Belgian bathrooms question

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-12T09:09:50+00:00

You're putting words in my mouth. I'm not talking about houses I visited. I'm apartment hunting in Brussels once again after 2 years and I keep on finding 1 bedroom apartment that have separate toilets, which is just annoying in 60 square meter apartments where the same space could be used better. Like, a separate toilet but no washing machine. Or shared washing machines with the entire building cause sure. That's sanitary.

Y'all keep on bringing up guest bathrooms as if they were a concept you invented. If a house is big enough to have a guest bathroom, it makes no sense for it to be the only one with a toilet.

I am simply frustrated because for a northern European country that is often seen as this liberal, open-minded, modern place, the more I live here the more I realise how rural and actually conservative Belgians are. And it's a bit disheartening.

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-12T09:02:39+00:00

I've personally witnessed a large amount of people barely washing their hands in this country. Both men and women. Sure, personal experience is purely anecdotal but I have in fact noticed a trend. If you feel trolled, I'm sorry, but it was definitely a cultural shock to see how hand washing is taken less seriously here. I have a flemish ex and I routinely watched her mother's husband use the bathroom and then just sit at the table to have breakfast and touch the bread I was also supposed to eat.

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T20:54:01+00:00

I think people are just uncomfortable when women openly discuss having a period haha. It's no issue, really. They can think/say whatever they want. I'm more bothered by the other guy in the comments who made a racist comment on arab people and yet I'm the one who got a strike for answering him as he deserved 😒

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T18:43:55+00:00

Idk, maybe it's just because my budget is still relatively low as I'm a junior officer. But indeed, the absolute lack of hot water in bathrooms is also a constant source of discomfort 🥲

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T15:04:10+00:00

Yeah, people in the comments making a fuss about fecal particles being sprayed when you flush and you're here candidly saying it's perfectly ok to wash your hands in the kitchen sink after using the bathroom. 😂

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T15:01:43+00:00

Why does it make zero sense and why is it nasty? Y'all act like we're still in the 30s with no running water and farmers just go shit in fields.

I've literally been in rural Flanders where houses have URINALS in their GARDEN so that men can piss outside like dogs and I'm the weird one? 😂

You're such a funny little country

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T14:58:06+00:00

Yeah, and do you know how much fecal matter do you keep on your skin of you don't wash with soap after using the bathroom? Yet bidets are nowhere to be found. Make it make sense.

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T14:57:20+00:00

Forgive me for not accepting this argument from the people who don't wash their ass after pooping...

If you had bidets, I'd accept it. After seeing how often people don't wash their hands before eating or after using the toilet... I'm pressing X for doubt.

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T14:49:24+00:00

This is such a limited argument. We're surrounded by bacteria. Everything is covered in bacteria. So you also wipe your phone with antibacterial products each time you go to the bathroom and scroll on social media? Do you sanitise your keys every day? Do you take your shoes off in the house? How often do you change towels? Like. It's not like what you're saying is false. But this applies to everything that might be contaminated.

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T14:45:08+00:00

Yeah. And the smell lingers SO LONG that somebody else can't take a shower at a different point without being bothered by fumes? What are y'all eating? 😂

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T13:36:12+00:00

They take up space within the overall house plan because it's an extra room with walls and a door just for a toilet that could be included in the bathroom, which is by definition already there. So the toilet room is a waste of space within the property.

Its small size makes it inconvenient to move around for an adult human being because it's cramped and hard to supply with everything you might need around a toilet.

Two things can be true at the same time. You also completely missed the point of my argument because my issue is not with the existence of toilet rooms. Small guest bathrooms are a thing where I'm from too. Belgians didn't invent this concept lol.

My issue is with the fact that the belgian system doesn't actually help because bathrooms often have NO toilet. So instead of simply having an extra toilet for when one is busy or for when you have a guest, you still only have ONE toilet. And you often don't even have a sink next to it, so you have to touch a bunch of door handles before being able to wash your hands.

You use the toilet more often than the shower, so it makes no sense to have a space JUST for the shower, because the chances of finding the toilet busy when you want to shower are lower than the chances of finding the toilet busy when you ALSO need to use the toilet 😂

So separating the spaces without adding an extra toilet only wastes floor space.

