My first apartment was that kind of unit bath, but my current apartment has a separate sink and toilet, but the bath is definitely one manufactured piece of plastic that contains the full shower area; my wife's mom's house, and my friend's house are both the same, so I figure it's pretty common.
I lived in an apartment with one of these sorts of bathrooms in Tokyo. It was made of two molded plastic parts put together: a bottom half and a top half. I had no idea what that was called, but now I know!
My definition of "unit bath" must be different than yours. A unit bath for me is something I find in a small single room apartment in Japan. It's got the sink, tub, and toilet in the same room almost all entirely molded from one piece.
AFAIK that is not the norm in Japanese houses. A house would like have a toilet in one room, sink in separate room, bath in a 3rd room, and that bath is is about the size of 2 American bathtubs. One area of the tub, and one for watching (a wet floor).
AFAIK that's the norm in a Japanese "house" as well as most modern 2 bedroom or larger apartments. Smaller and/or older places have a "unit bath" (I lived with one for 6 years but my current place has everything separate)
I suppose for appartments unit baths are prefab? Like just a sealed block with your toilet and bathtub, all in one package.
There's also just like... the shower room itself, even in nicer appartments, that ends up just being a block (see video of installation). Seems like a pretty good way of reducing issues like leaks or weird plumbing issues.
A full bathroom includes four components: bathtub, shower, sink, toilet. A half bathroom is just a sink and toilet. A 3/4 bath is a bathroom without a bathtub. It's very common in shitty apartments.
I actually have that in my apartment in SF. It may be because it's a three bedroom place with only one bath though. It's nice because someone can use the toilet while the shower is in use, but then you have to walk to the kitchen to wash your hands....wish someone had the foresight to add the faucet-top toilet ;)
I've never seen that either. And it's very common. Hardly just "shitty apartments." In fact, when I had my bathroom remodeled a few years back, I changed it from having a bathtub/shower to just a shower.
In the US, a "bathroom" is usually a 3-piece (bath/shower, sink, toilet). A toilet/sink (no bath) is usually called a "half bath" in real estate listings (2.5 baths is common in suburban homes - one master suite, one serving the other bedrooms, and the "half" near the kitchen or living area).
This is pretty much how bathroom-toilets in Singaporean public housing are designed; the entire floor is designed to 'get wet', and all drains away into a single culvert.
This seems remarkably close to a Japanese "unit bath" bathroom. The entire room drains into a drain in the floor so you can use the shower head to clean it. It's small, with a tub, sink and toilet. The tap (faucet) for the sink also fills the bathtub.
One bathroom with a toilet, sink and bath/shower combo, one en-suite bathroom with toilet, sink and shower and one toilet + sink. I guess the technical term (as used by property people) is 2 1/2 bathrooms.
When I was young some friends of mine lived in a house where every bedroom (in a 6 bedroom house) had an en-suite bathroom, plus one additional bathroom. While I certainly don't expect every bedroom to have its own bathroom (or even close to it, really), I don't think its strange for a large house to have multiple bathrooms.
When I was a teenager I dreamed of having a huge bathtub. Now I own a tiny apartment (EU) with a bathroom that is too small for even a tiny bathtub. Ironically my working-class parents' apartment has a much bigger shower.
i recently started brushing/flossing/shaving/etc in my kitchen, which has a better view, and is larger, and usually pretty damn clean.
my tiny bathroom is now for showering and eliminating only.
should have done it years ago. it makes way more sense in an apartment. did you notice nice/large houses usually have the toilet separated from the sinks?!
My wife and I recently moved into a 2 bed 2 bath apartment, mainly because we wanted the extra bedroom for an office as she works remotely. I was surprised to discover that it is so nice not having to share a bathroom—no stress about getting in each other’s way in the morning, less bathroom clutter—it’s really nice. I can see how people would get used to it. And then of course having an extra half bathroom for guests is the obvious next step.
Not sure about other countries, but it's extremely common in France for the toilet to be in its own room, and then the washbasin and shower in another. Not just in multi-residential either.
Dunno the history (gives a bit more flexibility: a showerer doesn't constrain the toilet), but could also be an aversion to not clean yourself in the same place you poop.
Odd, in the western US I'm accustomed to a "half bathroom" being a room with a toilet and sink but no bathtub or shower stall. Listings look like "2br 1+1/2ba" meaning two bedrooms and one full and one half bathroom.
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