THE WEIRS TIMES & THE COCHECO TIMES, Thursday, May 26, 2011 IMPROVEMENT101 HOME
Mark@HomeAdditionPlus.com INSTALLING A BATHROOM IN YOUR BASEMENT
by Mark Donovan Contributing Writer
The installation of a
bathroom in a basement can be very challenging, particularly if it is a ret- rofit job or part of a base- ment finishing project. Installing a bathroom in a basement typically in- volves cutting the base- ment slab and having to run drain pipes. Cutting a basement concrete slab is hard, loud and dusty work. Years ago I installed a bathroom in a base- ment as part of a base- ment finishing project and wound up spreading dust throughout the en- tire house. Even though I had sealed off the area with plastic and created a low air pressure zone with a fan to vent the dust outdoors, I still ended up creating white concrete dust clouds in the upper living areas of my home. If your basement bath-
room plans involve tying it into a private septic system, a pump up sewer ejector system also needs to be installed. This in- volves cutting approxi- mately a 3’x3’ hole in the concrete slab and then digging a large hole below the concrete slab grade to insert a 32 gallon holding tank. Inside the tank is a pump-up ejector system that ties into the main drain and plumbing vent
self, and suffice it to say, it’s not easy. There’s a lot of work involved and it’s extremely messy, particu- larly if there is ground water below the concrete basement slab. As an alternative to cut-
ting the concrete floor you may be able to frame in a step up floor for the bath- room so that you can run drain pipes without hav- ing to cut into the con- crete slab. Some smaller and flat pump-up sewer ejector systems can re- side in the step up framed floor area. The only issue with this type of solu- tion is that there may be inadequate headroom to go this route. Also, step- ping up into a bathroom is less appealing to most homeowners. In regards to actual
When installing a vanity in a basement bathroom the floor may need to be leveled or the base of the vanity scribed.
stack. Also the drain pipes from the toilet, sink, and tub/shower area need to be tied into the holding tank. After the inspection has been completed, the concrete basement slab needs to be filled in with concrete and floated to create a perfectly smooth basement floor. I’ve per- sonally installed pump- up ejector systems my-
construction, installing a bathroom in a basement usually requires extra framing to tie in walls SeeDONOVAN on 38
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