How to put a bathroom in a basement?
Sources
Watch this before you put a bathroom in your basement - YouTube
www.youtube.com
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7 Things to Consider When Planning a Basement Bathroom
finishedbasementsandmore.com
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How to Identify Bathroom Plumbing Drain Layout in an ... - YouTube
www.youtube.com
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3
How to Install a Basement Bathroom | Ask This Old House - YouTube
www.youtube.com
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Answer
Here are the key things to consider when putting a bathroom in your basement:
Plumbing and Electrical
- The bathroom should be located as close as possible to existing plumbing and electrical lines to minimize costs and complexity2. Directly below an upstairs bathroom is ideal.
- Ensure the bathroom is close enough to an exterior wall to allow for proper ventilation2.
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You may need to pull separate permits for the plumbing and electrical work.1
Bathroom Layout and Design
- Determine if you want a full bathroom (toilet, sink, shower/tub) or a half-bath (toilet and sink)2. A full bath requires about 60 sq ft while a half-bath is around 30 sq ft.
- Decide on the fixtures you want - toilet, sink, shower, tub, vanity, etc. Consider mobility needs if applicable2.
- Use moisture-resistant flooring like tile, vinyl or laminate with a wood core. Avoid solid hardwood and laminate with a fiberboard core2.
Rough-In Plumbing
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The rough-in plumbing (waste and vent pipes) is likely already installed in the basement floor.1
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If the location doesn't work for your desired layout, you can use aftermarket products to relocate the toilet flange and shower drain.1
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Use PEX for the water supply lines as it's easy to work with.1
Electrical
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Run a dedicated 20A circuit for the bathroom outlets and lighting.1
- Use recessed lighting in the shower and over the toilet, vanity lighting, and consider a dimmer switch2.
Other Considerations
- Include storage like a linen closet if the bathroom will be used frequently2.
- Coordinate the style and color of fixtures and finishes2.
- Check local building codes and get necessary permits before starting work2.
References
1. Watch this before you put a bathroom in your basement - YouTube2. 7 Things to Consider When Planning a Basement Bathroom3. How to Identify Bathroom Plumbing Drain Layout in an ... - YouTube4. How to Install a Basement Bathroom | Ask This Old House - YouTube5. How to Add a Bathroom | HowStuffWorks - Home and Garden
Author: Andrew Thron Improvements
Key insights
- Planning and permitting for a basement bathroom renovation is crucial for ensuring proper plumbing and waterproofing.
- The placement of the drain for the sink is a crucial aspect of planning out the plumbing for the basement bathroom.
- Submitting plans to the city or county for review is necessary in order to obtain permits for a basement bathroom.
- The permitting process for a basement bathroom can vary significantly from city to city, making it important to consult with local authorities for specific requirements.
- Demolishing the slab and installing under slab plumbing requires specialized equipment and expertise, making it a job best left to professionals.
- The check valve limits flow to going out towards the street and eliminates the possibility of backflow coming up into the house.
- The backflow preventer valve prevents any backups in the sewer from coming back into the house, ensuring a clean and safe bathroom environment.
- Basement waterproofing is crucial before adding a bathroom to prevent water damage and ensure the longevity of the renovation.
Video Full Text
- What's up everybody in this basement bathroom renovation series I'm going to show you how I took this unfinished space in my basement and added a bathroom. This basement bathroom renovation series is going to cover every step of the project from Plumbing to wall framing to electrical and even the finishing touches so that you have a great idea of what you're going to need to do for your own basement. Bathroom project be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes in the series and in this episode we're going to cover basement bathroom planning permitting under slab plumbing and waterproofing so just like with any project you're going to need to spend a lot of time thinking and planning out your bathroom addition to your basement before you can actually make it happen. First. You want to think about where your actual sewer stack is and where you're going to connect the plumbing to the main sewer stack and you also want to think about if you're going to be able to do it below grade or if you're going to need some kind of pumping system to pump the sewage up to a higher elevation where it can drain into the sanitary sewer. So after identifying my sewer stack I started by marking the general outline for where I wanted to put the bathroom by using some tape on the floor just to get an idea of where everything was going to be placed. Here's what I was thinking so here's a quick tour before we get started. So the idea is we'll put a barn door right here.Read More
- They'll open up that way and then you'll walk into the bathroom like this. If we turn to our right. This is where we're going to put our sink and vanity and then we'll have a partition wall that goes here and also on this side and then once we have that partition wall. We'll put the toilet right there and then this area here marked off with tape will be where we put the shower so in terms of planning out the plumbing. We're going to have the drain there. For the sink.Read More
- We're going to have the drain for the shower slash tub and then we're going to have the drain for the toilet which is all going to go back to this main cast iron sewer stack which we're going to swap out with some PVC. Once we actually replace everything so once we have an idea of what we're trying to do. It's time to pull out the graph paper and sketch up an actual plan with dimensions of what this bathroom is going to look like when developing your plan and sketches for your bathroom layout. You need to do some research to figure out the local code requirements for example like spacing in front of the toilet and also minimum spacing to the sides of the toilet and there's also convention for the rough-in distance from the wall to kind of your plumbing drain so you're going to need to spend some time either meeting with a plumber or just researching local codes to figure out how you want to sketch it up and plan your layout and typically you're going to need to take these plans and submit them to your city or county for review in order to get permits typically for a basement bathroom.Read More
