I want to add a full bathroom to my house in the basement and I want to do it right (i.e. meet all the codes, avoid future headaches that short cuts tend to cause, etc.). Where do I go to find out the requirements I need to meet? For example, I was told that I need to run a trench in the existing cement floor for the sanitary line and the shower drain which would mean jack hammering the floor. Obviously I don't want to do that unless I HAVE to.
Thanks.
Pete
I'd begin at the library. A basic plumbing text or two to start. Local Building Code next.
TB
You have to. Where else would you put the line? Not above the floor I hope. Depending on the thickness and reinforcement, you may be able to do it with a sledge hammer.
Or you can do a raised floor (if you have the ceiling height).
And a concrete saw. I would recommend renting a wet saw to cut down on the dust it will create. Putting a concrete blade on a circular saw will be time consuming, very dusty, and put a LOT of load on your saw, possibly destroying it. Then again, it might be a good excuse to go out and buy a contractor grade saw.
-- Mike D.
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You could go with a sewage ejection pump but I wouldn't recommend. They're noisy and need to be replaced/cleaned every so often.
Bite the bullet and hire a plumber to do the nitty-gritty work of stubbing out and installing the waste lines. Depending on the location of the supply pipes and the DWV it could be as little as $600-800. The plumbing work on my basement bathroom (which includes a W/D area) ran about that. Of course I was only 4 feet from the main drain for the toilet and six for the shower. I'm in NoVA, and the prices here aren't very cheap. Of course the guy who did it was a buddy and I worked around his schedule (i.e., let him do it at his convenience), paid him cash and pulled the permits myself, all ways of cutting the cost.
The finish work is where you'll save money by DIY'ing, especially if you're not skilled in plumbing (as your questions imply)
Best,
Marc
Most basement showers and toilets need ejection pumps whether you open the floor or not because the house output is somewhere around the middle of the basement wall.
How did you do it without using a sewage ejection pump?
Dug a channel in the concrete. Had to dig it pretty deep to preserve the 1:12 slope since we were only going 4 ft from the main waste pipe. Would've gone 6 feet had it not been for the fact that placing the sink in the corner and the commode in the middle would have looked odd.
Used an electric jackhammer after outlining the channel with a concrete saw.
To be fair, we're on a lot that sits a good 7 ft. above the street on the front corner, and the waste pipe slopes steeply from the back corner of the house. I'm not certain what the OP's situation is but if you've got enough fall from the waste pipe to the main sewer and you can tap in under/in the slab you should be OK.
Best,
Marc
They are in the minority around here. Most have the output under the floor if on a municipal sewage system.
You are fortunate to have your house located so high above the main sewer line. Naturally you don't need an ejector.
They do make toilets designed to discharge above floor level. They are intended for apartment buildings.
TB
Check this out to see if it's what you want:
Make sure that any device you use is NSF (National Sanitary Foundation) approved.
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