2774 Bidet or no bidet

I suggest you speak to a local Geometra, as each area has different building codes and Regulations.

Regards

.......not sure on the rules, but would suggest you'd sell to a non-Italian for a holiday home, so their 'expectations' of sanitary ware may be similar to yours.

I'd suggest it's only a must if you're re-selling to Italians.....possible, maybe?

because the fittings are standard .... i would suggest you put the pipe work in ....and have them capped where they come out of the wall...this is then obvious to any future buyer as a place to put it... meanwhile you can use the extra space as you wish....

one good thing here which you might have already decided on anyway...with the thickness of the walls ...you can bury the toilet cistern inside the wall... another thing is to hang the toilet off the wall plus the washbasin... it gives extra floor space and when using a small room makes it appear larger... plus all the pipework is out of sight....

[QUOTE=scruffythedog]We are in the final stages of renovating our house and have heard that the installation of a bidet is required under the hygeine regulations. Is this so? We would prefer the extra space in our small bathroom but if we chose not to install one, would it cause problems later if we ever decided to sell?[/QUOTE]

I do not know the rule, but is is sure that all the italian bathrooms have a bidet.
This is something that REALLY divides italian houses form british.
Why it is not so used in UK ?
I heard a story (but it's probably a legend) that, under Queen Victoria, it was considerd immoral, because related to the oldest job in the world, since it was imported from France and firstly used in the w....houses. :confused:

Haha notaio - there were many thing reputedly kept under cover in Victorian England - even piano legs !

When I first came to work in Italy a lot of people asked to see photos of our house in London and as we had just finished refurbishing it - I was more than pleased to show them.

All comments were complimentary until we arrived at the bathroom picture..."ma non c'e' bidet" ... stunned silence ... "perche?"
then an all-knowing- man-of-the-world-type colleague informed the others - "non usano l'inglese neanche l'americani" ... this was followed by gasps of disbelief and then they turned on me "perche?"
The best I could manage was: "different diet we eat more roughage than you."

Anyway, I don't know whether it is due to the diet or simply habit but I am now a convert and couldn't imagine being without.

We recently had problems with our drains in London and the man from dyno-rod was telling me about the horrendus problems caused by the Yuppie continentals who were blocking the drains with wet-ones: "cus ther ain't no bl**ding bidet fer 'em t' skwhat onnn."

For those of you unsure of the correct position:

...towel over the right shoulder.

I always assumed that bidets were needed for bathrooms which did not have the room for a bath. In Britain, and in North America virtually everywhere has a bathtub so a bidet would be unnecessary. Mind you if water starts to become scarce, it's quite possible that bidets will be more eco friendly than bathtubs

hello, you must have a bidet in at least one bathroom, as far as i understand,it it's "optional" in the others!

we converted a very small lean- to annex, which had the boiler in to en suite - tiny though it was,not having a bidet wasn't an option - throughout Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Belgium the houses always have a bidet- I use it to wash my feet in usually but heh...

Hi all,
Not sure I should share this with you all but here goes - prepare yourselves to be amazed at some of the comments here....

[url]http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000191.php[/url]

If there's any stone uncovered here re bidet use I'd be amazed....

Educated of Cumbria and Clabria :eek:

Good grief! Have you seen the length of replies in the link! Makes the length of the playpen threads look pathetic! :D

And the detail they go into....

not for the faint-hearted!

:D
Lesley

Scruffy

I went thru this too & held firm, no bidet. I was called a barbarian, don't care. I chatted with my neighbours & they only use theirs for cooling wine, cleaning shoes or storing watermelons. I prefer having the extra space. I then asked the death rate amongst Italians who don't have bidets. That stops all arguements. There is also an obsession with tiling the whole bathroom from floor to ceiling. I explained that there is no need, as I used the toilet. What is supposed to happen to people who don't have tiles above waist height, or in my case, when I re-do my bathroom I will only tile the shower & behind the sink? Or maybe I should ask, what do the Italians do in their bathrooms that they need to tile above waist height?

Lavender

went to Cambodia last year and they dont have loo paper but showerheads next to the loo - and they are power showers!

Lav..

One reason Italians have bathrooms fully tiled is a that a fully tiled bathroom is easier to clean properly 'cus when Italians clean.. they clean everything.. hence the bidet!

:) :)

My newly constructed house passed the building codes sans bidet. I even lived to write a story about my experience: [url]http://www.virtualitalia.com/articles/acne_house.shtml[/url]

[QUOTE=iwanttobeinitaly]Hi all,
Not sure I should share this with you all but here goes - prepare yourselves to be amazed at some of the comments here....

