Urinal in finished basement bathroom

[PJC74]

Hey guys,

My wife thinks I'm crazy but we are getting ready to finish the basement including a full bath.

The area for the bathroom is quite large and got me thinking about adding a urinal.

I regularly have folks over. It's not out of the question to have 20-30 guys over for poker night.

Since there is no bathroom, everyone goes outside. Once finished, it will be odd to ask everyone to keep going outside.

20 -30 guys all drinking can add up to a lot of toilet flushes.  I want to be green and also save $$.

Would it make sense to add a urinal, or should I justinstall those toilets that you can select #1 or #2?

Appreciate any input.

[chemistk]

I have 3 boys, so I don't necessarily disagree with the idea of having a urinal.

But I think the biggest issue is that it just feels dirty to look at. Doesn't really matter how clean you keep it, you just know what happens at a urinal.

Knowing that overspray is a big thing with urinals (technically with toilets too, but come on...guys need to get over themselves and sit down - it's more sanitary for everyone), I'd want it as far from the sink as I could possibly get it. Ideally even with a partition like a tiled pony wall - not for privacy but just to keep as much overspray contained as possible. Even as a guy with 3 boys, that would be my own minimum requirement. I'd also make an up-front deal that you'll be personally responsible for cleaning it on a very regular basis. Definitely also implore to your buddies that they need to treat your urinal better than the urinals, well, everywhere else.

I think this is what it comes down to - if you are going to have your friends use the bathroom in the house regardless of whether you have a urinal, then yeah it makes sense. But if you're still flexible about watering the garden, then there's really no point - the mess would not be worth the convenience.

[Metalcat]

Do you mean a urinal in addition to a toilet or in lieu of a toilet?

I assume you mean in addition to because you mentioned how big the space is. If that's the case, and you are comfortable managing the mess as described above, and you have droves of men over regularly, then I don't see why you wouldn't do this, unless there are also frequently female guests using that bathroom, who might be skeeved out by a urinal.

Other than the mess of dozens of men's piss splattering all over, it sounds like quite a reasonable option if you expect that many lads over regularly, long term.

But maybe look into a less splashy design of urinal? They must exist.

[GuitarStv]

Is a urinal really faster or cleaner than a toilet?

[uniwelder]

Definitely get the urinal!!!!  A friend of mine took an old saxophone and made his dream urinal from it-- splatter is not a problem as its quite nicely funneled shaped.  My biggest gripe with traditional urinals is how poorly they're designed.  And as far as water usage, if you make the P-trap narrow enough, you only need 8 ounces of water to flush.

[PJC74]

Thanks for the replies so far, appreciate it.

This would be in addition to a regular toilet.

I'm just thinking a regular toilet flush on the newer toilets is 1.60 gallons X30 guys X 3 times per night = 144 gallons for one night.

Good points though, about overspray and ick factor of a urinal in general.

Maybe I should jus t announce "guys, if its yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down?" :)

[Metalcat]

Is a urinal really faster or cleaner than a toilet?

No, not at all. He said he was thinking about it to save on water.

[chemistk]

Is a urinal really faster or cleaner than a toilet?

No, not at all. He said he was thinking about it to save on water.

It's definitely faster if you otherwise choose to sit down to pee.

[CNM]

Definitely get the urinal!!!!  A friend of mine took an old saxophone and made his dream urinal from it-- splatter is not a problem as its quite nicely funneled shaped.  My biggest gripe with traditional urinals is how poorly they're designed.  And as far as water usage, if you make the P-trap narrow enough, you only need 8 ounces of water to flush.

I love the idea of a 'dream urinal.' :)

[Fishindude]

+1
Get the urinal !

[Kwill]

I've seen a urinal in a home in Japan but never in the US or UK. As long as it is kept clean, it seems alright. One option might be to make some degree of separation between the urinal and the toilet and sink -- either a separate room or a slight divider. I googled and found some photos of a home remodelling project where they combined two separate rooms, one with the urinal and the other with the toilet and sink. The end result seems nice enough. The bath is probably in yet another room. This is in Japanese, but the page should work with Google Translate.

[affordablehousing]

I was thinking along these lines too and let me ask an even nuttier idea, what if, to save space in a compact bathroom, and to make it very cheap, you don't even have a urinal, just a wye that comes out of the wall to pee into with a cap on a string. I would put a trap on there, but figure between the occasional washing and the cap, it would be my personal urinal and otherwise look like a future plumbing connection in case anyone else ever were to visit. This would be for a room where I would be the only user 99.9% of the time.

Like, if you trust your aim, and it's only your germs, and you can cap the pipe for the smell, why deal with the expense of a urinal and a water line at all?

For 30 guys I'd want a trough like at the ballpark. You could use one of those old concrete laundry basins and just hook up a spigot to shoot a continual light flow when the guys are over.

[Christof]

We got one with house we bought and soon after put an Out of order sign on it. The hassle with cleaning was just not worth the water we saved.

