Plumbing in a basement?

Our family has been talking about maybe converting the basement into a Mother-In-Law appartment. I'm wondering though if it would be possible to put things that require plumbing down there though. I'm talking about a toilet, kitchen sink, shower... things like that. Does anyone know if this is possible?

In general, yes. However, it may require you to put pipes below the current floor - which would mean breaking out part of the concrete slabe that's the current floor of the basement.

Details, of course, depend on the details of your home, which we don't have.

Basements are routinely plumbed, what matters is the depth of your sewer/septic line. If the main drain pipe goes straight down through the floor then you probably will be able to use a gravity drain system.

If the main line leaves the house through a wall you will most likely need a lift or sump pump (the name varies around the country) of some type. This will add cost, $500 - $2000 is common in the US, but is cheap when compared to the additional useable space you get.

If you are on a septic system instead of a sewer system you should also check capacity to ensure you don't overload the capacity. That could add additional expense that can mount quickly.

Good Luck

Plus the permitting of course. A friend of mine decided to "sneak" an extra bedroom into his house. All he did was sub-divide an existing (huge) room. No plumbing, no nothing. The town found out about it and came down on him like the proverbial ton of bricks because he now had more bedrooms than his septic system was rated for.

I'm sure you're aware of this, but in the off chance you aren't... plumbing a basement does have its share of unique problems. The predominant one is getting enough... um, blanking on the technical term... tilt on the drain pipes. Failing to do that can cause back-ups and sitting, stagnant water.

A relatively easy solution is to make the bathroom on a platform... raise the floor a bit so you have more room to play with the (tilting) of the pipes. However, if MIL is disabled, that can cause its own problems.

OK. I work in residential construction, so this -is- what I do (although as a general contractor and carpenter, not plumber).

As adwyn says, the core issue is where your main septic line is. If it's below your basement slab (I'm assuming it's a full height basement with a poured slab), you'll have to take up some concrete to put in a gravity feed toilet and shower drain. If it's above the slab, as it often is, you'll need a pump (a "lift" pump; sump pumps are used to remove water from a hole or pit, aka a sump). These can be rather pricey; you'll need to talk to a plumber. If you have the headroom, you can put the shower and toilet (or the whole bathroom) on a platform and the pump under that; otherwise you'll need to cut a hole under the toilet & shower to run the drains and place the pump.

Depending on where the septic exits the house, you may need to do some weird stuff with the pipes to keep the pitch adequate for flow. No easy way around, just deal with it.

Septic systems are rated, not by baths, but by bedrooms.

More later

Here's the story. My mother, my brother and his two kids all live together in the same house. I used to have a room in the basement (not really a "room" as I slept down there on a couch and didn't have any kind of wall dividing my "room" and the rest of the basement). It was horrible and I hated every second of it.
My mom has now gotten to a condition where, while she can be left alone for parts of the day, she shouldn't be left alone for more than 10 hours (she has diabetes 2 and isn't very stalwart about checking her levels, so sometimes she gets really bad). Since my brother typically works 8am-8pm and his kids (both teens, 1 special needs) go to their mothers every other night and every weekend, he wants me to come back (since I just work 11am-7pm). I don't mind doing it, but the thought of being in the unfurnished basement again was seriously depressing me. So I said I would do it if either (a) I got a room upstairs or (b) I got the whole basement and it was converted into an actual apartment for me (toilet, kitchen sink, better lighting, walls, etc.).

adwyn said:

If the main line leaves the house through a wall you will most likely need a lift or sump pump (the name varies around the country) of some type.

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The house is on a septic system (with well water if that factors into anything). The main line leaves the house through a wall.

Ilium said:

Plus the permitting of course.

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D'oh! I hadn't even thought of that! Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

Nellisir said:

If it's above the slab, as it often is, you'll need a pump (a "lift" pump). These can be rather pricey; you'll need to talk to a plumber.

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Hmmmmm.... this is sounding pricier & pricier as it goes.

