Bathroom partitions gain notoriety for not hiding the last five percent of our height. Admit it, we all have wondered why the toilet stall had to give a little bit of window room for other people to easily peep on. This is the reason why the corner partition is the favorite and the closest to the door always gets the honor of being ignored. Badly enough, not all countries have adapted to this model which makes foreigners a pain to deal with when they come over. It is hard to explain the American way to people who have not lived here long enough.

So going down to business, if you have ever wondered why the bathroom partition is designed in this manner, then read on. It might not be the answer that you were expecting and, indeed, not the one you hope. But it should be good enough to sate your curiosity of the decisions that went through the magnificent feat of engineering that is the American bathroom partition.

Bathroom Partitions Are Not Out To Get You

This may not surprise you, but there was no hidden intention to embarrass you when the designers chose to make the bathroom partitions the way that they are. Sure, someone would be able to take a peek at your curled down trousers but looking at those would probably embarrass them more than they do you. And while the classic fake cough to signify that you are in there is effective enough, nothing says that the bathroom is occupied than a pair of boots wringing while someone is doing his business.

The truth is there are a lot of reasons why the bathroom stalls are designed the way that they are. There are a lot of considerations that were put in mind to set it up. These include business reasons, accessibility, maintenance, and, believe it or not, the user’s comfort. So, before you judge the good old partition, let us try to get into the mindset of the developers and maybe we could just come up with the same conclusions. Or, better yet, maybe you can do better and make a fortune from your own grand design if you are a smarty pants.

Why The Bathroom Partition Gap

Easier to Clean the Bathroom Partitions

This should come as no surprise unless you have never experienced cleaning bathroom floors in your life. In which case, then congratulations on being a princess and maybe you should just stick to delivery service the next time you crave fast food. Cleaning the bathroom takes a lot of effort and a whole lot of product and we are going to tackle benefits provided for both aspects.

In terms of effort, this should be obvious enough, when mopping the floor, you do not want to mop and rinse separately for each partition. That would just make the flow of cleaning disjointed and can mess up your rhythm. As any seasoned janitor would testify to, it is so much easier to do each step in one fell swoop than to do all the steps over and over for each section of the bathroom floor. It works the same way for when you have to clean the shower floor and the rest of the bathroom separately. This advantage will be even more apparent when rinsing the floors after you are done lathering and scrubbing the floors. Just launch your power washer liberally or throw buckets of water all over the place and you are done.

And, because you are essentially fusing the entirety of the cleaning process into a few continuous steps, you do not have to reapply products like bleach, soap and finish. This will save you money when cleaning. Since bathroom partitions are used mainly in commercial establishments, you can imagine just how much of a big deal this is. Cost cutting from the bathroom partition is one thing, cost cutting in maintaining the bathroom is, I dare say, much more relevant.

Bathroom Partitions Are Easier To Breakdown In Emergency Situations

Now, I know that this sounds like a stretch even for someone like me who is pro bathroom partition gap. But, this reasoning definitely has its merit. For one, safety regulations dictate just how important it is to make it easier to access any customer from all corners of the business establishments which includes the bathrooms. Having to break down solidly placed doors compared to the hanging bathroom partitions.

With the same objective in mind, it is also much easier to recognize someone in distress when the stalls are, at least, partially unblocked. If someone faints or slides, anyone can immediately ask for help for the person. In the same manner, any activities that may prove to be destructive to the owning business can also be spotted. It may be far fetched but if someone tries to sneak in to do something despicable, the personnel can be alerted as soon as necessary.

Bathroom Partition Gaps Prevent Vandalism

If you have ever walked in any public bathroom, you know that it will be filled with graffiti or vandalisms of some sort. There seems to be a hex put in on all public restrooms that prevents them to have the sanctity of clean walls for more than a few weeks. When there is partial visibility, in bathroom partitions, at the very least, the vandal will think twice before doing his thing since his actions will be easy to spot. Plus the loud hiss of the canisters or the scratching of the pen can be heard louder when the partition has open space for sound to travel.

Bathroom Partition Gaps Give Better Air Circulation

And last but definitely not the least, bathroom partition gaps actually give the user better airflow to ensure that there is a path for any odor to dissipate outwards the commercial establishment. You can pepper it all you want, but doing business in the bathroom is not very pleasant to the senses so we might as well find a way to stop it on its tracks.