I've encountered many of them in the basements of older Chicago houses. Never made much sense to me, but I guess if you're in the basement and you really gotta go..........

Same with carpeting in the kitchen.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Dariusb

Same with carpeting in the kitchen.

Yeah, carpeting and any room with plumbing do. not. mix.

It should be the very first rule of interior finishes selection.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

Uhhh...I didn't know toilets not in the basement was a thing. All the homes I've lived in with basements had toilets.

Only if they were finished. Never saw a toilet in an unfinished basement.