Nellisir said:

If you have the headroom, you can put the shower and toilet (or the whole bathroom) on a platform and the pump under that; otherwise you'll need to cut a hole under the toilet & shower to run the drains and place the pump.

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I don't know what's considered a "full height" basement, but I'd estimate the height to be 6' - 6.5'.

Nellisir said:

Depending on where the septic exits the house, you may need to do some weird stuff with the pipes to keep the pitch adequate for flow. No easy way around, just deal with it.

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Sounds like more money to me. *sigh*

Nellisir said:

Septic systems are rated, not by baths, but by bedrooms.

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Well, we were 5 people living in a 3 bedroom for 10 years with no problem. But I suppose if I make that argument to the city it'll just be more trouble.

Well, 6' - 6'5" doesn't give you room for a built-up platform. That'd be about 10" high, knocking your headroom down to 5' 6" at best. Not comfortable.

The other legal requirement is an exit. Bedrooms are required to have an exterior exit of a certain size - I don't have my code book with my, but 18" x 24" is a very rough estimate. And that's -clear- space, meaning the space you can crawl through when the window is open, but without removing the sash. If you don't have an exterior exit from the basement already, you'll need one, which will be more concrete cutting, and some digging to put in a well for the exit (you can get preformed wells meant for this stuff).

I don't know what your budget is, or how much you'd be doing on your own vs hiring someone, but this isn't a thousand dollar project. I think it can be a very worthwhile one, but you have to be realistic about the costs.

One thing I will point out, though -- if you're OK with living upstairs, then sharing a bathroom presumably isn't too much of a problem. You can probably plumb a sink, with a small pump underneath, without too much hassle and without busting up the floor. Just use the toilet and shower upstairs. It sounds like alot of the issue is "your" space vs "public" space, and if you can claim the basement as "yours", and do with it as you like, you'll probably be alot more comfortable. I'd certainly put some walls up, and get wall-to-wall on the floor (unless you're not a carpet person). Heck, I'll be out of work again in a week, and you're not that far away...

Edit: D'oh. You can get toilets that drain from the back, instead of the bottom. They're meant for slab applications like yours. My understanding is, they aren't cheap, but they might be cheaper than busting & pouring concrete - it's worth looking into. You're still a bit stuck on the shower issue, though you could put a bathtub with a handshower on a platform and just ignore the low headroom (since you wouldn't be standing). A shower drain is also much smaller than a toilet drain - you might actually have room to work with it.

I've been trying to get ahold of my plumber; if I do I'll pick his brain a little. I'm not familiar with plumbing costs (I don't do the money at work, and the plumber is working on my house for free, in exchange for my wife's old minivan).

OK, ejector pump is the term, and here's a link to one site describing them http://www.keidel.com/mech/pumps-ejector.htm

Kohler has a bunch of wall-hung toilets in their commercial section, but I'm drawing a blank in their residential toilets. Horizontal discharge isn't a searchable feature.

There are also several "Up-Flush" Toilets on the market: HERE and HERE .

Adding a bathroom to your basement is going to cost at least $1000 or more depending on exactly what you want in this bathroom and what part of the world that you live in. In my part of the world I have helped many people do exactly this. Your local Lowes/Home Depot/Menards... etal should have people that know how to help you. Take good measurments of your basement, make a realistic wishlist, make a budget. Be prepaired to have your budget blown completly blown out of the water. You will problably underestimate. Have a cushion of double your budget for the unplanned! When you are ready to get a contractor, get at least 4 estimates, check the contractors background and at least 3 of there past jobs. Ask them about the jobs that went wrong and how they fixed them. You can tell more about a contractor by the way he has handled his problem jobs than the jobs that went smoothly. Make sure that the crew that you hire is fully Licensed, Bonded and Insured. Relax!!! The job is going to take longer than you want it to. Murphy is a harsh master! But if you have done your home work and fully checked out your contracor and have your budget cushion the job will get done and you will have the basement that you want.