Adding A Bathroom To Your Basement: Important Plumbing Considerations
Posted on: 7 May 2016
Adding a bathroom to your home's basement can be a great way to add a significant amount of value to your home--especially if you opt to add a full bathroom as part of a basement finishing project. Still, when adding a bathroom to a basement, there are many important factors that must be taken into consideration in order to achieve the desired results and ensure the new bathroom space is up to code.
Condition of Your Basement
You'll want to start by determining whether you want to add a full or partial bathroom in your existing basement. For example, if your basement space is currently unfinished and you don't plan on finishing it any time soon, then it might make sense to just add a half bathroom downstairs. After all, your basement is likely to be damp and chilly throughout the year, so how often would you realistically use a tub or shower in this space?
Proximity to Existing Plumbing
If at all possible, you'll want to install your new bathroom close to existing plumbing in your home. Doing so can cut down significantly on your costs because it will minimize the amount of plumbing that needs to be added to your home. A good way to determine the ideal location of a basement bathroom is to determine where a existing bathroom is on the ground level of your home and place the new bathroom directly below it.
Depth of Your Home's Sewer Line
One of the greatest challenges of installing a new bathroom in a basement is making sure there's enough vertical space between your plumbing fixtures and your home's sewer line for gravity to carry this waste out. If your current sewer line isn't installed deep enough under your home, then plumbers may need to excavate your floors to move the sewer line further down, which can be an expensive addition to the project.
Size of Your Existing Pipes
Finally, you'll need to make sure that your home's existing plumbing pipes are large/wide enough to handle the additional flow of water and sewage to/from your new basement bathroom. If not, then new pipes may need to be retrofitted, which can also add some expense to your project but will be worth it down the road when you don't run into drainage problems. From there, you can enjoy your new basement bathroom and added home resale value as well.
For plumbing help when installing your new bathroom, call Mayfair Gas Plumbing & Electrical.
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