[url]http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000191.php[/url]

If there's any stone uncovered here re bidet use I'd be amazed....

Educated of Cumbria and Clabria :eek:[/QUOTE]

Very good link - I liked this one:

[I]I long for a bidet...I wish Americans would get with the program.

Somebody put it really well once: If you got s**t on your arm, would you just scrub it off with some Kleenex? No, you'd WASH. Why is it more okay to walk around with a poopy crotch?

*sigh*

I can't just carry wet-wipes with me, but I usually at least moisten the tp. Scrubbing with dry paper just seems half-assed, so to speak.

And what's with insulting all of the Europeans about being unclean, when we are the ones with stinky butts? Huh?[/I]

[QUOTE=Lavender Field]Scruffy

I went thru this too & held firm, no bidet. I was called a barbarian, don't care. I chatted with my neighbours & they only use theirs for cooling wine, cleaning shoes or storing watermelons. I prefer having the extra space. I then asked the death rate amongst Italians who don't have bidets. That stops all arguements. There is also an obsession with tiling the whole bathroom from floor to ceiling. I explained that there is no need, as I used the toilet. What is supposed to happen to people who don't have tiles above waist height, or in my case, when I re-do my bathroom I will only tile the shower & behind the sink? Or maybe I should ask, what do the Italians do in their bathrooms that they need to tile above waist height?

Lavender[/QUOTE]
Its called hygiene

[QUOTE=sdoj]Very good link - I liked this one:

[I]I long for a bidet...I wish Americans would get with the program.

Somebody put it really well once: If you got s**t on your arm, would you just scrub it off with some Kleenex? No, you'd WASH. Why is it more okay to walk around with a poopy crotch?

*sigh*

I can't just carry wet-wipes with me, but I usually at least moisten the tp. Scrubbing with dry paper just seems half-assed, so to speak.

And what's with insulting all of the Europeans about being unclean, when we are the ones with stinky butts? Huh?[/I][/QUOTE]

In a nutshell!!. There are other factors too,you cant have a bath or even a shower everytime youuse the toilet (can you??!!)
Another interesting fact is that ,(given the interest in rural properties), as these are never connected to a sewer you have to make your own with cess pit.Normally tubes of 20 cms are used.These can,if abused,get blocked especially with excessive use of toilet paper.....bidets...essential.
The rest is about being clean and that is as useful for women as men by the way..and personally don't like eating salt herrings..........

Most people can't smell there own BTMs or even those of others but shouldn't one spare a thought for those who are only waist high!

I note Stodge has assumed the correct squat position and Sebs gastronomic preferences do not include Norwegian Schmaltz delicacies..

However, columnist Chaim Bermant, reminisced in one of his articles, "On Sunday, one must eat a pickled herring or two, on Monday soused herring, on Wednesday baked herring, on Thursday herring fried in oatmeal and Friday herring in sour cream."

I wonder if this thread has become whiffy and where it will all lead..

I guess we will find out.

:) :)

Here's the perfect solution for someone who doesn't have enough space in their bathroom, but plenty of money to burn. The the Neorest toilet from Toto:

[url]http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1205ruelas05.html[/url]

This may solve the problem of the bidetless traveller.

[URL="http://sanicare.com/travel-bidet.html"]http://sanicare.com/travel-bidet.html[/URL]

[QUOTE=trullomartinafranca]This may solve the problem of the bidetless traveller.

[URL="http://sanicare.com/travel-bidet.html"]http://sanicare.com/travel-bidet.html[/URL][/QUOTE]

ROFL and they called Europeans mad (earlier link)!! :rolleyes:

Hmmm friends in Germany recommend wet wipes (kept handily close to the toilet) ... which haven't quite yet caught the imagination of folks here in the UK.... :D

But then you're creating even more waste... so what's better for the environment... fresh water or wipes??

And what's better for...? Hmm best be quiet now! :p

[QUOTE=trullomartinafranca]This may solve the problem of the bidetless traveller.

[URL="http://sanicare.com/travel-bidet.html"]http://sanicare.com/travel-bidet.html[/URL][/QUOTE]

And apparently batteries included :eek:

LOL, Lesley

Don't even think of putting in a new bathroom without a Bidet.

