Bathrooms and Toilets in Basement Remodeling

Assess Your Basement

• Before beginning your basement remodeling project, take a close look at the area to see if there are any major repairs that will need to be made. If there are large cracks in the walls, you might be looking at serious repairs before you even begin to add a bathroom and toilet. Your basement needs to provide adequate drainage, or you might be out the expense of adding a sump pump to remove water from the basement’s sub-grade location. The basement needs to be relatively dry before you put up walls and add flooring. Look for signs of mold and mildew that indicate too much moisture. The electrical wiring also needs to be sufficient to meet the needs of anything you are planning to add to the basement addition. After you finish your assessment, contact a professional building inspector for a second opinion. Additionally, if you plan to proceed, you need the basic information provided by the inspector to apply for any building permits.

Location of the Basement Bathroom

• As you work on floor plans for your basement project, determine where you want to put the bathroom. Placing it in a corner means you only need to construct two walls around the room rather than four. A window provides some light and allows airflow into the bathroom. Placement near an outer wall also makes it easier to vent the bathroom. If the basement already has running water, it’s a good idea to set the bathroom near the water source to save the costs of running additional water lines. The same is true of drains for the bathroom.

Fall and Push

• As you plan your basement bathroom, you must keep the idea of fall and push in mind. If the existing basement allows enough slope for an adequate fall of water, you can create a below-grade bathroom without major changes to the basement’s structure. Since water flows downhill, the fall part is typically easy to accomplish. Getting the water out may be a different matter. Push not only means forcing waste water out of the plumbing system, but it also means pushing sewer gases out through adequate ventilation. If adequate drainage isn’t available in the basement before you begin the remodeling project, you may have to dig out a portion of the basement’s slab to add extra drains to connect the bathroom to the sewer line.

Use a Plumber

• Even though you may be a skilled do-it-yourselfer, enlist the assistance of a licensed plumber to plan the placement of the bathroom fixtures. Many municipalities require that a licensed plumber install supply lines and drains to fulfill building codes. A plumber can also advise you on the best toilets to use in basements, as well as other energy-saving fixtures, such as shower heads. After the supply lines and drains are in place, you can finish the bathroom yourself.