Unsafe or odd house features in friends' and family's homes

[rainbowunicorn22]

Just wondering what strange things have been in friends and families houses that you cannot see why they live with them?
I once went to someone's house, and the staircase was very steep, and on the open side they had removed all rails and bannisters. as there bathroom was upstairs and they had small children, I just think it was an accident waiting to happen. When they did up the house, I just do not know why they thought it was a good idea

I would guess at 1960s. Definitely not ancient.

I have 2 family members with the same thing. No hand rail the wall side and open the other side. 1 being GP with 10 GC and none have fallen - yet

Or take a bowl of water in with you? Or use babywipes, if only for a temporary fix ?.

On the Love It Or List It programme a few years ago there was a house, maybe a bungalow, with a large living room divided in half by a curtain. On the other side of the curtain was a small swimming pool/ very large, deep paddling pool! Even Kirsty was stuck for words.

Haha! Do you live in Herts?

I saw a house on Rightmove today where the bedroom exited straight onto the staircase - the picture wasn’t clear but I think it was probably about 3 steps branching off the main staircase to the bedroom, then the main staircase turned a corner to a proper landing. I guess you’d get used to it but I’d prefer a bit of a landing.

I went round a guys flat in 2003 and he had a bath in his kitchen behind a curtain! My mum said that was quite common back in the early 60s when she moved to London. He did say it was his Nan's flat tbf. Though she clearly didn't live there anymore so he really could've sorted it out!

Also my auntie had a toilet in the back garden. A standalone toilet cubicle. I used to love using it even though it was full of spiders! Obviously she had a regular bathroom inside as well.

I went to one guys place in NY and he lived in a warehouse with massive skate/bmx ramps on the ground floor. His bedroom just had a toilet in the corner. Not shielded by a wall or even a curtain. Facing his bed. That was interesting!

That was on again the other day 😆

Just to give some perspective, Im talking the size of maybe 2.5 patio slabs, not too huge.

That’s illegal. Are they actual idiots? What a moronic decision.

That brings back a memory. I went to look at an artists’ shared working space in east London many years ago, it was a big open area in an old warehouse for about 15 people. The only toilet was in a tiny room off the main space…which also contained a kettle, hob and a fridge. Grossed me out and I’m not easily bothered by stuff like that. I didn’t take a space there.

All you staircase people should watch Finding Alice - or send a link to your friends with death stairs.

I stayed in a room in an AirBnb recently with a metal spiral stair in the middle of the living room, and no rail enclosing it, so basically a pillar with stair treads fanning out from it. Before I booked I made sure I wouldn't have to use this stair. I didn't, the owner's bedroom was up the stair. I am clumsy and would 100% have slipped, tripped, or otherwise gone flying down this thing!

Haha that sounds like a lot of places in NE London back in the day! Squat rave vibes 😉 x

bath's in the kitchen were quite common at one time. Lots of them had a top to fit over them so you could use it as an extra surface when cooking etc, In the small kitchens more space was always useful

Stokey raves 😜

The house where I grew up was built in 1799, the oldest house in my small US city. The bathroom was half way up the stairs. So you went up a long straight run of 10 -15 stairs and as the main stairs turned to the right, for the main bathroom, you continued up 2 or three stairs and opened a door into the main bath (tub+shower, sink, loo). It had a window in to the lumber room. At night, from the bedrooms, you went down halfway, including a turn and then stepped up to the right into this addition.

Two of the bedrooms were down three steps: you opened the bedroom door and immediately stepped down.

Older properties can be irregular ...

My parents' rented flat in Battersea in the 1960s had the bath in the kitchen underneath a hinged wooden top that tied back onto a ring on the wall. I can just about remember it as a toddler.

I live in Egypt, & some friends of mine have an internal wall made from Siwa salt. With embedded disco lights.

It has a tendency to sweat in the winter months, & they’ve had to train their dc out of licking it, but it does look cool

Sure, but the OP didn’t say that the house with no bannister was old!

And if your house was built in 1799, your bathroom certainly wouldn’t have been a bathroom originally!