Adding a bathroom to a basement remodeling project—especially where one was never intended to exist—can be tricky. Here are 5-things to plan for.
1–Plumbing vents. A plumbing system works like a soda straw, sort of: Stick a straw into a drink, hold your finger over the top, lift the straw. Remove your finger and the straw drains. Magic.
Same with plumbing. If there’s not enough ‘air behind water’ as Mike Holmes describes it, plumbing systems choke and gurgle and gag when you flush.
That means when you add a bathroom in your basement remodeling project, you also need to add venting. This can take several forms, depending on how your house is set up. Tying into existing vents may work. Running a new vent line up the outside of your house is also a possibility. And/or you can use a Studor vent, which can be placed inside the home. It lets air in, but doesn’t let sewer gas out.
2–Water Supply. Plan how your hot and cold water lines get from point A, say near the water main, to all the Point Bs: Sink, shower, toilet. The end-game is the sweet and sultry awesomeness of luxe and lavish, manifest in the Kohler urinal and wall-mounted toilet that I simply cannot love enough. Check them out here!
In basement remodeling, it’s important to trace the route so that your supply lines stay inside existing framing and not be blocked by structure like headers or beams or windows. This will save you time and money instead of relying on your plumber to figure it out for you.
3–Shut-offs. I love shut-offs. Shut-offs need to be accessible, plan a location where they can be reached like in a utility room. I like lever-type shut-off because they’re also easy to label, especially ones you should use, like the one for your garden hose.
4–Water Off. In most cases, the water to the rest of the house needs to be shut off for periods of time while tie-ins are made. In most cases, it’s not a big deal, but if you’ve got a sick child at home or elderly parent or some other situation where running water and toilets that flush really matter, it’s better to know in advance. Filling the bathtub can give you enough water to flush toilets and clean things. Tie-ins don’t take all day.
5–Natural Gas. If you’re getting a new water heater (we are getting great performance from the GE GeoSpring we installed), gas lines may be effected. This means there’ll be times when the heat or kitchen stove is off. Again, we’re talking an hour or two, not all day. But if Junior wants his grilled cheese, he wants his grilled cheese.
