I've been getting out a little more lately (yippee for me!), and I drink a lot of water, so...you can do the math on that one (and I bet you're as tired as I am of that cliché). The product of which is that I've had quite a thorough tour of the local public restrooms.
And sad to say, most of them aren’t up to snuff. I don't mean the cleanliness - while I wouldn't want to perform open-heart surgery on the floor of them, I don't feel like I'm going to pick up any unpronounceable diseases.
I'm talking about ergonomics. And since this was supposed to be my Labor Day column, I was looking (some might say reaching) for a way to link the two together.
Now, I'm not "disabled”, (although I'm still having my challenges now and again) in the standard sense of the word, like with the sticker on the car and getting the good parking spaces and everything, and I don't go around demanding that all workplaces and public facilities have "equal access for the physically challenged" or whatever it is they're calling it this week.
I'd just like to see little common sense put into the design of public rest rooms.
For instance, the bathroom shared by my physical therapist's clinic and the health club it's attached to - now I don't know who the hell this created this nightmare but I want to meet him in a dark alley with a stun gun and tattoo “I love W” on his forehead. For one, there is a grab bar to the right and behind the toilet (and WHY if there is a grab bar at the toilet is it always on the RIGHT side when statistics show that most injuries occur among left-handed people? And what's the deal with grab bar over the back of the tank? Who can reach that? For two, the double-barrel TP container is placed so far from the toilet and so low to the floor that when you are seated and either not very tall, or can’t lean forward too far (like most people who need to be in a physical therapy clinic), it is not reachable. So you’d better make sure you grab your expected quantity before you sit down or you're going to be screwed.
Restaurant rest rooms are my next favorite bugaboo. Since I live in a colonial city (surrounded by other colonial cities) the restrooms are often retrofitted basically wherever they will fit in to the nooks and crannies of the older buildings. This often means ascending a steep flight of stairs, navigating down narrow and sometimes dark corridors, or wedged myself between the vacuum cleaner closet and the kitchen, hoping no one is going to suddenly swing out with a tray full of sizzling fajitas. And the room itself is often so small that if you are sitting on the john, you can reach both arms and both feet out and touch the walls. And for some reason, the toilet seats are extremely low. I don't quite clear 5'4", and they're too low for me, so I can't even imagine how much tougher they might be for a really tall person, or a pregnant one. The toilet paper holder is placed wherever it will fit or wherever someone could find a stud to anchor it into, ditto the soap and paper towel containers. Does anyone field-check these things? Isn't there some kind of construction manual that spells out the accepted building specifications for placement of items in public toilets? Once, at the lighting company, we underwent an expensive lobby renovation that included wicked spiffy rest rooms complete with Italian marble tile floors and counters, flattering lighting, and basically the best of everything. Two of the guys from the factory put it together. And the three booths were so shallow that the taller female employees couldn't sit down without bruising their knees against the stall doors.
I say let's have some standardization, here.
I'm not asking for the world. I'm not asking for changing tables in every ladies' room or nixing the hot-air blowers (even though I hate the damned things) or making all faucets and soap dispensers and flushers automatic (now, those are a bit disconcerting).
I just want some common sense. Design it so I don't have to practically bend 45 degrees to reach the water faucets or throw out my back to check my makeup in the mirrors. Give me enough room to take off my coat for Christ’s sake. And give me a toilet tall enough so that sitting and getting up isn't a physical therapy exercise, and a paper dispenser that won't require a chiropractic adjustment every time I use it.
Is that too much to ask?
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You're tasking me to come up with the abbreviated version here. It's a topic I could go on (laboriously) about at length. I'll spare you (and your readers), however.
1) Yes, there are building code standards concerning locations/heights of various items. While I would imagine they should be a national standard, they generally are state-mandated. Living, as I do, on a border and travelling back and forth frequently, it's easy to see what those differences can be. Well, easy for someone in the biz, I guess.
2) Toilets at a low height are ADA standard. If you are using the restroom in a building that is required to have a handicap bathroom (or one that could be easily converted at a later date should that become necessary), that's probably what you've run into. As a tall woman (5'9"), you are entirely correct that it's a pain for us. However, expecting someone to be able to get in and out of a wheelchair onto a toilet at a height that would work for me is likely unreasonable. So, I try to remember that, and cuss silently to myself.
3) Grab bars are generally either right or left, depending on ease of installation for the contractor (and without any regard for how accidents occur...bring your concern to your local building inspector, perhaps you can make a difference!). And, yes, definitely, where studs (and blocking) have been installed. I think the ones behind the toilet are generally found in unisex restrooms and are for men who may need some assistance standing, not so much for the ladies.
4) There are no rules about where one can squeeze in a restroom within a building, and if it doesn't have to be handicap accessible (based on capacity of intended use...which can change after the initial construction and then you REALLY have fun meeting code...and the presence of one other that is), so, believe me, you'll find them in all kinds of unlikely locations. Especially in historic buildings. As for size, well, there are standards as to how much clearance there is needed between a wall and a sink to install a toilet (36"), but, that doesn't mean it can't be "customized", if you need a bathroom in a smaller space. As I've already noted, it's going to vary from state to state what you can get away with.
5) Building inspectors are human and are therefore fallible, potentially gullible, and (at times) greedy. If you need it badly enough, there are often ways you can get around various code restrictions. Not that I have ever done anything like that. I've just heard tales.
Yeah, yeah...I'm shutting up now.
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