question about toilet/shower install in basement
 

The house I purchased last year has plumbing in the basement for a shower and toilet. What precautions have to be taken when installing a shower/toilet below grade ? I want to finish the 3rd bathroom in the basement but want to make sure I don't make a mistake when it comes to the plumbing. Eliminating the chance for a flooded basement is a good thing. We are on city sewer/water. My plan is to add a shower, a toilet and a small sink/vanity. All plumbing is in place so it appears previous owner had planned on this. Any suggestions appreciated.

I have a house built in 2004. My basement is actually below the pipe that carries it out of the house. They had to install a pump that runs to push the flushed matter up to the pipe to carry it out. I hear the pump run every time I flush the toilet. I don't think this was planned, since when they built the house all the of the sudden there was a hole knocked in the foundation one day to deal with the outbound pipe. Then I find the floor chiseled up to install the pump.

At work we have installed loads of macerator/pumps in cellars. Call them Saniflow over here in the UK.

Fantastic idea until they go wrong. Worst invention ever.

If the plumbing is in place and the house passed an inspection, the thinking should be done.

Key word here is "should."

Typically, you need 1/4 inch drop per foot (don't quote me, I am not a plumber) for lines to drain. If you have the correct drop, it should be just a matter of connecting the drains. You might check with the city?

Sounds simple.

Larry

You need to check and see if your regular plumbing goes out the basement wall or goes into the slab. If it goes into the slab, then your waste line is low enough you don't need a pump. Just install your fixtures.

You could also check the clean outs to make sure the wast line is deep enough.

All existing plumbing goes into the basement floor. I didn't even give this a thought. Thanks

I'll be doing this soon as well, except that my basement has no installed plumbing. I'm going to have to hire someone to cut up the slab, install drains, and cement it back together.

Legion,
I just did this in the last 6 months. The critical piece is having the drop. After that, it is a piece of cake.

Good luck.
Larry

Depending on how deep the waste line is where the line goes in the slab and where you want to locate your batroom, you need to check the distance and make sure you have 1/4'' fall per foot. You'll need to figure out the depth of your toilet, shower, etc., measure the run to the waste line where you'll tie in and confirm it's deep enough. Push comes to shove, you may have to run a seperate line from your new bathroom to the outside and tap it there.

Is the sewer line in front or behind the house? Will it be easily accessible out side the house?

I would take off what ever cap there is on the toilet/sewer connection and place a garden hose in it. If it can handle that hose on full blast for 10-15 minutes with no problems then you should be ok. Another test would be to leave that cap off and simultaneously flush/drain everything in the house, making sure nothing tries to come up out of the hole.

My $.02 anyways. Not a plumber either.

Expect to add a ejector (with a grinder/macerator most likely) and possibly a backflow prevention valve of some sort. Check the codes. For a small-scale residential application this should add around $2k to the cost, give or take.

Backflow preventer is a must:
-The main at my condo building clogged(due to rusted iron pipes and "defered maintinence":( ), many tens of units continued pumping water into it, and several units on the first floor had sewage spouting from baths, toilets, and sinks.
-The City decided to save money and not sweep the streets of leaves last year. Mom had her finished basement flooded.

A basement shower can be contained in a 20inch tub of concrete as well. Looks bad, works well.

previous owner might have not put in proper permits ,so he might have yank them out on advise of realtor