These day it just won't do..who wants smelly feet in the house? AND a top place for chilling the Prosecco ;)

[QUOTE=greatscott]Here's the perfect solution for someone who doesn't have enough space in their bathroom, but plenty of money to burn. The the Neorest toilet from Toto:

[url]http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1205ruelas05.html[/url][/QUOTE]

The Swiss Hotel in Istanbul has those in every room - I enquired about buying one for our London house (no idea they were so costly) at the time ten years ago they were not permitted because of back siphoning concerns. However a friend who works for Conran design tells me they are fitting them in their projects.

[QUOTE=Iona]ROFL and they called Europeans mad (earlier link)!! :rolleyes:

Hmmm friends in Germany recommend wet wipes (kept handily close to the toilet) ... which haven't quite yet caught the imagination of folks here in the UK.... :D

But then you're creating even more waste... so what's better for the environment... fresh water or wipes??

And what's better for...? Hmm best be quiet now! :p[/QUOTE]

Wet wipes are a problem ... according to a dyno-rod engineer who visited our London home recently ... most of their domestic call-outs are for nappies and wet wipes.

[QUOTE=sdoj]The Swiss Hotel in Istanbul has those in every room -[/QUOTE]

Before anyone gets their's in there first...

I meant to say ...

in every bathroom o every bedroom...

:) :)

have a sanitary called vaso-bidet , some examples here :

[url]http://forum.azzurra.org/showthread.php?t=11589[/url]

[QUOTE=tuscanhills].......not sure on the rules, but would suggest you'd sell to a non-Italian for a holiday home, so their 'expectations' of sanitary ware may be similar to yours.
I'd suggest it's only a must if you're re-selling to Italians.....possible, maybe?[/QUOTE]

When we were having our place done up, we were not intending to fit a bidet, but our Italian friends said that if we ever needed to sell to an Italian, rather than be locked into the ex-pat market, we must have a bidet fitted. [not necessarily 'obligatory' but 'expected']

We`re just having our new villa done up and are installing 6 of the little dears (bidets, that is) - almost one for every day of the week!

[LEFT]very entertaining thread :D pictures, stories, memories, opinions.

Ugo I love the 2in1 solution - wonderful for cramped spaces.

sdoj - thanks for being so diligent as to provide a photo as well :eek:

and notaio - thanks for the historical note. It all makes so much more sense now![/LEFT]

[QUOTE=The Smiths in Puglia]We`re just having our new villa done up and are installing 6 of the little dears (bidets, that is) - almost one for every day of the week![/QUOTE]

Six???? What do you use on Sundays then?? :D

[QUOTE=ronald][LEFT]very entertaining thread :D pictures, stories, memories, opinions.

Ugo I love the 2in1 solution - wonderful for cramped spaces.

sdoj - thanks for being so diligent as to provide a photo as well :eek:

and notaio - thanks for the historical note. It all makes so much more sense now![/LEFT][/QUOTE]

Now we know what rocks Ronald's boat - good-old-fashioned-toilet-humour!

:D :D

Just got back home from Italy to find all this stuff about bidets.We were told by our architect that a bidet was required by building regs.Hope this hasn't already been mentioned as I can't be bothered to check 5 pages of messages but our solution will be to put in the plumbing but not the bidet.
Also heard while we were there that if you let your house you have to have a stainless steel oven.

A stainless steel oven? What's wrong with an enamel oven?

Nothing wrong's with an enamel oven as far as i'm concerned.Just telling everyone what we were told by a salesman in a shop a few days ago-he had both enamel & stainless steel ovens on offer.

I suppose it could be a cleaning related thing ??, if the house is to be let it would be much easier in the long term to keep a stainless steel oven clean, but it does seem to be a little absurd.

I think it's to do with hygiene-is it ESL that Health & Safety are called?

You sure it wasn't because the stainless steel is more expensive?

Perhaps I am being anal now but I would like to request that we keep this thread on topic!

:D :) :D

How banal sdoj, should we pull up a stool for further debate.

Dave

:D

Sani wipes are a killer for septic tanks as they kill bacteria and inhibit the natural breakdown of the solids. Most system that are on a public sewer system have a solids holding tank that needs to be pumped periodically and the wipes kill those as well. Bad idea to flush anything that kills bacteria.

Bidets rock, I am a Texan and not afraid to say that...better than the creek back home.

[QUOTE=Aliena]If you have read the link.. what more is there to say about this topic?

Or do you just have a fascination with bidets sdoj? It's OK.. you can tell us.. we understand.

:) :)[/QUOTE]

aliena, let me pass you over to big johnny from texas