Kōrero: Washing, cleaning and personal hygiene

By the 1930s most new homes had internal washhouses at the back, but not all did, as this 1938 plan for Railways Department houses shows. The washhouse is contained in a separate outhouse along with a toilet, and the plan specifies that the structure had to be placed at least 15 feet (4.5 metres) from the house. This washhouse comprised a concrete boiler and two concrete tubs.