How to rough-in basement bathroom?

trekkiejt · 05-02-2012, 01:13 AM

Hello! I plan to add a bathroom to my unfinished basement and would welcome some advice. I plan on putting in a shower, vanity, and toilet.

As the current plumbing down there goes: the 4 inch cast iron stack to the first floor bathroom is in the center of and about a foot from the north wall, there is a floor drain under the lower end of the stairwell at the east end, and there is a 2 inch cast iron drain line from the first floor kitchen on the southeast corner with the washing machine PVC drain attached to a 2 inch cleanout just above the floor. Everything on first floor is PVC to the cast iron drain lines save the toilet and the vent coming off the toilet elbow at the very top of the main stack.

I would like the bathroom to be underneath the first floor bathroom where the 4 inch stack is. The first picture is what the stack looks like at the top and the second at the bottom.

What I'd like to know is can I install a back-outlet toilet (found one with 7 inch high rough-in required) to the 4 inch cleanout (with another cleanout installed in-between), and the sink and shower installed to the smaller 2 inch cleanout on the floor aimed west? If this is good, how do I put a trap in for the shower? I would put all that plumbing in the picture inside a "plumbing" closet. I'd like to put a closet next to the plumbing closet and between the shower and outside wall for the room next to the bathroom (making up the east 1/2 of the bathroom) but that would mean the shower drain would need three 90° turns and one 180° turn to get to that cleanout.

All is in planning stage, nothing concrete save the bare floor.

hammerlane · 05-02-2012, 07:19 AM

WHat fixtures drain into the below "branches"?

jaydevries · 05-02-2012, 09:24 PM

since cast goes under basement floor the best option is to cut concrete and tap into pipe under concrete will cost a little more, or a little more labor but then you do not need to build a platform for shower trap and to get the fall needed to tap into cast drain then you can also us standard toilet if wanted

joecaption · 05-02-2012, 10:01 PM

I strongly would suggest you get a real plumber for this one, it's going to be a one shot deal and there's just to much that can go wrong.

**TheEplumber** · 05-02-2012, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaydevries

since cast goes under basement floor the best option is to cut concrete and tap into pipe under concrete will cost a little more, or a little more labor but then you do not need to build a platform for shower trap and to get the fall needed to tap into cast drain then you can also us standard toilet if wanted

Why do people not want to go into the concrete floor? Break out the floor and pipe it properly.

jaydevries · 05-03-2012, 12:03 AM

yea me either i just shake my head after discussing with a customer on options and they still think a saniflo is the way to go. so i mise well do the job their way and know that if i make them happy i can get paid for maintenance of the unit. call it residual job

trekkiejt · 05-03-2012, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammerlane

WHat fixtures drain into the below "branches"?

A: toilet
B: sink
C: shower

As for breaking up the floor, I don't know anything about concrete work or cutting into cast iron pipe. I don't know if the concrete is a couple inches or a couple feet thick. I don't know the condition of the pipe under ground nor where it runs under there. Also if I open up the pipe and something is/goes wrong I have to wait until I can figure out how to fix it or get someone to fix it before we can use any of the plumbing. With me working two jobs, that may be days.

trekkiejt · 05-03-2012, 05:11 AM

I've figured I can spend $1000 over the next 2-3 years to put this bathroom in with a rear-outlet toilet being the most expensive part at $280, followed by the wiring. That includes plumbing, toilet, shower, vanity, electrical, flooring, framing, drywall, and ceiling. If I can have a professional come in to break up the floor, add a junction to the pipe, and fix the floor for the savings I'd get with a regular toilet I could go for that. Doing that myself would cut my cost by more than $200. I want to get this done but the more it costs the more years it'll take to do it. My budget for the work is a few hundred dollars a year and a few hours a day one to three days a week.

So, what kind of problems might come up if I break into the floor? And how would one go about doing that? I looked into a chain cutter for the pipe once down there but what I've read is that if the pipe isn't in great shape underground then that'll just crush the pipe creating that many-days-no-use-the-plumbing thing I'm afraid of.

Sorry if I have a lot of questions, I am new to this home ownership thing and want to dig in with both hands.

trekkiejt · 05-03-2012, 05:23 AM

Here is another picture: a wider view of the stack.