In America, the reason is basically “religion”. There are architectural standards which designers refer to for guidance, and the dude who did the architectural standard for restrooms was super hardcore religious. His standard called for big gaps in all the seams, to prevent people from masturbating in the stalls. Basically, he wanted people to be able to peek into stalls, as a sort of modesty check. And eventually, it just became accepted as normal, even though everyone (including Americans who were born and raised with them as the standard) hates the huge gaps.
In modern day, they’re mostly done to deter drug use. I guess the reasoning is similar, with the large gaps intended to allow people to peek into the stalls and see if someone is doing drugs.
For what it’s worth regardless of how it started, it’s now enforced by ADA as an accessibility compliance issue, so that a wheelchair users feet can get under the stall door so they can get close enough to reach the latch. Seems like a stretch to me but I’m not a wheelchair user
I’m not sure what kinda gymnastics the wheelchair user’s got to be doing to get on the shitter once they’ve rolled themselves into a stall backwards… Or why it’s only after a shit that they can’t use doors
Some stalls are tiny, and in old construction there’s not a lot you can do with out major renovations.
I’m sure the extra leg room is appreciated by taller folks, or if you can’t really bend your lower legs in towards you.
I travel a lot for my job, maybe fifty different countries the past 5 or 6 years, and I’ve never seen toilet doors as silly and poorly-designed as US ones, except in places where they’re just making do with what they have.
America? America.
The rest of the world somehow manages to make doors the size of the frame that go pretty much to the floor.
In America, the reason is basically “religion”. There are architectural standards which designers refer to for guidance, and the dude who did the architectural standard for restrooms was super hardcore religious. His standard called for big gaps in all the seams, to prevent people from masturbating in the stalls. Basically, he wanted people to be able to peek into stalls, as a sort of modesty check. And eventually, it just became accepted as normal, even though everyone (including Americans who were born and raised with them as the standard) hates the huge gaps.
In modern day, they’re mostly done to deter drug use. I guess the reasoning is similar, with the large gaps intended to allow people to peek into the stalls and see if someone is doing drugs.
For what it’s worth regardless of how it started, it’s now enforced by ADA as an accessibility compliance issue, so that a wheelchair users feet can get under the stall door so they can get close enough to reach the latch. Seems like a stretch to me but I’m not a wheelchair user
I’m not sure what kinda gymnastics the wheelchair user’s got to be doing to get on the shitter once they’ve rolled themselves into a stall backwards… Or why it’s only after a shit that they can’t use doors
Some stalls are tiny, and in old construction there’s not a lot you can do with out major renovations. I’m sure the extra leg room is appreciated by taller folks, or if you can’t really bend your lower legs in towards you.
source?
I think it’s because it’s a modular system that is cost effective, durable and repairable.
You can do the same with dimensions that fit together without gaps
I disagree. If you can manufacture it I can try to install it though.
It’s called a “door”.
Just the USA, not all of America
That’s false.
I travel a lot for my job, maybe fifty different countries the past 5 or 6 years, and I’ve never seen toilet doors as silly and poorly-designed as US ones, except in places where they’re just making do with what they have.
I didn’t travel as much as you (far from it)
But in every contry I’ve ever been there were toilet doors reaching the ground and floating ~20cm over it in about equal amounts
Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, South Korea, Japan were all essentially private booths. Should be standard.
UK was a bit of a cluster, Philippines had doors sometimes, Italy was almost like America at least around Florence when I was there 20 years ago