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Or more accurately, building a bathroom around an existing toilet...
I'm looking at a house that has a working toilet in the basement - it's in the laundry room off on one side, with no wall/door or sink (except for the laundry sink). The laundry room is fairly large (at least 20x20) so we could split it in two. Since the toilet is already there (and is legal, or at least it's on the listing sheet), how difficult would it be to build a bathroom around it? Probably just a half bath, but there is room for a shower or tub if we wanted to make it a full. Is there a lot of additional plumbing work to add a sink/shower?
And would we need to get a permit - or does the existence of the legal toilet mean that isn't an issue? (or is that kind of code determined town by town?) The basement is finished, the ceilings are sufficiently high and there is direct egress to the outside.
This is like the 3rd or 4th house/apartment- condo
Can you narrow your search and then ask questions?
If I remember- you are working with an agent/broker. This person should be able to answer these types of questions. If not, I strongly suggest finding a more competent agent to work with.
hmm, I didn't know that there was a limit on asking questions on this board. And yes, I'm looking at a lot of places. I have the luxury of time and a buyers market, so I can afford to look at a lot of places and be choosy about what I ultimately decide to bid on.
I do ask my broker these questions as well - but I wouldn't ever solely rely on my broker. That's why I turn to you all for advice and second opinions. K'ledgeBldr, you're clearly very experienced and you post helpful responses usually - which is why I'm a little surprised that you posted the above to me. It's a bit snippy and a little unfair. If you don't want to answer my posts, then simply ignore them.
Assuming the toilet in the basement is plumbed into sewer lines that are below the floor and you want to maintain that set up with sink / tub / shower the mess is a big factor -- even the neatest concrete floor cut will result in a slurry of concrete dust that will pretty much necessitate finishing off the whole basement floor becuase you'll never get up all the dust ...
The cost of the supply lines and fixtures will be a fraction of the cost of even low end flooring for the whole basement. I would not budget less than $8-10k for this kind of a job. Thing is that even if this made it more feasible to add a bedroom to the basement you really will not get your money back for space in a true basement -- in many places you can't even advertise basement bedrooms that are fully legal (with egress windows and such...). Of course if you are doing this for a long term need so that the house that is otherwise too small will work for your needs then the "payback" is secondary...
The toilet is probably not permitted and legal, but it may be grandfathered in. It woudl not be hard to enclose it and add a sink, specially if the landry sink is nearby. Persoanlly, I probably would not get a permit. I woudl just do it. If you seek a permit, they may make yu remove the toilet instead.
A plumber could look at the set up and give you a really good idea of the potential cost. Like Chet said, cutting into the concrete slab can be a big mess, but thats how they connect to the sewer pipes.
A plumber could look at the set up and give you a really good idea of the potential cost. Like Chet said, cutting into the concrete slab can be a big mess, but thats how they connect to the sewer pipes.
They already have a working toilet in there and a working laundry sink. Why woudl you cut into the concrete?
If you are going to add a tub or shower, the drains are on the bottom, and would have to connect to the pipes that are under the slab.
Obviously the toilet drain is in the slab, but the laundry drain is likely in a pipe that is above floor level.
Unless you mount the tub or shower on a platform (looks stupid IMHO), the drain is below the slab.
If you are going to add a tub or shower, the drains are on the bottom, and would have to connect to the pipes that are under the slab.
Obviously the toilet drain is in the slab, but the laundry drain is likely in a pipe that is above floor level.
If we just added a sink (no bath or shower), would that also likely require cutting into the concrete? I really wouldn't want to go to all the trouble of creating an enclosed bathroom and then have to use the existing laundry sink...
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