[Sibley]

OP, I think you'll have to make an agreement with your wife that YOU, and only you will clean that bathroom. Not her. And you'll clean it to your wife's standards if hers are higher than yours. Then you'll need to stick to that agreement, forever.

[innkeeper77]

I'm just thinking a regular toilet flush on the newer toilets is 1.60 gallons X30 guys X 3 times per night = 144 gallons for one night.

In my most recent renovation, we went for the "cheap" less efficient toilets- 1.28 gallons, and they work GREAT. I see the Kohler sells some 1.0 gallon units that are probably cheaper to upgrade to than adding an entire urinal.

Also- 3x a night sounds like a high side estimate!

[theoverlook]

I think you would never save enough water to actually save money. Urinals cost a few hundred bucks - the cheapest one I found with flush valve was $463 in a quick search. Water averages about $.02/gallon, and that urinal uses .125 GPF, saving about 1.075 gallons per flush. Ignoring installation and cleaning and maintenance costs, you would have to use the urinal instead of the toilet over 20,000 times to break even. From a resource consumption perspective it's an eternal loss as you've substituted fully recyclable water usage with a fired porcelain appliance with chromed brass and copper flush hardware. It just doesn't make sense, in my opinion, unless you really like having a urinal in your bathroom.

Edited to say: I was off by over an order of magnitude on the water cost. Average cost per gallon of water in the US is $.0015. That means you'd have to flush that poor urinal about 281,250 times to break even just considering the urinal cost, not the installation, maintenance, cleaning, etc. Never gonna happen. We're replacing urinals and flush valves long before they flush that many times in our commercial office building. The flush valves don't last that long, and urine salts build up in the urinal itself and can't practically be cleaned out so they end up replaced as well.

[affordablehousing]

I think the point of peeing in a urinal is seeing if you can blast a hole through the urinal cake, not saving water, right?

[solon]

If you get the urinal, be sure to put a fly in the bottom to indicate where to aim! Apparently men really like aiming at things.

https://smile.amazon.com/Urinal-Fly-Stickers-Ladybug-Bathrooms/dp/B086JF8CBH/

[PDXTabs]

guys need to get over themselves and sit down

wut?

[chemistk]

guys need to get over themselves and sit down

wut?

I stand by my statement! If you live alone, pee in a bucket. But if you love with other people, it's just gross to stand up. Convenient? Of course! Gross? Always. Take a black light to the area around your toilet next time - splatter everywhere.

I mean, ultimately people gonna do whatever they feel like, but there's no shame in sitting

[Hotstreak]

Put a sign on the bathroom door that says "Women", and keep sending the guys outside.  Don't they prefer this anyways?

[PDXTabs]

I stand by my statement! If you live alone, pee in a bucket. But if you love with other people, it's just gross to stand up. Convenient? Of course! Gross? Always. Take a black light to the area around your toilet next time - splatter everywhere.

Next you are going to tell me I need to stop peeing in sinks.

Fair enough.

I mean, ultimately people gonna do whatever they feel like, but there's no shame in sitting

I sit when it's dark in the room.

[former player]

Put a sign on the bathro  om door that says "Women", and keep sending the guys outside.  Don't they prefer this anyways?

This.  Or hire the local hall.

[habanero]

If my host gave me the option of peeing in an urinal or outside I'd def go for the outside option. Not because urinals are gross (they are) but it's much manlier to pee outside imo. One of our former politicians for a "farmer" party once said that every citizen should be able to pee on his own property without annoying the neigbour.

Has any of your 20-30 poker night guests ever had a problem with going outside to splash the grounds?
 

[chemistk]

I stand by my statement! If you live alone, pee in a bucket. But if you love with other people, it's just gross to stand up. Convenient? Of course! Gross? Always. Take a black light to the area around your toilet next time - splatter everywhere.

Next you are going to tell me I need to stop peeing in sinks.

Fair enough.

I mean, ultimately people gonna do whatever they feel like, but there's no shame in sitting

I sit when it's dark in the room.

Ha! I'm not opposed to the emergency sink pee, been there too many times when the toilets in the men's room are all clogged (what monster takes a crap in a urinal??) and there's no way to go outside.

[Fishindude]

The best urinals are the full height, clear to the floor units.
One of those would be really cool.

[uniwelder]

The best urinals are the full height, clear to the floor units.
One of those would be really cool.

They’re the worst for splash back through. You’re pissing directly against a wall. Good designs are funnel shaped, hence my comment about the converted saxophone.

[Fishindude]

The best urinals are the full height, clear to the floor units.
One of those would be really cool.

They’re the worst for splash back through. You’re pissing directly against a wall. Good designs are funnel shaped, hence my comment about the converted saxophone.

Man .... must be some inaccurate urinators around?   

[sonofsven]

Give all your guys their own pee bottle, they can take it home with them.
Tell them it's to save you money.
The abuse you take will be worth it.

[uniwelder]

The best urinals are the full height, clear to the floor units.
One of those would be really cool.

They’re the worst for splash back through. You’re pissing directly against a wall. Good designs are funnel shaped, hence my comment about the converted saxophone.