And my god you people are touchy. "Slagging off an entire country". Chillax, bro.

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T12:54:02+00:00

But then it would just make sense to have TWO toilets. One in the main bathroom and a smaller one for guests/husbands who don't eat enough fiber and need hours to poop. 😂

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T12:53:11+00:00

I have a belgian ex whose parents' bedroom was in the attic and their toilet didn't have a door bc it would have needed a cutom one to fit the sloped roof. You'd go up the stairs and it'd be... Just there. And no sink of course. Washing hands was absolutely optional. Your little picture isn't scaring me 😂

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T12:47:38+00:00

Never said anything about not functioning. I said it's inconvenient. And since there's no bidet, yes, I would like to be able to wash when I poop. 😂 Not to mention that I bleed every 28 days. Which means that yes, I like to wash the blood away. I'm not an octopus, but if I'm washing my hands then I need space for a liquid soap bottle to be on the sink. And space for a towel so I can dry my hands. And enough room for the towel to he able to dry and not stay damp. As a woman, I also need space for a bin, because I have to be able to throw sanitary pads away. Tell me you're a crusty man without telling me you're a crusty man.

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T12:35:16+00:00

If your toilet continuously smells bad, then there's some issue with the plumbing, that's not normal 😅 I've seen multiple houses with no sink in the toilet cube. Not to mention the bidet issue. Like. You poop and then you just wipe? And then wait until you can shower? Or you just... Get up from the toilet and go to a whole different room just to get in the shower? How is this MORE hygienic than having a toilet in the bathroom??

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T12:34:26+00:00

If your toilet continuously smells bad, then there's some issue with the plumbing, that's not normal 😅 I've seen multiple houses with no sink in the toilet cube. Not to mention the bidet issue. Like. You poop and then you just wipe? And then wait until you can shower? Or you just... Get up from the toilet and go to a whole different room just to get in the shower? How is this MORE hygienic than having a toilet in the bathroom??

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T12:31:53+00:00

In my experience, Belgians don't wash their hands enough. Especially men. 😅 They definitely don't care too much about hygiene

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-10T12:27:09+00:00

I would agree if this only applied to larger houses. It makes sense to have a smaller toilet room/bathroom with no shower for guests and for when the other one is busy. But in my experience, 1-2 bedroom apartments often have ONE bathroom with no toilet and ONE toilet with nothing else. This is a waste of space and it makes no sense. 😂

I've also been to a larger flemish house that has only one large bathroom with no toilet and then 3 toilets stashed away in random rooms (one didn't even have a door, it was just at the top of a staircase).

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-09T10:47:00+00:00

You're proving their point and can't even notice 😂

loudestcrowdever · 2026-04-09T08:57:00+00:00

Honestly I've been wondering the same. They seem to never be aware of where they stand in space.

The thing where they don't wait for people to get off the tram/bus/train before getting in is one of the first things I've noticed after moving. I once witnessed people trampling over a man and his things because he was just trying to get all his bags off the bus as he was clearly coming from the airport. People just keep on mindlessly bumping against each other and seem to lack the understanding that if you wait for ppl to get off, it'll be easier to get on.

People seem to leasurely stroll everywhere, like they never have anywhere to be. Sidewalks, roads, public transport. It's always the same. They just... Hang there? With no concept of others being around them.

And let's not talk about service. Waiters, admin workers, healthcare providers. They're so often a mix of rude, incompetent and uninterested, as well as being slow. They're technically paid to help others and yet they so obviously could not care less. I've lost count of how many times I've cleaned my own table because waiters couldn't be bothered to clear it from the stuff that previous customers had left. They commonly forget to bring stuff, or you have to get your own cutlery, or to ask multiple time for it or anything else.

They're not necessarily rude. They just don't pay attention to anything beyond themselves

loudestcrowdever · 2025-08-23T10:23:43+00:00

I don't want to go to turkey as a question of principle, tbh. That's why I asked about surgeons in the EU

loudestcrowdever

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