- You're going to need a building permit a plumbing permit on electrical permit kind of at minimum the building permit you can usually take care of as the homeowner but you're going to need a licensed electrician and a licensed plumber to sign off on your plumbing and electrical permit. For the plumbing. I was able to find a plumber which I hired to do the underslab plumbing just because at the time I didn't have a jackhammer and he was able to sign off on all of the other rough and plumbing that I did that was above the slab and for the electrician I was able to make contact with someone who was going to let me run all the electrical and then they would come back in. Later on check. It make sure it was up to code and done correctly and then they would sign off on it. So the whole permitting process. I don't like to get into in a lot of detail because it does vary a lot from City to city. But in my ebook I have a little bit more information on the permitting process. But your best bet is just to get on the phone with your city or county and ask them what you're going to need to submit in order to get your basement. Bathroom approved so after submitting my plans to the city and addressing any comments that they had just in terms of moving things around or increasing spacing.Read More
- I hired my plumber and he got to work done demolishing the slab and installing the under slab. Plumbing. Now I typically don't Outsource stuff like this but at the time I didn't own a jackhammer and I figured it would be worth paying the 1500 at two thousand dollars for a professional licensed plumber to deal with all that dust all that Demolition and because it's underneath the concrete slab of my house. I didn't want to make a mistake and I figured having someone who knew what they were doing do. It would be worth the money I don't do this often but for something like this I thought it was worth it. So as you can see here they're laying out. The rough plan for the toilet drain and the tub drain here's a look at the cast iron pipe that was removed and at this point they were digging down deep so they could make the connection to that sewer stack that goes out to the street and fortunately from a cost perspective.Read More
- Our sewer pipe was deep enough where we didn't need a sewage pump and then they installed this check valve which limits flow to going out towards the street and eliminates the possibility of backflow coming up into the house. After the plumber had all of the piping and valves installed for the underslap plumbing. He mixed up some cement and applied it and the idea is. He had an cement where it would be level with. The existing finish floor concrete on both sides after the contractor backfilled around the plumbing with concrete. Here's what we looked like preliminarily and now I'm going to give you a quick narration from what I was observing in the field okay. So at this point we replace the cast iron with the PVC.Read More
- All the way down you see we have a clean out right there and then we have the check valve for our washer and dryer right. There is the backflow preventer valve that just prevents any backups in the sewer from coming back into the house and that line goes here. I'm going to switch around real quick so right here's the bathroom right there is going to be where the toilet goes. That's the stuff for that right. Here you can see that we have a y. This right here makes its way to that area which is going to be where the sink and vanity goes and then here is where we'll connect to the tub. So from the other angle we have the backflip preventer valve. We have our toilet stub. We have our stub for the tub that's going to go in right. There. The tub drain and then we have our connection here to vanity and sync and before the plumber finalized the below slab. Plumbing for the tub he wanted me to frame the back wall and position the tub in place so that he knew exactly where the drain was going to be and as you can see.Read More
- He went back and he did some additional concrete around that area. Here's what it looks like and then here's what it looks like after I actually built that wall towards the end. As you can see he never actually filled in that last little bit with concrete before I wrap up this video I want to talk a little bit about Basement Waterproofing because as you saw when the plumber was demolishing around that sanitary pipe. There was a perforated pipe that was kind of snaking around it and what that's called is interior. Drain tiles it's a perforated pipe that's going to collect any water that makes its way down around the foundation and it's going to Route it to a sump pump which is then going to pump it up and out of the house. That's what I have in my basement for waterproofing. But there's also something called an exterior French drain which is a similar concept with a perforated pipe on the exterior of the home and that's going to collect water near the foundation and Route it to a distance that's safely away from your foundation Basement Waterproofing is very important so make sure that you take care of it before you add a bathroom in the next episode of the basement bathroom renovation series. I'm going to show you exactly how to frame your basement bathroom walls how to attach the bottom plate to the concrete slab below and then a little bit further on I'm going to show you how I corrected my plumber's uneven concrete slab by pouring the self-leveling underlayment and honestly. It worked like a charm then in the episode. After that I'm going to show you some tips and tricks for installing this tub surround I'm going to show you how I ran the electrical and installed the drywall in my basement and if all that sounds good you're gonna love the final result and finally I tackled this basement bathroom renovation project after renovating the rest of my basement and if you want to see how I renovated my basement you can check out my basement time lapse video thanks for watching guys I appreciate it drop a like down below subscribe and I'll see you on the next one.Read More