Man .... must be some inaccurate urinators around?

Maybe related to stream velocity?  I do aim pretty accurately and am conscientious to minimize splatter, but always end up with urine mist on my hands and evidence of it on the floor.  With conventional urinals, I find it best to go at an angle to deflect, or aim for the mesh garbage strainer at the bottom. 

[affordablehousing]

Maybe I can add two attachments to my personal pipe urinal, a cap on a string for smell blocking and a funnel on a string for mist reduction. With both of them tethered I can just put on whatever attachment is needed. That would also make the funnel easier to clean if someone was visiting the workshop.

[sonofsven]

Maybe I can add two attachments to my personal pipe urinal, a cap on a string for smell blocking and a funnel on a string for mist reduction. With both of them tethered I can just put on whatever attachment is needed. That would also make the funnel easier to clean if someone was visiting the workshop.

I built a similar construction in my tree house when I was 12.
Gravity, worked great, except it smelled real bad since I did not understand the concept of a P trap.

[affordablehousing]

Yeah, I don't mind having a 12 year old level urinal in my shop. I don't think I'm much past that.

[Sanitary Stache]

I saw a floor to ceiling urinal in a listing today and I thought it was weird.

I vote for peeing outside, like a civilized man - my boys pee off the front porch and call hello to the neighbors while doing it (2 and 3 yrs old). Install a hand washing sink next to the door so the guest can wash their hands before they come back to handle the cards (and everyone can confirm that the hand washing occurs).

Also toilets a made for sitting on, standing to pee into a toilet is pretty rude in my opinion.

[trollwithamustache]

can you divide the bathroom into two so the Urinal is its own room? Or at least a divider? If you can't run two pisses as the same time, I don't see it actually increasing your down drain throughput on poker night.

[PJC74]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback and some good laughs, too :)

Looks like the cost savings would be minimal, and the hassle to keep it clean maximal, compared to a regular toilet. I'll nix this idea.

[CNM]

I never knew that urinals were so gross before this thread.  Thank you for the education.

[Jon Bon]

Yeah it feels like a cool idea, but like many cool and unusual ideas there are good reasons why they are not traditionally done.

I too have toyed with the idea. After reading this, yeah the cleaning would not make it worth it. Lets face it im already not cleaning my basement toilet nearly as much as I would my other ones you know? So it feels like a regular toilet would be a better idea, the only reason I can see to do a urinal is in the basement if you don't have enough fall for a proper toilet.

[AMandM]

female guests using that bathroom, who might be skeeved out by a urinal.

This. Nothing says "don't come in here, ladies" like a urinal.

...And after reading the whole thread, a thousand times this!

[GuitarStv]

female guests using that bathroom, who might be skeeved out by a urinal.

This. Nothing says "don't come in here, ladies" like a urinal.

...And after reading the whole thread, a thousand times this!

If the host provided https://www.shewee.ca/ for ladies use, would that be more inviting . . . or less?  :P

[PMJL34]

lol this was a fun read.

OP, I get your line of thinking, but just install a hyper efficient toilet and be done with it for all the reasons others mentioned. This is your personal home, not a bar or a public facility.

Toilet flushing is likely not even top 5 water use in your home, even during these poker nights. Your water saving will be negligent, don't stress it.

Best of luck!

[zolotiyeruki]

There are also dual-flush options for toilets, so people who just pee can opt to use less water.

There are flush-less urinals, which use a layer of mineral oil instead of water in the P trap.  The urine goes through the layer of oil (since it's more dense) then passes through the p-trap and on down to the sewers.  No need for a flush at all.  I seem to remember that a treatment of oil lasts through 20,000 urinations before it is depleted.

[Mustache ride]

It never even occurred to me that standing up to pee is rude. I'm not going to stop, but it's good to know.

[Metalcat]

female guests using that bathroom, who might be skeeved out by a urinal.

This. Nothing says "don't come in here, ladies" like a urinal.

...And after reading the whole thread, a thousand times this!

If the host provided https://www.shewee.ca/ for ladies use, would that be more inviting . . . or less?  :P

You seem to be in the mood for making strange lady-parts jokes these days, about things that aren't actually a joke.

I own one of those, they are for camping/any other scenario where a woman may need to pee outside and not want to piss all over her pants and shoes. It's a very practical item for a very legitimate purpose.

If I was stuck in a situation where there was *only* a urinal available, then yes, I would be very happy to have one of those on hand. But at $15 each (cost of mine on Amazon), I doubt anyone is going to keep a giant stash of them to give to female guests instead of just directing them to a normal toilet.

[PDXTabs]

There are flush-less urinals, which use a layer of mineral oil instead of water in the P trap.  The urine goes through the layer of oil (since it's more dense) then passes through the p-trap and on down to the sewers.  No need for a flush at all.  I seem to remember that a treatment of oil lasts through 20,000 urinations before it is depleted.

Yea, the only way I'd pay for a urinal in a house is if it was flush-less.

[Paper Chaser]

Isn't a walk-in-shower just a large, multifunction urinal that's easier to clean?